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Originally Posted by astrahl
Well, that depends what you call a viable alternative. If they are training, those "bike lanes" off the road may not be safe...but I'm making assumptions about bike lanes I am unfamiliar with. But, in my experience, some of those bike causeways are twisty and meandering and unfit for 20mph or greater speeds (and cyclists are easily capable of those speeds)  . |
I'm not talking about the bike trails. I'm talking about the bike paths that parallel the road. In other words, the bike path only curves if the road curves. It's asphalt, just like the road, and follows the same path as the road, but it's set back from the road 3 to 5 feet, so it separates the bikers from the cars. Where I live anyway, they have a little street sweeper that cleans the paths. They clean the paths more often than they clean the roads. These things are freaking awesome, and I'm just about the only cyclist I ever see on them. Just about everyone else is out in the road, weaving and wobbling around at about 8mph while traffic tries to avoid them. It's insane!
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I guess I'm just looking for a "they might be in the wrong, but I'm careful around them anyway," type attitude.
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You've found it in me then
I'll bitch about 'em on here, but I'm still very careful when passing them. That doesn't mean I'm thrilled when one of them weaves in front of my car 'cause he's busy looking over his shoulder at his girlfriend, but. . .
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I have been hassled, yelled at, had things thrown at me, run off the road, dragged by a bus, threatened by a driver using her car as her weapon , threatened by the lazy police force (same bus incident), clipped by a car to fall on the one in front only to have the driver drive away, encroached upon in my lane...so maybe you can appreciate the animosity I feel on the subject.
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Course I can. I've had similar things happen to me, which is why I REALLY advocate staying on the damn bike paths when they're available. I don't like getting run down, and I figure that's less likely to happen if I'm off on the bike path.
If there is no bike path, then absolutely the biker is doing nothing wrong by riding on the road, provided he does it in a smart way. The ones that weave all over the lane because they can't ride a bike in a straight line should get off the street until they learn how a bicycle operates, and so forth.
But as I've said, if the cyclist is competent, and isn't unnecessarilly obstructing other traffic (keep in mind that if I start driving 8mph and weaving all over in my car, the cops will nab me too) then there's nothing wrong with him being on the road.
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consider piloting their vehicles from time to time as opposed to just riding behind the steering wheel
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I am going to steal that line. My sentiments EXACTLY, and not just regarding the bike issue.