Bike Path Construction

[Salukipoke]

I've been reading this board for a long time and enjoy the discussion but never felt compelled to post anything until now.

While my daughter is out of school and I don't have to drop her off, I ride my bike to work.  With the Riverside bike path under construction (thank you Mr. Kaiser!), there is a stretch where cyclists have to be up on Riverside for about 1 1/2 to 2 miles.  I would like everyone to know, and pass it along to any and all friends who utilize the path, that cyclists must follow the rules of the road just like cars.  Bottom line; cyclists should ALWAYS be on the right side of the road, just like cars. 

Several times this summer I have been traveling home (South), I'll be on the West side of Riverside, I'll look up, and there will be another cyclists coming right at me on the shoulder.  Many times I've pointed to the other side of the road and even said, "dude, you belong on the other side!"  Most times I get a blank look or a confused look, but the other day, some guy told me to F-off!     Hey, I can lace sentences with colorful words better than anybody and proved it to him, but I just don't get it... do some people really think it's o.k. and legal to ride a bike in the opposite direction of traffic??

Anyway, just wanted to vent and remind folks that while on the road, cyclists have to follow the rules of the road.  When they don't, it just endangers the rest of us.

Later

LW

[Ed W]

A co-worker was riding his bike to work one morning when an elderly man stopped him and said he was supposed to ride facing traffic.  Supposedly there was a bike safety film once upon a time that advocated this practice, but in all my reading I've never encountered it.

Wrong-way cyclists think of themselves as pedestrians on wheels.  And as you've found, getting them to change can be extremely difficult.  There's an unfounded fear of getting hit from behind, and that fear drives much of this behavior. 

There's a long list of things that cyclists do wrong or do poorly.  My big red button is about sidewalk riding, but riding at night without lights or reflectors is a close second. 

Our Smart Cycling classes are on hiatus until summer is over.  It's simply too hot to conduct classes on a parking lot in July and August.  When we schedule some in the fall, I'll post them here.

[Conan71]

A co-worker was riding his bike to work one morning when an elderly man stopped him and said he was supposed to ride facing traffic.  Supposedly there was a bike safety film once upon a time that advocated this practice, but in all my reading I've never encountered it.

Wrong-way cyclists think of themselves as pedestrians on wheels.  And as you've found, getting them to change can be extremely difficult.  There's an unfounded fear of getting hit from behind, and that fear drives much of this behavior. 

There's a long list of things that cyclists do wrong or do poorly.  My big red button is about sidewalk riding, but riding at night without lights or reflectors is a close second. 

Our Smart Cycling classes are on hiatus until summer is over.  It's simply too hot to conduct classes on a parking lot in July and August.  When we schedule some in the fall, I'll post them here.

How do you feel about "packing up" five and six wide blocking lanes of traffic?  I personally think it's pretty arrogant and is road rage waiting to happen.

[cannon_fodder]

I've been reading this board for a long time and enjoy the discussion but never felt compelled to post anything until now.

Welcome to the forum!  And +1 all around.

Riding my back home from downtown last weekend a friend and I were staggered in the left lane of Boston.  Low traffic (downtown Tulsa, weekend) and add to the fact that riding bikes on sidewalks downtown is verboten, we were doing what we are supposed to do.  Going straight, staggered, reasonable speed, following traffic laws and everything.  Some jerk begins honking at us and yelling about how dangerous we are being and continues to insist that we move instead of passing us in the right lane (no other car in sight).

People have no clue. 

Also, I have sympathy for bikers that want to be pedestrians.  Riding on sidewalks, "running" red lights, skipping across parking lots, etc.   In my world, if you want to act like a pedestrian while riding your bike have at it.  But while doing so you don't also enjoy the status of vehicle.  You can't be a pedestrian one minute and flaunt traffic rules and then  utilize them for your benefit a moment later or visa versa (riding down the middle of a lane like a car, then upon hitting a red light just go through it only to reenter the lane as if a car again). 

Bah!

[Conan71]

Welcome to the forum!  And +1 all around.

Riding my back home from downtown last weekend a friend and I were staggered in the left lane of Boston.  Low traffic (downtown Tulsa, weekend) and add to the fact that riding bikes on sidewalks downtown is verboten, we were doing what we are supposed to do.  Going straight, staggered, reasonable speed, following traffic laws and everything.  Some jerk begins honking at us and yelling about how dangerous we are being and continues to insist that we move instead of passing us in the right lane (no other car in sight).

People have no clue. 

Also, I have sympathy for bikers that want to be pedestrians.  Riding on sidewalks, "running" red lights, skipping across parking lots, etc.   In my world, if you want to act like a pedestrian while riding your bike have at it.  But while doing so you don't also enjoy the status of vehicle.  You can't be a pedestrian one minute and flaunt traffic rules and then  utilize them for your benefit a moment later or visa versa (riding down the middle of a lane like a car, then upon hitting a red light just go through it only to reenter the lane as if a car again). 

Bah!

I had no idea you were down there on your bike.  D-Fest?  I biked from my house to 36th & Hudson to Riverside, to Soundpony and The Hunt Club Sat. afternoon/evening.  Beautiful day for it.

[Ed W]

How do you feel about "packing up" five and six wide blocking lanes of traffic?  I personally think it's pretty arrogant and is road rage waiting to happen.

I seldom do group rides, partly because I don't like some of the behaviour, and partly because I simply don't have the time.  But let's think about "blocking lanes of traffic." 

The typical lane here is seldom more than 12 feet wide.  A cyclist should ride in the right-hand tire track, leaving about a third of the lane to his right and two thirds to his left.  From the center of his bike to the center line of the road should be about 8 feet.  A responsible motorist, taking due care and observing the law, must pass with at least three feet of clearance between his car and the bicycle rider.  This means the motorist must straddle the center line or change lanes completely when passing a single bicycle.

So how does this change when there are multiple cyclists present?  The motorist is still obligated to exercise care.  It is still his responsibility to pass safely.  And he's still going to have to straddle the center line or change lanes to pass. 

What motorists are really objecting to in these circumstances is the requirement that they slow down.  The presence of a large group almost guarantees the motorist will have to reduce speed, and for many of them, this is somehow immoral and anti-social.  Yet these same people will gripe about others speeding through their neighborhood or around their schools.

Yes, I've seen cyclists riding more than 2 abreast and even crossing the center line 4 or 5 riders wide.  If you experience something like that, you're perfectly within your rights to call the local police and report them, just as you're within your rights to report those speeding motorists you see on your daily commute.  Would any of us realistically expect law enforcement to respond to either of these complaints?  I wouldn't.  Despite the knowledge that speeding takes lives, the speed limits aren't seriously enforced.  Neither are the bicycling laws.  Oh, they might take an enforcement action for a few days, but that's about all.

Is that being cynical or simply realistic?

[Grizzle4D8]

Riding on sidewalks, "running" red lights, skipping across parking lots, etc.   In my world, if you want to act like a pedestrian while riding your bike have at it.  But while doing so you don't also enjoy the status of vehicle.  You can't be a pedestrian one minute and flaunt traffic rules and then  utilize them for your benefit a moment later or visa versa (riding down the middle of a lane like a car, then upon hitting a red light just go through it only to reenter the lane as if a car again). 

Traffic Control: An Exercise in Self-Defeat  http://www.bikewalk.org/pdfs/trafficcontrol_backtobasics.pdf

Ruling Out Rule of Law  http://www.thenewspaper.com/rlc/docs/2008/vanderbilt.pdf