Jolt

It amazes me, the variety of cycling "styles" I see some days. I was out all morning doing errands/general running around on my bike since it was such a nice day. Cyclists were out in force (at least compared to what I usually see around here)--I saw five or six others in my travels. Of these: three or four were on the sidewalk (and at least two of these were also going the wrong way), one was on the road but on the wrong side for part of the time I saw him, and one was switching from the sidewalk to the road. These were all grown men, too (I didn't see any other female cyclists out today), not the punk kids on BMX that I sometimes run across in the parking lot of one store I frequent. Now, I won't say I'm perfect in my traffic cycling technique; sometimes I get a little closer to parked cars than I should be, I'm not always great about signaling, and I will ride onto the sidewalk (as opposed to walking my bike onto it) to park at a light pole etc. provided I'm not going to crash into anyone while doing so. However, I can't believe how rotten the cycling skills of so many people around here are!!! Anyone else have similar observations?

Bill Kapaun

Well, I don't cross the busy street so i can ride the bike lane 3 blocks to cross back on the same side I started on so I can make my left turn. I ride the bike lane or sidewalk instead. If a bike rider is coming at me, I take the sidewalk.
I do yield/stop for pedestrians when on the sidewalk instead of "buzzing" them.
Another place is a long right turn lane. It's about a block long where cars tend to be VERY impatient. They get upset if they even have to stop on the red and yield to green light traffic. I take the sidewalk through my right turn then hop back into the bike lane at the first driveway.
Some of it's just plain survival & common sense!

East Hill

I am a great believer in getting out (literally) on the road. I do try to observe all traffic rules when I'm on the road, as I don't want to be labelled as yet another 'law-breaking cyclist'.

But I enjoy using MUPs because I have a lot of friends who walk their dogs on the local MUP .

East Hill

Jolt

I don't look down on the use of MUP's at all--they can be nice places to ride when not crowded. I just get irritated when other cyclists on the road do stupid things that give us all a bad reputation, or when they are riding on the sidewalk when there is no reason to do so (in other words, not just briefly going on the sidewalk to bypass an unusual problem area). I think that if I have been able to learn to mix it up with traffic on the roads, so can anyone, and then people would be less inclined to think all cyclists are obnoxious and erratic.

Cosmoline

It's not illegal to go on the sidewalk in many towns, esp. more spreadout towns out west. The alternative is often riding with 40-50mph traffic with no bike lane. In the gridiron downtown areas when traffic is down to a reasonable rate I'll ride with it. But even then I cut across on sidewalks as needed. I just go slower.

Jolt

To clarify, this was a combination of downtown areas and roads that were wide enough to share the lane. If it had been 40-50 mph roads with no shoulder it would be understandable for people to be riding on the sidewalk (of course, on a road like that around here there would most likely not be one anyway).

East Hill

I try to avoid the 40-50 MPH roads, but if there's no other way--then that's my route! There's almost always an alternative road, though. In my case, the MUP is the alternative, and I get to say hello to all the dog walkers.

There's Sophie (black Giant Schnauzer), and Cinnamon (cinnamon Doberman), and Shameless Hussy (Maltese), and... .

East Hill

drmain

I ride sidewalks because it's much safer.

DataJunkie

I don't ride sidewalks due to the fact that 90% of my negative encounters occur on said sidewalks.

MTBLover

+1. And it's not just pedestrians- nothing beats being on a sidewalk and having a cyclist come at ya from the opposite direction and there's no place to go. The road's the best.

lima_bean

o rly

socal619

I've had to jog in the bike lane to avoid cyclists on the sidewalk. When I'm on my bike I use the bike lanes when available and try my darndest to play by the rules. I don't understand why people are so afraid to use the bike lanes. A good portion of my old commute was along a high traffic highway access road (avg spd 60mph) with no bike lane or shoulder, so I'm pretty comfortable with cheating death.

stevegor

I've helped teach school kids road rules at Bike Ed programs, taking them riding in small groups on busy roads etc, then later the same day seeing the same kids riding on the wrong side of the road, no helmet and not putting into practise what they're learnt. I also regularily see training bunches of guys I raced with, riding 3,4 or 5 abreast...even on the wrong side of the road approaching a right hand corner.
So......you're fighting a losing battle, my advice is to do the right thing yourself, the rest can just go jump.

Jolt

That must be frustrating for you. I was at the local bike co-op yesterday afternoon helping work on a couple of bikes (it's a good way to learn how to do one's own maintenance etc.) and the conversation turned to things people didn't understand about other cyclists. I made a comment about sidewalk/wrong-way riding and was rather surprised by the reactions I got from a couple of people. They said they like to ride in the opposite direction as traffic to see what's coming (and that misconception is understandable; I used to be really nervous about same-direction traffic behind me) and asked me why I ride in the direction of traffic (in other words, they thought I was crazy). I replied that bikes are supposed to follow the same rules of the road as cars. Now, I'm not one of the hard-core "VC" people, but I agree with them that a bicycle is considered a vehicle and as such is subject to the same basic rules of the road as any other vehicle. That said, it's a very different type of vehicle, so it's not just like driving a car despite the fact that the rules are the same, and there are certain roads that really aren't appropriate for cycling due to fast traffic and no shoulder etc. Maybe this bike co-op should offer traffic safety classes--I have definitely observed a need for such education around here. I might suggest that to the guy in charge the next time I'm over there.

ivegotabike

chances are, yes, you are.