Okay, it's probably been hashed out here before but here is mine rant:

Today I was nearly creamed by a car because he was busy watching out for a bicycle riding the right way on the sidewalk toward an intersection. There was a perfectly good bike lane right along side of him and it's smoother than the sidewalk.

What's up with this? He was an slightly middle age guy with rain gear and panniers so it seems he rides consistently When he hit the intersection he rode across the street in the crosswalk and continued down the sidewalk.

Blows me away that millions are spent on bike lanes and yet people still ride on the side walk. It seems that it screws up people driving more than just riding down the street as well.

Should I say something or just keep my trap shut?

Thanks for letting me b*tch.

When there is a perfectly good bike lane, I don't understand the use of a sidewalk. That being said, there are some roads I wouldn't even venture on due to the high volume and speeds associated with them. Also in suburbia, sidewalks are generally wide and empty of pedestrians

Tough call. I happened to use a sidewalk today, but the adjacent road has no bike lane, nor hardly a shoulder even, and I was going to turn left into a shopping plaza, so I went down the sidewalk on the left side of the road, then into the plaza. However, I don't agree either with the casual use of sidewalks when there are suitable bike lane options; generally the peds are nearly as much trouble as cars. It might be something to ask the guy about if you get a chance, but it's probably not worth a shout-out. He may be very car-shy, and he wants that extra buffer.

It's legal to ride on sidewalks where I live. That being said, the only time I ride on sidewalks is when I'm riding with my young kids. It'd be insanity to have them ride in the bike lane next to cars. They ride well enough, but I wouldn't want to risk it.

+1 on the kids thing. Scary stuff! It's legal here too, except in the core of downtown, because of the pedestrian traffic.

What were the road conditions where the bike lane was? If they were poor (potholes, patches, ridges, etc.), it might have actually been safer to ride on the sidewalk than on the road. I know that there are some places in my commute where I would ride *anywhere* but the road, if I had a choice, because the city does such a poor job of maintaining the road surface.

Yesterday i took the sidewalk for a bit because the road was in terrible shape (Bayview north of Lawrence for Torontonians). Uneven, small stones, potholes, there was simply no way to stay seated and ride at any reasonable speed, not to mention swerving to avoid breaking my tires while in 60km/h traffic. So i took the sidewalk, by far the better option at that time. I swear there aren't any good streets left in the city. Even downtown, especially Bloor.

I think you're overestimating the amount of money it takes to paint a line on the road.

All I can say is I just can't understand people who complain about things like this. I'm not dismissing their concerns as having no validity, I'm just saying that I don't understand them. When I'm on the road, sidewalk cyclists, wrong-way cyclists, jaywalking pedestrians contribute to maybe 0.5% of trouble/stress/annoyance I have when biking. The other 99.5% is courtesy of our motoring friends. Complaining about other riders is like complaining about the colour of the wallpaper when the roof is falling.

I had a wrong way cyclist today in the bike lane.... Talk about stupid.

Mmmm....have you checked what these things cost recently? You can't get construction workers to leave the lunch room unless there's at least a few million involved.

Official cost according to Toronto Bike Plan is $25000 per km. It's ridiculously high, but even as it is, last year Toronto must have spent, um, $175 K on bike lanes last year... Not close to a million.

Of course, as a nation the U.S. spends millions on painting bike lanes. But as a nation it spends millions and billions on everything - it's a big rich place, you know.

Drivers scream to get off the road, cycling 'advocates' scream to get off the sidewalk/path/BL, this guy rightly says 'screw em all, I'm riding where I feel comfortable'.

That's the gist of it. And I sure can't blame 'im.

Yeah, I probably blew it out of proportion. Thanks for letting me rant anyway. It's good to get feedback.

Cheers!

I was on my Xtracycle the other day, picking up one of my children from school, when a teacher directing/causing minivan gridlock in the parking lot directed me onto the sidewalk. I did not comply.

Most sidewalk bicyclists are DUI bicyclists or other marginal people. They will probably never know better or don't care. Live and let live.

There are some LDS missionaries working in my area that opt for the sidewalk, so does that qualify for a third category?

I hope that you were at least a little less polite than that in the event.

I guess I'm in the live-and-let-live camp (unless someone is a real menace). Even the wrong way sidewalk riders at least represent more people pedaling rather than pushing on the gas.

My druthers by priority would be:

1. More people riding in general

2. More people riding more uniformly and safely

3. More people riding uniformly and safely in a much more bike-friendly environment/infrastructure.

I think if we had 1 and 2, getting #3 might be easier.

Isn't it a good thing that the driver was watching out for the cyclist on the sidewalk?

How exactly did you almost get hit in this case? You don't really say.

Which one am I? I want to get my label printed properly before I attach to my jersey.

******************************************************************************************????

So you are saying that my mother is a DUI or a marginal person?

Show us the numbers, please.

Could you explain what a "marginal person" is? Since we are all created by God, and He doesn't make junk, I'm not sure what you mean.

BTW, I've occasionally ridden on sidewalks. What tag would you stick on me?

I don't care what your excuse is or how short the ride, there's no place for bicycles on a sidewalk unless the rest of civilization has been raptured into heaven and you're the only one left on Earth. It's dangerous for pedestrians, and it's dangerous for the cyclist. Ok for younger kids, but as an adult, you look like a total, ignorant nincompoop goofball when you ride on the sidewalk. If you can't ride on the road for whatever reason, then don't ride there. Find some other place to ride or take a bus. If you have to use a sidewalk to get from the road to wherever you're going, walk the bike! I say this as both a frequent pedestrian and a frequent cyclist.

One problem is that in many places including where I live, it turns out that there's no law against it, contrary to popular belief. I guess this is why every time I walk on my downtown street, I take my chances running the gauntlet of bicycles who seem to think of pedestrians as bumpers in a pinball machine.