the battle for central park "ownership"
As the season is fast approaching that you will surely begin to hear my rants on how crowded Central Park is, I came across this article courtesy of one of my teammates...actually a good read!! (despite the fact that it is written by the same guy who wrote this infamous article 2 years ago...)
So how many of you are reading this article and noticing that it is describing a typical Central Park run for you-morning or evening, weekday or weekend?
*raises hand*
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9 shout-out(s):
So I don't run in Central Park THAT often, but... it doesn't seem that bad to me? I feel like if I just stay in the runners' lane and keep my eyes open, I'm okay.
ohhh...you may have not run in central park on a weeknight during marathon training season yet...believe me, it is bad.
anyone else wanna back me up here? :)
yes--it gets bad! Which is one reason why I don't want to ride my bike in it. But I also don't go whizzing around the loop like I am some kind of pro. And, being a runner, I try hard to respect the peds.
I knew it was bad, but this article makes it sound fatal. Like exercising in the park can be the death of you. Not cool--not cool at all.
I guess I usually run/bike in the park when it is less crowded. But still, something needs to improve.
I've seen it all running/biking in the park. After biking I think people walking/running should realize how much more difficult it is to stop a bike! That said, bikers need to lay off especially when they have 2/3 of the road during off hours:-p
Bridle path is my friend!
For someone who got hit by a bike in CP and ended up in the ER a couple years back with a busted lip, I can attest to the craziness that is running in the park during marathon training season.
Thanks for linking to the article, but I truly did not appreciate the accusation that runners are to blame for congestion is the rec lanes...at least we can't use our bodies to be weapons like they can with their bikes. So not cool.
uptown girl-bridle path is my friend too, but even that has been invaded by the masses...i swear, is there one calm part in these 843 acres? :)
laminator-ouch!! sorry to hear about that incident. yeah-i didn't think that was cool either...i mean as uptown girl just said, at least bikers get to use 2/3 of the roadway...where are we supposed to go?
and last nite, i was doing speedwork on the 102nd st transverse around 7-7:30...and it was absolutely mobbed. running groups, bikes, you name it. i almost had a close call-i was running hard and 2 guys stopped and turned around right in front of me without even looking!!
My pen name is Gabriel Sherman.
;-)
HEIDI
Suffice it to say that I'm very happy to be back in the land of proper running/biking/blading etiquette that is the Chicago lakefront. Everyone stays to the right (made me crazy that half the people in CP are all over the flippin' place). Well, we do get our deviants here, but they are few and far between.
I think the last line of the article says it all.
I thought at first that it was kind of a good read, but it was a bit too slanted (or at least "weird") against cyclists. Not surprising, considering the author.
And it's true that cyclists take up 2/3 of the road, but the average cyclist also goes 3 times as fast as the average runner. And in their defense, I find that most cyclists are more predictable, and much more alert and aware of their surroundings, than most runners. In my guise as a runner, I rarely ever find cyclists to be a menace. In my guise as a cyclist, runners terrify me.
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