Because of a night class that I am taking out at UW Research Park, I have recently been riding on the Southwest Path between Monroe and Glenway between 6-10pm and find it startlingly dark. Dark enough that my standard-issue headlight does not give me enough time to anticipate obstacles or people in the path. It also makes me feel particularly isolated and vulnerable on my bike (I am generally a confident night cyclist). I know that the path is very close to many neighbors' back yards, so any added lighting would need to be sensitive to that. As an urban bike commuter I really enjoy having the option of riding on a city path at night when I need (or want) to get from point A to point B. Is this something that other people are also concerned about, or should I just invest in brighter bike lights?
I am comparing the lightedness of the Southwest Path to area streets and also to the John Nolan Path and the segment of the Capital City Trail that runs behind Atwood Ave along the railroad tracks which are on my daily/nightly route. I feel much safer on these east-side paths because of the amount of light provided at night. -India *********************** India Viola UW-Madison Stretton Lab 115 Zoology Research Bldg. 1117 W. Johnson St. Madison, WI 53706 608.262.3336 *********************** "How can we learn from our mistakes if we don't first acknowledge them?" -Anonymous "We exist in the bacterial world, not bacteria in ours" -Stuart Levy _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list [email protected] http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
