would include, narrow roads with no shoulder or heavily trashed shoulders, with cars going at a high rate of speed.
What do drivers of other slow moving vehicles do on these roads?
There is a difference when you are on a bicycle or in a slow moving car. I get hit at 50 mph on a bike. I die. I get hit in a car, I may not even get injured. In a car, I can drive on gravel and not flip over. On a bike with 23c tires, gravel is the enemy.
Quote:Areas with a large degree of crime.
You mean areas that are poor and have lots of utility cycling?
Yes, that is right. I don't care if they ride their bikes. But I am not going to go from my nice neighborhood to their lowsy one to get mugged. My friend rode in a bad area, he was beaten with a baseball bat, chased and eventually got away on his bike. This is not my idea of a good ride. I used to live in a bad neighborhood, so did my grandmother. I had bullets go through my bedroom window. I know how bad these neighborhoods are. And no, I won't ride there.
Quote:Roads with ditches or cliffs. I don't want to hit some gravel and fly off of a road Wiley E. Coyote style.
Like coastal Highway 1 through Big Sur, one of the most awesome rides in the world?
Glad you like it. I hear the view is to die for.
Quote:Roads with lots of traffic, to the point that no one can pass me without them following me for miles on end and eventually squeezing past me.
Sounds like noisebeam's commute. Hey Al, are you back from vacation yet?
Sounds like fun. Hey can I come?
Quote:Traffic has a lot to do with it. I regularly ride on roads with no shoulder and a small ditch, but
there may be five cars that pass me in a hour's time. Since they can use the entire other lane, and do, I don't mind the lack of an emergency lane for me to dive into should they buzz me. There is no single thing that makes a road safe or unsafe, but usually a combination of issues that renders a road unsafe.
Don't forget the one factor that's always required to make a road unsafe for cycling: a wild imagination.
No, I think it is the two ton cars, but that's just me.
Quote:All I am saying is that a lot of people on this forum complain about how dangerous it is to ride, yet they seem to be the ones putting themselves in an obviously dangerous situation.
The only dangerous situation is a figment of the imagination.
I am certainly not imaging dangers, and I am also not like most others on this forum that think the cars have it in for them. I am just saying balance your rights and desire to ride with a little common sense. My idea of what's safe for me to ride has to do with what I am comfortable with, and my skill level.
Quote:Here's an analogy: You have the right to walk down a dangerous street in a very bad part of town, so you do. Then one night you are mugged. Is it right that you were mugged? No of course not. But, don't be surprised when doing dangerous things gets you hurt.
I see. Now the danger of cycling on busy narrow roads (something I actually enjoy) is comparable to strolling through an east L.A. 'hood with a laptop case at 3am.
It was an analogy. Do you not understand analogies?