In addition to this day, August 28, 2023, being the first day of the rest of your life (enjoy!), it’s also the first day of Better Burque finally getting to its stated and oft-procrastinated plan to put together a low-stress cycling network in this here town.

I hate those pharmaceutical ads with thirty seconds of happy people accompanied by thirty seconds of voice over listing the horrible diseases and causes of death made possible by taking a certain AI-generated name drug as much as you do, but our work (and yes dear BB reader, you’re doing at least some of the work here) is/will be centered in an ethos that might best be explained in a list not dissimilar to the thirty seconds of horrible disease listing in such ads.

Our draft ethos name for this low stress network effort is Kill All Cars Cycle Now. It’s only a draft. Better names/slogan are encouraged. Here are the working tenets of Cycle Now:

1. The ultimate goal is to comfortably, pleasantly ride pretty much everywhere without getting ourselves killed.
2. While generally appreciative of new/improved cycling infrastructure, we know ourselves well enough to realize our love for cycling means we’re gonna cycle now, all over town, using whatever infrastructure is in place NOW.
3. Creating and evolving a low stress network “requires” that we ride extensively through all parts of town, not just our neighborhood. A happy requirement, because it’s what we love doing.
4. After much “trail and error,” we’ve come to the definitive conclusion that comfortable, pleasant cycling is maximized when reliance on driver behavior and number of driver interactions are lowest.
5. For example, we avoid signalized intersections, beg buttons, loop detectors, eye contact with drivers who may or may not do the right thing, etc.
6. We instead seek mid-block stroad crossings, especially those few with raised medians/diverters and especially NOT those with driver behavior-dependent flashing beacons, etc.
7. In seeking access to all or almost all places accessible by driving, we’re always on the lookout for residential roads that safely parallel stroads (i.e., NOT Holly N.E. vis-a-vis Paseo del Norte).
8. In fairly rare instances, completing the network connections means cycling the sidewalk.
9. The ultimate public policy aims of Cycle Now are: A. Create/distribute a low stress cycling network that encourages a greater numbers of cyclists to ride more places, now; B. Create and advocate for raised medians/diverters at identified stroad mid-block crossings in the network.

Nine tenets seems plenty. Any more and you’re getting into Commandments and Constitutional Amendment territory. Let’s stick with these, for now, as we look at our first network candidate (aside from others already well-known that we’ll get into later in the project).

Today we’re looking at a way to get up/down from the Paseo del Nordeste Trail to Juan Tabo Blvd. Many of us have ridden Paseo del Nordeste up from its confluence with the North Diversion Channel, got to its eastern terminus at Sandia High School, and thought: “Okay, what the hell do I do now?”

Here’s a (not the, but a…) way to relatively low stress get somewhere, using Juan Tabo as end goal.

Here are the destination points used to create the route above:

I’ve had the chance to ride routes quite similar to the above twice in recent weeks, and can happily report that some of the streets involved, particularly Aztec, Arvilla, Mary Ellen, San Gabriel, and Cielito Lindo, are delightful. Of course, the stroad crossings, particularly Aztec at Wyoming and Arvilla at Eubank, are not delightful. They are therefore candidates for raised medians/diverters, here at Arvilla and Eubank:

The example of Arvilla at Eubank above also illustrates other important components in picking ideal mid-block cross streets. For one thing, this crossing is far enough from the signalized crossings at Candelaria and Comanche that you don’t have to worry about backed up drivers at the light and there’s time/distance from those signalized intersection to sort out drivers turning onto Eubank. Also, the sight lines are good at this crossing, a huge consideration when one thinks of other crossings, such as Hollywood at Rio Grande Blvd.

It is also true that any low stress network is only as good as its highest stress point. In this case, it’s definitely Aztec at Wyoming.

Aztec at Wyoming strains the idea of low stress, even with a raised median/diverter replacing the current stroad shitshow illustrated above. Yet in keeping with Cycle Now tenets, we’re gonna ride anyway, and would we feel more comfortable crossing Wyoming at Comanche or Candelaria?

Me, personally, I’d rather cross at Aztec.

And sure I’d rather cross with a raised median/diverter installed, but Cycle Now is about now. Where is it most relatively comfortable to ride now? Also, perhaps the absolute nicest thing about crossing Wyoming at Aztec instead of Comanche/Candelaria is the residential quietitude awaiting pre/post-crossing, unlike the continued stroad with shitty bike lane (sometimes) feel accompanying signalized crossings.

Okay, we’ve somewhat covered one low stress network candidates with only about 999 to go. Feel free to add your own or collect them all as we build up a complete network map over time, keeping in mind the fun in doing so because it involves riding a bicycle now.