It was raining the other day and I bit it while riding over the black railroad crossing on River Ave. The guy behind me who was nice enough to stop and check on me (THANK YOU!) told me that he's done the same thing twice.
I am posting this to:
A. Warn others about this dangerous spot, especially when wet.
B. Find out if anyone else has had a sprained rotator cuff and approx. time it took from accident until they were well enough to ride again?
Really sorry about your shoulder. That sucks.
FWIW *all* railroad crossing are slippery when wet, esp those with wood before and after the rails. And really, any steel (manhole covers, grates, plates, expansion joints, grate bridges) are going to be like ice when wet.
I felt my tires slip a bit when coming off of the hot metal bridge and back onto the trail toward panther hollow yesterday. I was surprised that it was the first time that has happened. Luckily i didnt lose control. Sorry to hear about your spill. I wedged my front wheel into a crack last month and bit it. Not enjoyable. About your shoulder, usually sprains take 3-6 weeks to start to feel better, I would guess. I deal with lower extremity sprains more often, but I believe upper extremity is similar if not shorter.
I have crashed on railroad tracks, and all railroad tracks are slippery when wet or dry.
a friend of mine went rubber side up on the tracks on river ave. (the second set outbound). myself, i bit it good on the tracks on neville a bunch of years ago.
i can't speak for a rotator cuff injury, but i've had a couple acromioclavicular ligament sprains, and they've both taken a bit over a month to feel ok again, and the second one maybe about 3 months before i was willing to sleep on that shoulder again.
but if you've hurt yourself, the only advice i can give is: go see a doctor.
I took a nasty spill in January 2010. Never did see a doctor, but apparently didn't break anything, though messed up some internal soft tissue. It was a couple of weeks before I could sleep on that side, three months before I tried riding, and I still feel a bit of a "thunk" when I move certain joints the wrong way.
This is also why, when someone is thinking about putting a light rail transit system in, that the line should be either above- or below-ground. At-grade crossings make bicycling miserable.
It was Neville I crashed on also.
Thanks for this feedback. Very much appreciated!
I have a new level of caution with regard to railroad crossings.
Regarding at-grade crossings, I have to think that there is a better way. Certainly European designers have found a better solution, no?
Portland has an at-grade light rail system, too. How do all the cyclists deal with all the grade crossings there?
Myself, I cannot fathom trying to come down Arlington on a bicycle. The one time I did it I was scared to death.
I used to do so every morning, but at hours with very little traffic or parked cars. It was almost like a giant bike lane, until I had to cross the tracks to stay on arlington.
I may be remembering it wrong though. I should go on an "old times" ride from my old apartment to my work for fun.
Crossings like on River and Neville/Boundary are somewhat close to 90 degrees and on level turf. Arlington is a serious hill, the tracks are right next to you, and then veer off at a very shallow angle. If cyclists who know the crossings are routinely wiping out on River and Neville, I can't imagine how any quantity of inexperienced, non-badass riders would get through the Arlington/McArdle crossing without catastrophic results.
That said, is there any reason why the River Ave crossings cannot be yanked out, other than money?
If we want to build up cycling in the city, these vestigial crossings need as much attention as the longitudinal drain grates.
The solution to Arlington (and Warrington) is to get the Wabash Tunnel open to bikes.
It's only a matter of time before I eat it on the Neville tracks after too much food and drink at OTB.
As far as the Wabash, if we can determine, with public data (via SPC?), viable cycling routes in the south hills that may easily benefit from the wabash linkage, then i'd be down for a hard push to Allegheny County and the Port Authority to eliminate bus traffic in the tunnel and permit cycling through it. That tunnel has been closed quite a few times over the years I would hardly think it's useful to motorized traffic.
Stu, I agree completely about Arlington. As to your question about Portland (and Seattle, and Toronto, and Boston, and a bunch of other places), the answer is, they crash, and occasionally they die (Boston, 2008, for one.)
Those nonfatal crashes are allegedly underreported, as are (imo) many nonfatal bicycle crashes, making statistical analysis difficult.
One thing I learned in Port Authority's presentation on the FY2012 capital budget is that they are going to rebuild Warrington Ave. Turns out PAAC owns 80% of Warrington, the city's 20% is the area nearest the curbs. This is because of the rails, as it was originally a trolley right-of-way.
As I understand it, PAAC's biggest objection to Wabash is the safety of cyclists and thus fear of lawsuits if someone got hurt. Well, if cyclists are already getting hurt on PAAC right-of-way, that does add a new wrinkle.
I really don't want to hijack this thread into a Wabash discussion -- we already have a thread for that.
Rail crossings do definitely pose a major hazard for cyclists, so the fewer of them we can have, the better, and the safer we can make the ones we can't get rid of, the better.
Are those tracks being used? There are two tracks on River Ave, the rubber-like crossing and one embedded in asphalt. The asphalt one, if not in use, could be fixed with a $10 bag of pothole patch from pretty much anywhere. The black one would need some form of traction aid as it is slick when wet. I will generally walk the bike over the tracks or slow to a crawl.
I pretty much ride River Ave everyday. Not to be devils advocate, but the fact is that the North Shore Trail is parallel to it.
Ride it everyday too, some days even more frequently. Recognizing from the outset it represented a hazard, I always make sure to take the full lane as I near it and then cross the tracks as near to perpendicularly as possible. Having to ride down Chestnut's brick and tracked surface of horrors in the rain and snow on my way home daily led to this approach. Chestnut North of East Ohio is challenging.
Pretty sure those train tracks on River are never used. I mean, they lead to the adjacent trail, where the tracks used to be, so how could they?
The Trail is slow with puddles and overhanging branches. Hmmm, I guess that's less painful then the alternative?
I prefer the road when possible, it is faster and more importantly when it is damp the minimal clearance with the calipers becomes zero clearance.
Less gnats on river road
My husband has a large scar on his left shoulder from eating it on the River Road tracks. Since I sleep on his right the scar serves as a cautionary tale to always slow down at RR tracks and be extra careful.
Glad you are okay.
Despite knowing the acute RRRR tracks are there, I have been surprised by them once or twice, when my mind was elsewhere. Fortunately I've never crashed on tracks, but one of these days my attention will be completely off. Signs out to the side of the road arn't really effective warnings, but I'm not sure that markings in the road would be better in the long run. It would be nice if the manufacturers of that kind of rubber flanging made it yellow or red instead of stylish black.
So why not fill in the one set with some pothole patch one evening? Or concrete?
Pittsburgh needs an Urban Repair Squad.
