Confession: in my free time, I pretend I'm a bike messenger. I love biking to the post office, like I'm on some important assignment from a client, locking up real fast, and dropping off some mail or a package. I love the challenge of trying to fit oddly shaped boxes into a messenger bag. I don't have any kind of fancy bag, I just use a rectangular cross-body bag that sits comfortably on my back. Why I don't use a backpack when I'm pretending to be a messenger, I don't know. Maybe it's for the speed. Like, it just takes too long to take a backpack on and off, messengers gotta be quick. Whip that bag from the back to the front, make the delivery, and get on to the next stop.
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| Northridge, CA |
I love a post office with great bicycle parking. I used to enjoy waiting in line for 20-35 minutes at the Glendale, CA Main Post Office because the interior is absolutely gorgeous.
The exterior of the Glendale, CA Main Post office is great, too. Conveniently located (Broadway is a
Class 3 Bicycle Route) on a major East-West corridor, the building is clearly a civic and architectural landmark.
For East-West travel in Glendale, my favorite street is Wilson. It goes by all the stuff I like: KFC, the YMCA, Big 5 Sporting Goods... and if you get the timing of the lights just right, you can have a
Green Wave (which is another fun game I play while I'm pretending to be a bike messenger). I took a group of women on a
Walk Bike Glendale women's ride, we rode across Wilson Ave, and the ladies were impressed how cars used the center turning lane as a passing lane and gave us a very wide passing margin. I hope it inspired them to ride through the city more confidently.
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| Wilson Ave at Louise St in Glendale, CA |
Another street I like for East-West travel through South Glendale is Maple St. Especially I enjoy going under the skybridge at CalStar Motors. I don't know why, maybe it's just a novelty. I think some of the
best bike rides involve tunnels, bridges, and unexpected landmarks.
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| Maple St at Brand Blvd in Glendale, CA |
Even though the post office is on the northeast corner of Louise and Broadway, I wouldn't recommend taking Louise Street as your North-South corridor, I biked it this past weekend and it's been torn up for a long time. Louise is very narrow around the YMCA and Glendale Central Library and STILL under construction! Also, Louise accommodates street parking and car doors are a strong possibility.
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| Broadway SHARROWS in Glendale, CA |
Following the route of
Glendale's CicLAvia on June 11, 2017, I would recommend Central Ave as your safest North-South corridor. Although Central Ave is labeled as a MAJOR ARTERIAL, it is the fastest way. The street is wide enough for all road users and there are signs posted with the message "
Bicycles May Use Full Lane." Although Glendale's bicycle infrastructure tends to rely on sharrows and road signs (Class 3) instead of bike lanes (Class 2) or cycletracks (Class 1), nothing will change if the city doesn't see cyclists out there. It's kind of like the same thing with Metrolink...
bikecar101 learned that you don't get more space for bikes on trains unless the board sees pictures of lots of bikes on trains.
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| Bike parking on the East side of the Glendale, CA Post Office |
Glendale has done a great job IMHO at providing bicycle parking for the destinations I bike to. At the Glendale CicLAvia, some residents expressed that they wanted more bicycle parking along Central Ave for example. I usually park along Brand, since there's lots of bike racks there, and then walk over to Central. But that was some feedback for the City that we collected through talking to people at the event (public outreach).
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| Bike parking on the West side of the Glendale, CA Post Office |
I would say that the "bike messenger game" is the best way to take care of some errands. It motivates me to be in a hurry, carry my own lock, practice locking up and unlocking quickly, and be visible in the community on a bicycle on major traffic corridors. What motivates you?
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