- Welcome, safety. Now the thrill is gone.
Well, NE Couch Street. It’s been a good run. You’ve put up a fighting chance, you really have. After the city spent $17.8 million to reshape you and East Burnside, I would ride down you every day and, most days, you trickster you, I would almost get hit by a car. Even after all the “improvements,” bike advocates said you weren’t “ready to ride” but I rode you anyway, relishing the two rows of parking that squished me nearer to rumbling cars, the sweeping curves onto the Burnside Bridge whose sharp turns I navigated (for a few golden weeks) with the breathtaking fear of slipping on the new road and tumbling into traffic. But most especially, I craved the constant danger of getting right-hooked at the scintillatingly dangerous Couch and Grand intersection. But now the spark is gone. Responding to our screeching, the city has painted a bike box there. Today’s ride downtown was… calm. Mundane. Sigh. At least I’ll always have the new streetcar tracks.
“At least I’ll always have the new streetcar tracks. “
Literally my first bike ride in PDX 7 years ago I bit it HARD on the max trax right in front of a car full of lovely ladies who stopped and asked if I was alright. I wasn’t but I sucked it up trying to look tough (like a dumbass). I still have the scar on my elbow.
Don’t worry, you can still get right-hooked if the light is green. The bike box only comes into play when the light is red.