[BreakingWind]

I am plagiarizing coloradodale's post in the Mountain-Plains forum, but I think its valuable here:

There were a number of articles on Safe Cycling in today's(May 6) Denver Post including
"One Dangerous Road " The main article on cover of sports section.

Link to One Dangerous Road: W. 32nd Ave.
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_9163889

link to video on the dangers of cycling on West 32nd Avenue http://photos.denverpost.com/photopr...tid=1539385012

link to "They think it's funny if they swerve into you"
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_9163926

These articles from the Denver Post are the result of a cyclist fatality near Golden, CO a couple of weeks ago.

I'm sure the tone of the articles and followup emails would be the same throughout the country, but it kind of reminds you of the attitudes, as well as your vulnerability, when you're out there with the cars.

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[bkrownd]

The outer parts of Denver was even a scary place to drive! I stayed within the Park Hill - Capitol Hill - University - Downtown area, where it was safe.

[jamesdenver]

Plenty of comments too: http://neighbors.denverpost.com/viewtopic.php?p=199492#p199492

Mine are scattered throughout that thread under my same moniker here. Hopefully I added something useful!

[jamesdenver]

Also some of the arguments motorists use to convince cyclists to remain on sidewalks and MUPs are the same arguments they themselves should adhere to while on the road. This comment was made in response to a post detailing the dangers of high speed cyclists flying down MUPs filled with pedestrians, strollers, and dog walkers:

No, you slow down (what a concept) and use your voice to audibly and politely (another "what a concept) say "passing on your left" and then go past them! It's really quite simple and you lose at most a second out of your total time. Big deal.

To which I responded:

Yup you're correct. Not much different than a car slowing down in front of a cyclist and passing when its safe to so. The driver loses a couple seconds of his time. Big deal.

And another response agreeing with a commenter on why sidewalks suck and came up with this nice comparison if I do say so myself.

Speaking of sharing: I, a fast cyclist, often travel down 7th Avenue, a nice wide street with bike lanes on both sides. Probably the best street to bike on in the city. On nice days these bike lanes are often populated by walkers, joggers, and stroller moms walking/running two abreast.

Even though the bike lanes have a big bike symbol in them - which I guess imply they are MY lanes built for me and me alone, do I yell and scream and b*tch about them being in MY bike lane? (Me Me Me Me!!)

Of course not. I'm not a jogger but I know asphalt is easier to jog on, and the stroller moms and joggers don't want to navigate old neighborhood sidewalks with their curbs and uprooted sections of concrete. Thus a nice wide boulevard is easier for them.

They are slower than me, but I can easily pass them and share space with them. I stay alert and aware, and its no different than me sharing a street with pedestrians versus cars sharing a street with bikes.

Its really not that complicated.

[atbman]

I'm astonished at the power that cyclists have in Denver. Apparently, they can force drivers to cross a double yellow line. It must be very worrying to have so little control over your motor vehicle when coming up behind cyclists behaving (as you see it) selfishly and being helpless to prevent yourself from turning the wheel to overtake in an illegal fashion.

It would also appear that, in some cases, drivers are so allergic to the sight of spandex, that they have to take violent evasive action to get away from it.

[RobertHurst]

And another response agreeing with a commenter on why sidewalks suck and came up with this nice comparison if I do say so myself.

Ugh, I used to commute on 7th daily and the joggers in the street were annoying. Not that it was difficult in a physical sense, but it was kind of hard to take that tremendous sense of entitlement that was generally emitted from them. I mean, I got a car coming up on my left, and a jogger coming straight at me on the wrong side of the street. No big deal -- just would you please move your ***** over a tiny bit to help me out? It would have been quite a bit easier if, on rare occasion, one would offer a smile or wave or some hint of humanity. Once I was fiddling with my pant leg or shoe lace or something for a half block, thus not incredibly focused on the road ahead as I should have been, and I looked up just in time to see a dude pushing one of those three wheel high performance jogger-strollers, running fast and angled straight at me with this crazy look on his face, seemingly going well out of his way to make it as close as possible. Using his kid like some kind of passive aggressive battering ram.

Robert

[bkrownd]

I mean, I got a car coming up on my left, and a jogger coming straight at me on the wrong side of the street.

If a jogger is coming at you, then he's on the correct side of the street. (assuming you're on the correct side of the street as well)

[RobertHurst]

If a jogger is coming at you, then he's on the correct side of the street. (assuming you're on the correct side of the street as well)

So is that a law or just jogger conventional wisdom? I honestly don't know, but I doubt runners are legally allowed to run in the bike lanes of 7th ave., in either direction. It's going to happen regardless, fine, just move over a little bit to ease the passage of your fellow humans who are allowed to be there.

Robert

[ATAC49er]

RH is correct on all points -- peds/joggers/strollers in bike lanes is verboten, but will happen anyway.
It would be GOLD if we/they could simply be generous and share what doesn't really belong to us/them anyway....
I'm more than willing to share the space where I'm riding...if you will acknowledge my use, as well.