Where Do Bikes Fit In?
The video above is standard fare for safe and legal cycling. Note the narrator's advice to maintain Lane Control by riding in the center of a marked lane. In 1978 I was riding my bike home from work in the right lane of University Boulevard. My route was mostly bike paths and small back roads like Forest Glen, but I had no choice but to take Colesville and University, major streets with center islands and two lanes in each direction, for a few blocks to get to my neighborhood.
An irate, business-clad fellow in a full-size pickup truck pulled next to me, scowling and sputtering. Finally he choked out, "Use The Sidewalk!" and sped off. Although there were some designated, paved bike paths in my area, I hadn't ridden sidewalks since I was a kid.
In my childhood neighborhood, we exited and entered the sidewalks at driveway cuts and mostly stayed on our own block. Many of us rode Sting Ray or Wheelie bikes with banana seats and 20" wheels. These bikes were popular because it was easy to pull wheelies. At that time few sidewalks had sloped curb cuts at the corners. To cross a road from the sidewalk, we launched our bikes off the curb at one end, then yanked the front wheel up by the handlebars to climb the next curb and jumped up off the pedals to lift the back wheels. We were cool.
That maneuver was more difficult on English Racers, and as I grew older, I learned that cyclists are supposed to ride to the far right of the road. Automobile traffic leaves a messy collection of gravel, broken glass and litter in the shoulder, so the best place to ride is just on or to the left of the rightmost painted line.
But riding the line has gotten more risky. I used to deal with the occasional thrown bottle or shout as a pair of jerks drove by, but now there are SUVs and drivers who talk and text on their cell phones to worry about.
Embedding is disabled but these videos show a more realistic situation for cyclists on the road:
and the Third one isn't disabled:
A big problem is the driver who forgets you exist once they've pulled their head ahead of your head. They immediately return to the center of the right lane, which forces the cyclist into the shoulder, guardrail, etc. or they make a right turn, which knocks the cyclist down. All of that has happened to me. It even happens when I run.
A bigger problem is the driver that doesn't notice you at all, or that doesn't want you on the road at all, like that good old boy on University, or this maniac. Every day I see more bike riders leaving the road to use the sidewalk. Curb cuts were intended for wheelchairs and older pedestrians, but make riding sidewalks much easier for cyclists. But there are sidewalks that are virtually deserted, and there are sidewalks that are choked with pedestrians. I eventually came to use some mostly deserted sidewalks in my commuting, but riding among walkers simply transfers the risk to the pedestrians.
As I've learned over the last few years, people walk just as inconsiderately as they drive or bike. A group of people will move apart to fill the entire width of a sidewalk. People will burst out of shop doors without looking either way. People will stop short to pay full attention to their cell phone. Mothers with strollers are completely unpredictable. You can't ride a bike around them.
So there's more of a push for dedicated bike lanes. Still there was a time when autos, cyclists and pedestrians managed to share the road.
Unsurprisingly, Denmark and the Netherlands are places to go when figuring out how to set up bike traffic.
Until such time, with some exceptions in local law, you must ride on the road when there is no bike lane (on the side walk or squared off the road), and must ride on the bike lane when there is one. Sometimes you can cheat, but speed is a factor: I regularly ride 20mph and above, and that has no place - ever - on a pedestrian sidewalk.
September 24, 2009 8:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
http://www.bicycling.com/article/0,6610,s1-2-13-17075-1,00.html
September 24, 2009 3:04 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's true cycling in NYC rocks now! I rode for aprox 8 miles today on the East River to Randall's Island Park (Island between Manhattan and Queens), most of it on bike only and bike/pedestrian only paths.
I've ridden to New Jersey on the West Side in a similar way, and the paths and bike lanes in Queens and Brooklyn are pretty good now too.
September 25, 2009 12:15 AM | Reply | Permalink
Great video at the end. Shows just how much we have lost along the way here in America. I wonder how Barcelona does today with bicycles and bars and pedestrians. Probably not too many horses sharing the streets now.
September 24, 2009 8:40 AM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry, but I have to smile at the earnestness of this video. I've known 2 people who've been hit by NYC bike messengers when they had the right-of-way in a crosswalk, one of whom broke her hip. Unfortunately, rules and laws don't apply in NYC.
September 24, 2009 9:24 AM | Reply | Permalink
Everyone always brings up messengers. Bike messengers are to the average cyclist what ronin taxi drivers are to the average motorist.
September 24, 2009 3:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Agreed I've been cycling in NYC for over 25 years and I've NEVER hit a pedestrian. I was even a messenger for a brief stint, the idea that they all act the same is just not true.
September 24, 2009 9:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Then maybe you should sufficiently address them.
September 24, 2009 9:56 PM | Reply | Permalink
Does every article about driving address hit and run drivers? Does every article about doctors address malpractice? Does every article about bloggers address the trolls?
September 24, 2009 11:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think you have "sufficiently addressed" trolls, LOL.
September 25, 2009 12:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Let's just stick with your post about safety, Donal. If it keeps coming up ("Everyone always brings up messengers") and you don't address it, then that's your downfall as an op-ed writer. Sorry, it's not your readers' fault. It's yours.
September 25, 2009 11:03 AM | Reply | Permalink
If you don't think I've addressed the risk of cycling around pedestrians, I'd say you are either A- a poor reader, or B- an attention-craving troll.
September 25, 2009 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
I certainly don't crave your attention, nor is there anything to "read" in this post. Fail again.
I liked the video despite its 1960s earnestness and creation of an alternate reality.
