The Posey Tube

I spend about half of my time in the Oakland area and half in the Sacramento area.  The fact that I mostly blog about Sacramento should speak more to my access to the internet in Sacto than about the amount of cycling I do in Oakland. Thinking of this, I took a couple of photos after experiencing the Posey Tube, yet again, on Saturday.

So the Posey Tube, for those of you who aren't familiar with Oakland, is a ceramic-tiled concrete tunnel that runs under the Oakland Estuary and onto the island of Alameda. I usually ride across the Park Street Bridge to go to Alameda Bicycle shop, in Alameda. On Saturday, I decided to return to Oakland via the Tube. 

I usually don't ride the Tube because it is strictly unpleasent. About three times a year, though, I do it just to remind myself of how much nicer it is to ride my bike down the pot-hole-littered freeway-feeder streets of Jingletown.

The accessway in the Tube is legal bike access.

As you cans see, though, it is narrow and shielded from the rush of traffic by a metal railing. Maybe from the picture you can get an idea of what a ridiculous experience it is for two cyclists travelling in opposite directions to pass one another at the bottom of the tunnel. I won't even discuss the issues that arise when trying to pass someone pushing a shopping cart through the Tube. 

The Tube dives deep under the Estuary, to allow ocean-going ships to pass overhead. One can pick up a bit of speed rushing down into the bowels of the earth, only to have to crank back up the other side. All the while, the cyclist must avoid whacking the uneven metal railing, less than three feet from the wall. 

When two cyclists meet, one must put his bike onto the rail so that the other may pass. The cyclist on the wall side actually has the worse lot. I have hardly mentioned the wall, have I? 

The wall is concrete, covered with ceramic subway tile. I expect that the wall hasn't been power-washed in twenty years. Thousands of motorists drive through the tunnel every day. All of that exhaust has to go somewhere. When I finished passing my fellow cyclist, my right arm was as black as coal. I barely brushed against that wall, but that soot is thick. I strongly recommend against touching the walls in the Tube.

My real advice, just avoid riding the Tube. The metal grating on the Park Street Bridge is much nicer.