Sunday, October 18, 2015

Burlington Streets Challenge - Downtown District

Another installment in the series to ride every public road within Burlington's city limits in 2015.

One of the old world gems on Tower Terrace.
Confession: I have a love/hate relationship with riding in downtown Burlington. After the relatively easy and relaxing riding of the New North End and Old North End districts, I've struggled to complete the hilly and busy region of our city. It's a beautiful place, filled with historic mansions turned into college and university buildings, three-story Victorian homes, plus businesses which make up the city core. However, it is difficult to repeatedly pedal hills and navigate heavy traffic amidst narrow lanes lined with parked vehicles. Couple that with numerous dead end steep streets and the fact that I was all too familiar with these very roads because this region is my home. Understandably, the challenge was beginning to loose its luster. 

A unique view of downtown Burlington's brick buildings and skyline.
I had to rethink my strategy. After a couple of false starts, attempting to ride homeward after a busy work day and uphill while picking off one street at a time, it proved exhausting, turning an interesting challenge into a mindless, physical chore. Enter the new agenda. If I left early a couple mornings per week I could use living at higher elevation to my advantage. Working with momentum, as opposed to against it, I began to tick off streets like aptly named Cliff Street, then Maple Street, Howard Street, King Street, and horrendous Main Street. Thankfully, this proved to be an efficient plan and through perseverance I eventually finished riding around downtown.

After finishing the streets of a nearby neighborhood,  I reward myself with a ride homeward
along the waterfront trail.
With the bulk of the city roadways behind me, it feels great to be in the home stretch! 

Completed Streets to date:
  1. South Champlain Street
  2. South Willard Street
  3. Bank Street
  4. Orchard Street
  5. Hungerford Terrace
  6. University Place
  7. Bradley Street
  8. Henderson Terrace
  9. Robinson Parkway
  10. University Terrace
  11. Edgewood Lane
  12. Clymer Street
  13. Perrotta Place
  14. Hoover Street
  15. Redstone Terrace
  16. Ludwig Court
  17. Adams Court
  18. Chittenden Drive
  19. Deforest Street
  20. Overlake Park
  21. Summit Street
  22. Harrington Terrace
  23. Jackson Court
  24. Tower Terrace
  25. Deforest Heights
  26. Iranistan Road
  27. Cliff Street
  28. Locust Street
  29. Pine Street
  30. Cedar Lane
  31. Juniper Terrace
  32. Summit Ridge
  33. Howard Street
  34. Sears Lane
  35. Caroline Street
  36. South Winooski Avenue
  37. Spruce Street
  38. Spruce Court
  39. Kingsland Terrace
  40. Adams Street
  41. Pine Place
  42. Marble Avenue
  43. Oak Beach Drive
  44. Ledgemere Street
  45. Marion Street
  46. Southwind Drive
  47. Bayview Street
  48. Ambrose Place
  49. Dunder Road
  50. South Cove Road
  51. Eastman Way
  52. Red Rocks Road
  53. Elm Terrace
  54. Hayward Street
  55. Locust Terrace
  56. Golden Street
  57. Charlotte Street
  58. Catherine Street

4 comments:

  1. I applaud your ingenuity and it makes perfect sense to have gravity on your side in a hilly location (particularly when narrow streets are involved!). Nice to see you continue your mission too. :)

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    Replies
    1. I'm nearing the end! Thanks again for a great suggestion. It's kept me going through some difficult times this year.

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  2. Impressive! You live in a truly beautiful area. The pictures are stunning.

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  3. Thanks Kendra. In the time I moved to the Northwest, bought a house, traveled, then uprooted ourselves to return home, Burlington had cleaned up it's waterfront and improved the downtown core. It is a nice place to raise a family.

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