Yikes

There's a post by another George over on BlogAsheville that gave me the heebie jeebies this afternoon. I'm a bit of a night owl, and on occasion a responsible person, and I usually walk downtown and around North Asheville at times of the early morning. During the day I'm often seen on the bastard bike peddling my way around. If you're on a bicycle, Merrimon is a deathtrap. It's the only road in Asheville where I ride on the sidewalk (where there is one - pity those trying to get from the Ace of Spades to the Merrimon Arts center). Bastard public service announcement: Alternate routes to Merrimon if you need to walk to North Asheville in the early morning.

• Central Ave: Very little traffic, underpass under I-240. My standard road for getting in and out of downtown. There was an attack there about a year ago, but I haven't had any problems.
• Madison Ave: Not quite as hilly as Washington or Liberty, and the steepish walls in front of the houses on the west side of the street combined with the occasional light make it easy to see other people on the street.
• Murdock Ave: Part of me doesn't like the dividers on this street because they're dangerous if you're cycling and there is a car behind you. But it has kept traffic down on this street, and kept the cars pretty slow. Another Asheville street that lacks paving on both sides, stick to the west side of the street and you should be OK.
• Kimberly Ave: If you're going further north, there's much less traffic, lights, and the dangers can't afford to be here. Easy walk or cycle all the way to Beaverdam road - a great cross street for getting back to Merrimon is Ottari - fairly flat and the speed humps keep traffic down.

Safe walking and cycling, hope that guy from this morning made it. UPDATE: he didn't, there's more details at ashevegas...