hotbike

Please be careful if you are bicycling on any Interstate Highway.

Today someone died on I-10.

Read the story:

https://www.kpho.com/news/17181501/detail.html#-

Bacciagalupe

Uh... If I understand correctly, that's like a major 5-lane freeway. Isn't it rather illegal to cycle on a highway like that in the first place?

genec

No.

There are places where said freeway is the ONLY road through. I have ridden on I-10 in Arizona between Casa Grande and Tucson... I left the freeway just outside of Tucson as other roads were available.

This situation occurs all over the west in various degrees. I ride on I-5 just to commute to work in San Diego.

I-Like-To-Bike

Is it safe to assume that when cycling is permitted on an Interstate it is meant that cycling on the shoulder of said Interstate is permitted, not cycling in the traffic lane. And even if the law is fuzzy on the subject, what excuse is there for a cyclist to ignore the typical 8 foot wide shoulders found on most non urban Interstates to take a traffic lane on such a road? Vehicular Cycling Dogma or what?

I-Like-To-Bike

If the events reported in the cited URL are accurate -" For an unknown reason, the bicyclist veered from the emergency shoulder crossing the right lane and entering the left lane and into the path of the tractor-trailer, investigators said. " - the cyclist's actions were anything but careful, but rather suicidal. There wouldn't be much to learn from this event other than that swerving several lanes to the left lane in front of a moving semi is not safe.

John E

I don't know about the rest of you, and I know it is terribly selfish of me, but I feel a sense of relief whenever I hear of a cycling fatality and later learn that the incident was the cyclist's fault. The ones that scare me are the cases in which a cyclist was struck from behind by a veering, sleepy, or drunk driver.

genec

I used the shoulders. Best bike lane around... heck, some 8 feet+ wide... beats the heck out of the tiny 4-5 foot wide BL around here. It was just a bit noisy, that's all.

Who's "taking a lane?"

No dogma at all. Take that thinking somewhere else.

BTW the real irony is that freeway shoulders are much nicer than a BL on a 55 or 65MPH arterial road... which do exist around here. I know locally there have been petitions to CalTrans to open up more freeway shoulders to allow access around otherwise steep and crowded surface streets (with all those dangerous intersections).

I-Like-To-Bike

I used to ride on the shoulder of I-80N (now known as I-84) to work near Pendelton,OR back in the late 70's. Of course the 8 foot shoulder is comfortable, its better for cycling comfort (if not aesthetics) than most regular roads and the cyclist has more lateral distance from moving traffic.

I suspect people who question the wisdom/sanity of cyclists who claim to ride on an Interstate are making an assumption that riding on the Interstate means riding on the road, not near the road.

alexanderaf

I think we can all learn a lesson here. Do not veer in front of a semi-truck on the freeway.

uke

For those interested in extra credit, staying off the freeway whenever possible is a good idea for vehicles incapable of matching freeway speeds.

dobber

Maybe he was attempting the often spoken of but rarely witnessed "Power Weave" for the benefit of "enhancing one's cognitive conspicuity"

Alpha52

Last time I checked, it was illegal to walk or ride a bike on an Interstate highway. Besides, keeping up with that 40MPH minimum speed is a reel biatch in a head wind...

I-Like-To-Bike

But some of our BF friends think that legal, safe riding on the shoulder of an Interstate highway is best described as "riding on the Interstate." Hence the confusion.

genec

Well you know what "assume" means.

genec

That's because riding on the shoulder of the interstate is still described as "being on the interstate" by our law enforcement friends.

There are areas where riding on the shoulder is strictly forbidden. There are places were it is permitted unless excepted. And there are areas where this is the only way to get between two isolated points.

I will readily conceded however for those confused by the terms, that "riding on the interstate" generally refers to riding on the shoulders...

There are exceptions, which I believe while illegal, are amusing, none the less.

Here's one case: https://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/05/in-a-city-built.html
Here's another: https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/bott...on-the-fr.html

I think the message of the above is quite clear though... individuals in individual cars are the leading cause of congestion.

I believe this last one is just a hoax: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCvjihO3Dv0

sykerocker 

Hmmn, there's no question of legality in Virginia in this kind of situation. At the beginning of every entrance ramp to an Interstate highway, there's a sign specifically posting what isn't allowed on the road. Bicycles are definitely and specifically on that list. Oh yeah, to the Virginian who answers back that, "At exit X on Interstate Y there's no sign", no doubt time and wear have taken some of them down and they've yet to be replaced. However, I believe you get my point.

I believe Virginia uses what I've always known as the '40mph standard' - aka, if your vehicle cannot hold a steady, minimum speed of 40mph for the entire time its on the road, it's going to be banned. Period. No ifs, ands, buts, or riding the shoulder as a technicality.

socalboomer

That's pretty much standard in Cali as well, except in fairly remote areas where there are no other viable roads - which is what genec and the others are referring to.

uke

Like that in KY, IN, and IL too.

sykerocker 

The concept of that kinda floors me. In all my years, I cannot remember ever being somewhere where there isn't at least a paved, two-lane, legislative route cowpath alternative to an Interstate. Note, I'm not saying 'equally convenient' or even 'barely convenient'; just 'exists' and 'paved'. In the eastern US every interstate route parallels a previous road that goes back at least 50 years.

genec

FYI there are sections of road in densely populated areas where use of the freeway shoulder is permitted.

Here is one example... look at this PDF... https://www.ridelink.org/Commuter_Ser...ikeMap_Web.pdf

it shows the local bike routes and paths, including in purple, the route along the shoulder of Interstate 5 in this area.

I have enlarged that, and attached it below.

genec

That situation just doesn't exist in the "wild west" part of the US... I did a tour back in the early 80's from San Diego to Fort Worth Texas (where my family lived) and I rode on the shoulders of the interstate for various parts of that ride as there was no other road. Once I was east of El Paso, there were plenty of "state hiways" or "farm hiways" to use in the manner you describe.

Let me go a bit further here and mention that often in the west, arterial roads may not have alternate routes either, except a bit of Interstate... yet in California, at least, many arterial roads have speed limits approaching that of the Interstate... from 50MPH to 65MPH. Those arterial roads may (or may not) have 4-5 foot wide bike lanes. The Interstates generally have an 8 foot+ shoulder... now really where would you rather ride... on a narrow road in a 4 foot bike lane where motorists are zooming past you at 65MPH... or on an Interstate on an 8 foot wide shoulder?

noisebeam

More about cycling on interstates here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/vehicular-cycling-vc/423725-riding-interstates.html

Note these resources as well

https://members.cox.net/ncutcdbtc/freeway/bkfwcr02.pdf

https://www.azbikeclub.com/interst.html

https://www.azdot.gov/Highways/Traffi...PGP/TM1030.pdf

Fairmont

Yep, there's a stretch of I-5 in La Jolla that you can ride a bike on.

You can also legally skydrive while intoxicated, but that's just as crazy.

noisebeam

yeah, so much for cycling advocacy folks. soon we will be having calls to ban ourselves for unfounded fears

genec

Yup, see post 20. BTW that is not "La Jolla" at least according to those that live in La Jolla... heaven forbid you should call it that.

What is "skydrive?"