Do you ride on streets or sidewalks/bike trails?

[jerrykr]

Recently Sheryl and I have joined a company sponsered bicycle club. They are very nice people, but are a change from what we did as individuals. We are casual riders, we, so far, have taken pains to stay off city streets, opting instead to haul our bikes to designated bike trails.

Well, these folks are mostly of the skinny tired, high tech bike, spandex crowd, and are experienced in riding a combination of streets and off-street trails.

Here in Texas, bikes have just as much legal right to ride on the streets as someone driving a car. I always wondered (driving my car) why the heck that they would take up a whole traffic lane, instead of riding single file along the curb or on a sidewalk if there happened to be one.

Well I now know that they intentionally ride 2x2 in a traffic lane to force drivers to either pass them as a slow moving car, or take a left lane if one exists. It is a safety concern believe it or not. Their experience is that if they single file along a curb, that drivers often miss-judge how close they come in their passing, and often stuff like wide pickup mirrors hit bike riders. The bike rider of course looses that one. Yes, the pickup is the national car of Texas, and this fact is all too true.

Texas recently passed a law about how close a car can be to a bicycle when passing the bicycle, but it's still a judgment call by the driver of the car when it comes down to if the bicycle rider is actually hit.

I'm still having a hard time not hugging the curb when we have sections of city streets to navigate to get back on a bike lane.

In this club's defense, they have routes set up for their rides that minimize any city streets where possible, and the leader announces oncoming traffic, cars and bicycles, joggers, and walkers, and any other obstacles. They are very much more safety aware than I would have imagined.

Your experience?
.

 

[Korporal]

My bike is my car. If I only rode on trails, I'd never get anywhere. Everywhere I've lived, riding on sidewalks is illegal.

In the rare instances I drive, cyclists riding 2 wide in a pack of 100 bothers me to no end. It is impossible to pass. I rarely feel that I'm about to get clipped when I ride, so I find this style of riding unnecessary.

I have lived in areas where cyclists and cars were routinely hitting each other. I couldn't go two blocks without getting pinched, cut off, or honked at. I had absolutely no qualms about rides that interfered with vehicular traffic.

If there is a problem with cyclists getting clipped (what I gathered from your post), I'd ride 2 abreast without reservation. What really matters is if you're comfortable riding like this. If you are uncomfortable the whole ride, why be there? If it isn't that big of deal, do it and enjoy the like minded company.

 

[Wildcat]

Here in Jacksonville, we were voted one of the worst cities for cyclists. There are bike lanes painted along all the regular routes, but many drivers here are not paying enough attention to their driving for those to be viable. There are no bike paths of any consequence in the city. Every week I hear of a bike getting hit, and usually the rider doesn't make it. Like your club, sidestreets and routes free of traffic are the only way to go. Only one out of 25 drivers is on their cell phone, but that driver comes along every couple minutes, so I ride on the sidewalks until I get to the quiet streets. It's illegal, but the cops here don't mind, they know how dangerous the travel lanes are. I still watch my back closely on the sidewalks. Bike paths have to be separated from traffic, not just the parking lane. The problem here in Jax is that they would need to redesign all the roads, and there isn't enough emphasis on bikes. I previously lived in Grand Forks, ND. That city has it right, it's perfect for cyclists. You can commute anywhere in town and drivers and cyclists alike show competence on the roads.

 

[cruisehard]

Trails...I've been spoiled by them. The streets here are crap...glass, potholes, nails and screws everywhere. Downtown is not so bad, they've added bike lanes.

 

[user 135]

My bike is my car during the week- I save my gas for weekend use.

I ride the streets everyday. I pick routes that are less busy or have a bike lane when possible. I "take the lane" when appropriate but not all the time. I try to be an ambassador of biking, so the next time a driver encounters a bike, the driver does not have a grudge against bicycilist.

 

[badmuller]

Most dutch streets and roads are bicycle friendly.
A lot of the bigger streets/roads have (separate) bicycle lanes more often.
for example a bicycle lane starts at the end of my street aprox. 50 meter from my house.
I can get to the towns centre without leaving the bicycle path/lane.
same goes for the next/nearby town.

 

[seetheusachevy]

All of the above.... lol

The road in front of my house got a paved shoulder last year so bike riding is less hazardous on the street. The main road into town is not accommodating to cycling. I would ride my bike for more day to day things if the bike trail along the old GR&I railroad right-of-way was completed. Word on the street says the old guy who owns the "Train Barn" in Portage Michigan owns part of the right-of-way and wont sell it to finish the trail because he does not want people trespassing on his surrounding property.