biking in corvallis and albany (Hillsboro: how much, buy, safe)

[chris12karen]

Is there a safe way to bike from Corvallis to the train station in Albany? Is their safe bike rack parking in Albany at the train station?

Thanks.

[UrbanRunner]

Great question and I'd like to know the answer too. Particularly about bike parking/lockers.

[Leisesturm]

Safety is relative. My GF and I regularly ride our tandem on T.V. Highway (8) and Hillsboro Hwy (219). Doing something similar in NYC is just not possible. One cannot safely ride a bicycle on the Belt Parkway or Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, comparable roads to the aforementioned. Nevertheless, locals don't often feel comfortable on these roads because of the 45mph vehicular traffic next to them. I suspect your route up from Corvallis would be on Hwy 20. You are technically allowed to ride 'in' the vehicle lane but at the extreme righthand edge. Overtaking cars will have to partially or totally cross the center line to get around you. This they will do, but you make life easier for everyone if you learn to use the hard shoulder to the right of the fog-strip. It doesn't take much more skill to keep from going off the hard shoulder into the ditch than to keep from veering out into the traffic stream on your left. All that said, it's 13.4 mi. from start to finish of your bike leg. That's not intended to be a daily ride is it? Maybe for Lance Armstrong, but not mere mortals. I haven't seen the train station yet that didn't have bike locking facilities. How secure depends on how much you want to invest in locking equipment. In NYC it takes a 16lb - 25lb lock and chain to keep a bike safe. It probably takes a 5lb - 10lb kit to do the same job in OR. Maybe even less at a train station where there is constant motion. For a commute situation I would buy a great (heavy) lock and leave it at the station to avoid carrying all that weight back and forth. But I don't recommend that trip as a commute unless you are only doing it a couple to few times per week and can do it before or after rush hours. This will require night riding equipment. Expensive for stuff that really works. I'd like to know more about this actually.

H

[DavePautsch]

I think if I were heading from Corvallis to Albany by bike - I'd head Hwy 34. I see bikes there all the time when I drive it...but I'd take Oakville Road from the highway - it eventually turns into Queen and the intersection of Queen and Pacific Blvd is only a few blocks from the train station.

I confess however that I do NOT know about a safe bike rack at the train station.

DaveP