But if you can't take a valid critique of your own words, you certainly won't be the first TPM blogger to throw down ad hominems when offended.
Good to know about you, Donal!
September 25, 2009 12:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Boo hoo
September 25, 2009 12:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Here . . . Donal . . .
This is purportedly the first film ever made.
And yup! It's got a bicycle in it, and also a dog. (of course)
It called Leaving the Factory 1895 - 47 secs.
~OGD~
September 24, 2009 9:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Some wag once observed that if an alien were to come to this planet and land in Los Angeles they would conclude that the dominate life form on the planet was the automobile. It seems that the more modern and more prosperous a community the greater share of the infrastructure and the public wealth is dedicated to the automobile. Any home built after 1940 has the most spacious and useful room in it dedicated to the automobile – the garage.
There are and could be and should be sensible protocols for the co-existence of walkers, bikers and automobile drivers; simple conventional solutions like walking, biking or driving on the right side. However what is and what could be has been OBE’d - by the cell phone. I am a pedestrian and I walk among other places in the city center of Portland Oregon. It has been over a decade since I have had any confidence in the existing traffic controls – lights and signs – or in the consideration of automobile drivers. The reason is - the cell phone. I have lost count of how many times I have seen the driver’s surprised eyes, their shrugged shoulders pleading innocence, and have watched their lips recite the mantra of the cell user “Oh Marge, I almost ran over a pedestrian.” Why is it always Marge?
I support in every way the use of the bicycle but I must say that I have observed as much irrationality in their driving as a percentage as I would attribute to the operators of the automobile. As a group they have yet to acknowledge what the pedestrian has long known, namely that not all drivers are drunk but it is best to imagine a pitcher of Margaritas on every dashboard.
In the end the problem is that people have too many places to go and too many people to talk to who will not be at the places they are going. Fortunately both of these problems will be resolved as part of the upcoming “adjustment” in the manner of our economic existence. Ironically if the experience of the former Soviet Union and other places that have experienced their “adjustment” is precedent, cell phone usage will thrive and even increase.
September 24, 2009 10:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
LEED certification. It's a good thing, in my opinion, and so very California.
I have bikers in my family so I always give bicycle traffic a wide berth, even if it may mean crossing into the on coming traffic lane in a two way road to accommodate bikers. Mines do the Waves to Wine MS Society benefit thing from San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin and beyond every September. Occasionally I have worked HAM support. This year one of the team did not take part in that ride because of a serious fall he had while taking off after his sister on their descent of San Pablo. Jack and Jill in the rhyme didn't have Kaiser. Next year mine will ride together, nimbly but safely.
In California car drivers must also share intersections and crosswalks with pedestrians in a most generous way, as those on foot pretty much have the right of way at all times by law. This causes many walkers to step into the crosswalk in a pretty casual way and amble along without care or concern for any other moving, or idling, object. We are definitely not in New York City anymore Toto, but we sure have LEED values.
September 24, 2009 11:41 AM | Reply | Permalink
I'm in Germany and I share the road with autos,trucks and farm equipment. Over here, drivers give bicyclist a wide berth on the road. One stretch of road I travel is a busy two-lane(no bike lane) State highway. Traffic is cleared for 100kph(64 mph). I get a side draft sometimes but no one gets within 1 meter(3 feet) of me. Most of the time I'm on rural farm roads linking farm town to farm town. Everyone gives me a wide berth too and I've never had a problem unless it's an American from the base behind the wheel. In Europe they have days where they'll shutdown highways to vehicle traffic and only pedestrians and bicycles are allowed. This past summer I was going to try the Trier to Cocheim run along the Mosel - round trip was about 150 miles. Unfortunately it was pouring down rain on the day of the event. Just like health care, the Europeans have a better plan.
September 24, 2009 1:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, before this video I was gonna take up cycling. But then came....
that "music."
Take me now, Lord. Take me now.
September 24, 2009 1:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
I've been commuting on a bike for 40 years plus and have always been riding this way (except for the stop signs when there's no traffic). When bicycles make up a significant proportion of the vehicles commuting on the roads, people will see this more and more. Averaging 16-18 mph on the flat, and 14 in hilly terain, all on good road bikes- well, you can figure it out. Any commute of 45 minutes or less is very convenient on a bike. And the cold weather is best with the right layering.
September 24, 2009 9:35 PM | Reply | Permalink
Some western states allow cyclists to keep rolling through stop signs.
September 24, 2009 11:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Me tooooooo. Since I lost my car years ago, I walk all the time. And the damn bikes will sneak up behind me and scare the ehll out of me. Sometimes they yell
LEFT
what does that mean? Does that mean I should move right? Or should I just stop. Or am I supposed to go left?
Cars make people into something else. dangerous.
September 24, 2009 10:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
Left! means he's passing on the left, so don't make any sudden changes in direction. It's a marginal technique for mixed traffic on recreational paths shared by cyclists and pedestrians.
September 24, 2009 11:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
I believe it is the short form of "On your left", meaning expect me to pass by there. But cyclists ought not to assume that every walker understands the code. Bike riders are supposed to know it and that's cool.
September 25, 2009 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
Seriously agree. In DC, you can't even assume everyone understands English. They have these great facilities, Rock Creek Parkway/Beach Drive, C&O Canal towpath, Mt Vernon trail, etc. that are equally enjoyable to ride or walk, so people do both.
The spandex-clad cyclists want to show off their new Kleins and ride over 20 mph, while the hausfrau wants to show off her twins in the Aprica stroller. 'S a problem.
September 25, 2009 11:37 AM | Reply | Permalink