Gunk…lane?

While commuting home (via car) the other day, I was waiting at a light and glanced at the Bike Lane sign. I then did a double glance and realized it didn’t say ‘Bike’ but had been altered (ohh you pesky urban artists!) to ‘Gunk’ lane. I then held up traffic to get a picture with my mobile device.

But while driving on, I started to think about it – the bike lane is often a ‘gunk’ lane. Cluttered with debris, car parts, dead animals and other refuse (or ‘offal’, which seems to be a word of the day for me). In fact, there are some streets where I would rather ride IN THE ROAD than in the designated bike lane (gunk lane) due to the debris (gunk?) scattered everywhere.

What is one of the weirdest things you’ve seen in a bike lane?

Wait, what lane?

2 thoughts on “Gunk…lane?

  1. ugh totally agree that they treat the bike lane like a gunk lane. Full muffler left in the bike lane going down a hill, luckily it’s near the top so you see it b4 you are going 30+ down the hill (it’s pretty steep). Then there’s the pot-holes and broken glass that get left in the bike lane b/c it is out of the way of motorists… seen 2×4’s & plywood w/nails there too. Only thing I see removed quickly is broken branches that are 1″ diameter thick and 4′ diameter of branches.

    One that caught me off guard was, someone had pulled the lid off a utility box that sits in the middle of the lane in front of a golf course. They tossed the cover 20′ off down the lane and then left it that way overnight. I was commuting to work at 4:30am, around Jan or Feb, hella dark, b/c there is no street light spaced close enough to see it. I knew the box was there but I’m used to just riding over the cover or riding around it when I would see it. My headlight was weak at the time (like a 1/2 watt) and I didn’t see where the box was or that the lid was off until I was right on top of it and it had popped both my tires from hitting the iron corner around the top of this hole. I rolled out of it, so was good I didn’t endo or bail in any way. Didn’t do any damage to the rims either really, so was just 2 flats. Emailed the city and they took care of it by putting reflective paint on the lid and investigating who did it.

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