I used to believe that more accidents happen on mups and sidewalks but it seems like all the accident threads are about accidents on the road. I know around here all the deaths are road riders.

I have noticed that a lot of places, even seemingly inappropriate ones, have these white lines on the road that they call "bike lanes". They are really places for debris or glass and usually go nowhere. I've seen these in small towns that have not seen a bike commuter in, well never.

I think it's great that this is provided but I think the motive is really a federal handout, not a way to assist bicyclists. Maybe with the gas prices people will start using them. I don't mind riding on the road when I am riding on my faster road bike but when the lane is narrow and there is not shoulder it almost seems like suicide.

I am glad that for the time being it is practical for me to commute and run errands on any bike I feel like riding. If I am slogging along at 9 miles an hour I don't feel worthy of riding on the road.

What I don't understand is why more people around here are not doing something other than driving. I am lucky enough to live in an area where stores and work are all within short riding and walk distances. Yet my neighbors will hop in their cars to go up the street to pick something up from the drug store. There is the "white line" and unused sidewalks, it is pretty risk free no matter what you are riding, and it's actually faster! There is the heat but it is actually less hot for me to go to where my bike is locked up and ride home, than walk out in the parking lot and sit at the light. You don't have to ride fast, the trips are so short it's really a moot point. There are no hills to speak of and little wind. You can practically coast to where you want to go if for whatever reason you cannot ride faster.

If people have not gotten out of their cars by now I don't see them ever getting out.