Originally Posted by
Bekologist
No doubt.
Vehikular cyklists like chipseal for some reason want keep rider share low in america. They suffer from pipedreams about riders en masse controlling the lane on high speed roads, versus planning transportation infrastructure to facilitate biking's speed differential with motorized vehicle traffic.
That bike lane in that video should be wider. I didn't really see any problems except the substandard width of that bikelane. those videos were vehikular cyklist propaganda about 'controlling the lane' and trying to damnify bike infrastructure.
blech.
I ride assertively and vehicularily, and have found in several states many miles of wide, accomodating bikelanes along high speed arterial roads that can be ridden in vehicularily by even the most ardent vehikular cyklist.
The problem with that vision (in bold above) is that as long as the ordinary citizen has to graduate to "cyclist" to use the road, there will never be an "en masse" situation.
While I have no problem using the road in that manner, and certainly there are plenty of roads that require riding in a strict vehicular manner, and taking the lane... the public that might ride a bike will never chose to do so as long as the roads
appear to belong to motorists.
On top of all this, there is no history to show that vehicular cycling will increase the numbers of cyclists anywhere... all increases in the number of people riding bikes for transportation, have been the result of both accommodations for bicycle riders, and some form of restriction on the unlimited use of the auto (be it fuel or other wise).
Anyone that thinks that people (other than dedicated "cyclists") will voluntarily take to the streets (especially high speed roadways) and ride "en masse" in the manner shown is deluding themselves.
Yet the opposite is true... given accommodations for cycling, and minor restrictions on the unlimited use of the auto (fuel, parking, etc) people will take to the bicycle for transportation... and surprisingly, may not even consider themselves "cyclists."