Originally Posted by
TenSpeedV2
I don't think that people will find much support or encouragement anywhere on this forum when it comes to riding on the sidewalk. It may differ in other countries, so take that with a grain of salt. Bicycles do not belong on the sidewalk. We belong on the road, preferably a bike lane if possible.
I think it's perceived differently where I live because the sidewalks themselves are different. Unlike a big city where space is at a premium, many of the sidewalks here are WIDE. Like eight and ten feet wide. They are also FAR from the road, not at the curbs edge. Many are on greenbelts probably 15-20 away from the road. They have no furniture or signage on them. Some are stenciled with "bike" and an arrow, but there is no other sidewalks exclusively for pedestrians. Many of our intersections are traffic circles too, so the sidewalks just feed into them with the regular flow of traffic.
I really only use the sidewalk on one bridge I cross over. The bridge has only two lanes, they are narrow as hell, and there is no shoulder, NONE. So a car that needs to get past me will literally have to veer onto the wrong side of the road. Or, some timid drivers will just stay behind me and hold traffic up. Since I can't go 35mph I'd end up with a long line of cars behind me.