urban uphill training

the trouble I see with this is there is no signage warning about bikes being there nor is it a place drivers would expect to see a bike. combine that with darker conditions, mostly blind corners, and one driver not paying attention even slightly and it is a recipe for disaster. I don't know the exact build of your parking garage but chances are there are not many places to ditch and avoid a collision if you had to?

Keep your ears and eyes open.  I bet you could hear or feel a car coming.

Why risk it, serious, if you go around a turn and meet a car head on you are not left with too many options,what about parked cars backing out, the last thing they are looking out for is a cyclist. I'm sure if you check ,the outside rails might stop your bike, you will taking the superman way down to the ground! Remember, you will be doing most of your bike handling either going uphill or downhill. I don't think its safe at all! Running the stairs is fair game!


Edited by nevergivin 2009-06-17 3:58 PM

based on the vote in BT, my survival rate is only 25%. 

The parking structure is relatively wide and open compare to most I seen in the apartments and malls.  If I get there very early, level 3 - 10 is virtually empty and no car parked at all.  All "windows" are framed so I won't be superman flying off the structure in bike shorts.  Beside, I don't think I will be doing more than 10mph uphill. 

But again, because there is no car, I won't be surprise if there is a crazy driver pop out from no where who think Tokyo Drift is real.  Like someone mention before, its a blind corners every turn. 

I will keep the vote open and see if my survival rate increase/decrease!


Edited by yorkee 2009-06-18 11:00 AM

From a risk reduction perspective, maybe take your bike up to the top few floors and just do those . . . probably even less traffic up there until the bottom ones fill up.

I did a test run today.  apparently there are cars every floor!  All park very close to the evaluator exit.  Its quite depress seeing people rather waste gas driving the large SUV up 9 floors in order to make it closest to the evaluator just to save a few steps. 

are you climbing a long spiral hill? The garages by me have those, and it would be hellish, but a great idea really. They are seriously steep!

In college, we used to hold impromptu crits in a parking garage....then again there wasn't much traffic at 2 am. FWIW, it was a hell of a lot of fun. I'm not sure you can find better pavement.

I bet it would be an awesome place to train, only maybe it would be best at like 4 AM when there are no other cars at all....  I would be a bit too chicken to go for it, but if you put really bright flashy lights all over your bike and person, you would probably be a lot more visible than if you were parking-garage bike ninja

A good creative idea, but for for me,  your description seals the deal:

"...its a blind corners every turn..."

Between that and the fact that no car would expect you to be there, I don't think it's worth the risk...