Originally Posted by
markhr
Glad to hear you're more confident, have fun and stay safe.
If an experienced cyclist/cycling instructor had taken you out for lessons or shown you what to do would that have sped up/improved your learning to play in traffic experience?
That is, if there was a commuting cycling/cycling in trafic course offered would you have participated before jumping in feet first as you did?
I don't think so. It just takes time to get some miles under my belt. There's a big difference between knowing your rights, and being confident enough to assert your rights.
I knew I could ride on the streets, I read this message board before I started commuting. However, before I started commuting, I hadn't been on a bike for probably 10 years. Took about 2-3 months of intermittent riding to get my skills back.
Most people I see riding on the sidewalks probably shouldn't be on the roads. The ones I see aren't that steady on a bike and their top speed is probably around 7mph.