As I continue to explore and at least somewhat obsess over the concept of an Albuquerque low-stress cycling “network,” I realize that an aspect of this work is centered in the here and now. I’m turning 62 next month and I don’t have time to wait for some, perhaps mythological, safer cycling future.

There’s also my growing conviction that what we have up to now considered bike infrastructure improvements very often aren’t.

Which gets me to Montgomery Blvd., a stroad pretty much never thought about by area cyclists, except as oxymoron with low-stress cycling network. As example, until this past weekend I’d NEVER ridden to Del Norte HS at the corner of Montgomery and San Mateo in 30 years of ABQ riding because, well, who would ride there?

Despite the insanity of riding along Montgomery, it is also true that there are many “places to go” (schools, restaurants, etc.) on this stroad. Completely denying cyclists access to these places goes against the tenet that cyclists should feel safe going any and everywhere, even Montgomery, but would any form of heretofore painted bike lane (buffer or no) achieve such a feeling of safety?

No.

Given the vast number of ingress/egress driveways throughout, it’s hard to imagine even a fully separated multi-use path providing anything close to a feeling of safety, and, perhaps even more importantly, what’s the chance of such infrastructure being constructed in my, your, anybody’s lifetime?

Zero.

So it’s seems the answer, at least in my lifetime, is to figure out ways to safely parallel stroads like Montgomery, “dropping in” to the stroad at the place one wishes to go. This past weekend I rode out there with zero route in mind, only with the idea of staying parallel and as safe as possible.

We start at Lousiana moving east/uphill, as I did a bunch of exploring around Del Norte HS/Nex-Gen Academy and the lines get all squiggly. Starting east from Lousiana Blvd. to Juan Tabo Blvd. , I caught the following streets:

• Carriage Rd.
• Candlestick Rd.
• Arroyo del Oso Ave. (this was a really good one)
• Northridge Ave. (another good one)
• A bit of sidewalk on Wyoming (yes, riding the sidewalk is “allowed” in this method)
• Las Camas Rd.
• A bit of Piedra Negra St. down to Gutierrez Rd.
• Another sweep down a bit of Piedra Roja St. to Lagrima de Oro Rd. (a REALLY good street with a REALLY great street name!)
• Lagrima de Oro all the way through Eubank to Juan Tabo

A few observations from this foray uphill paralleling Montgomery on the north side:

• I made a wrong turn or two, and this isn’t probably the best/straightest way to go, but it was fun.
• The crossing of major streets/stroads were, of course, the horrible bits, but crossing Wyoming, for example, is horrible throughout, whether at a signalized crossing with a “bike lane” (maybe) or mid-block. At this point, like many others (pedestrians particularly), I feel more comfortable crossing mid-block with no signal than at a signal. For one thing, I don’t have to rely on driver compliance. For another thing, I try to avoid anything that relies on driver compliance, when at all possible.
• There were great things to see while slowly going uphill, such as a father on Saturday morning showing their rather young daughter how to use a circular saw on a fallen branch in the front yard. Okay, this was also a bit scary, but not nearly as scary as riding up Montgomery Blvd.
• Yes, sidewalks are okay, if it means the difference between being able to do something or not, especially when you’re almost 62 and don’t have time to wait 30-3,000 years until a fully separated multi-use path goes in along Wyoming Blvd.

The route back downhill was tougher from a straight routing perspective, with subdivisions more definitively closed off from one another. Still, here’s a couple of good low-stress streets on the southside of Montgomery:

• Cielito Lindo Ave.
• Hilton Ave.
• Harwood Ave. and Edwina Ave. from Wyoming to Louisiana, with a bit of Comanche thrown in.

I know very few, if any, cyclists are taking notes from the above and using these streets in the manner outlined. Even in the population of folks who read this blog. I get it.

Still, these and most likely better streets I missed are good alternatives now. And very likely better than any alternatives constructed in my, and probably your, lifetime. Because there won’t be any alternatives constructed to make it safer to get to/along Montgomery Blvd. And that’s probably gonna be true for every stroad in this town until that point in the distant future where Charlton Heston falls to his knees realizes he’s staring at the crumbled Statue of Liberty.

I, for one, welcome and look forward to our future ape overlords, but elaborating on that is best left for another post.