"Women who ride"... on the sidewalk...

[elk]

we got Bicycle Boulevards here in Portland...and we're getting bike boxes at 14 intersections!!!!

It's a start!!

[kfergos]

I guess I'll throw in my $0.02...

I've only been hit by a car one time in my two years of fairly intensive commuting. Here are all the things I was doing wrong:

1. Riding on the sidewalk in a downtown area (ironically, I was afraid of cars!)
2. Riding against traffic (on the left-hand sidewalk)
3. Riding at night with only a faint blinky light
4. Crossing an intersection without slowing down at all
5. Crossing an intersection without looking for turning cars

Not surprisingly, a driver turning right hit me as I rode the wrong way across the cross walk. He probably didn't see me at all. I walked away unscathed, and my bike was fine, but after that I switched to riding on the road just like a car. I've never been hit again.

I guess I have to admit that, after that experience, I've fallen into the Vehicular Cyclist camp. When I ride, it's always in the road, following traffic laws, and taking the lane when potholes, parked cars, ice, sand dunes, turning cars, or other obstacles make it unsafe to stay near the shoulder. By and large drivers respect that behavior and treat me more like a car, only occasionally edging me out in that nerve-wracking "If I'd twitched I'd be dead" way. I also never "filter through," but always wait in line with the traffic. I've had too many close calls with drivers unexpectedly swerving to the right and almost hitting me. (Once my front wheel touched the side of the car, it was so close. Good thing I was going slow enough to stop on a dime!)

Bike lanes don't make much of an appearance in Metro West Massachusetts. However, my Seattle bicycling experience has made me leery of them: Bike lanes seemed more like shoulders with a bike painted on the road, rather than anything special. The proximity to parked cars and the door zone, in addition to the high glass and grit accumulation in those lanes, made me rather leery of thinking they were all that great. I spent most of my time in the driving lane or the shoulder. Perhaps the issue with bike lanes is they tend to usurp common sense, so a normally cautious rider thinks "I'm safe in this lane," which is no more true than in a regular driving lane. Exercising caution wherever you choose to ride -- even to what feels like an extreme level -- can never hurt.

OK that's more like $2, but there it is.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

I've only been hit by a car one time in my two years of fairly intensive commuting. Here are all the things I was doing wrong:

1. Riding on the sidewalk in a downtown area (ironically, I was afraid of cars!)
2. Riding against traffic (on the left-hand sidewalk)
3. Riding at night with only a faint blinky light
4. Crossing an intersection without slowing down at all
5. Crossing an intersection without looking for turning cars

Not surprisingly, a driver turning right hit me as I rode the wrong way across the cross walk. He probably didn't see me at all. I walked away unscathed, and my bike was fine, but after that I switched to riding on the road just like a car. I've never been hit again.

I guess I have to admit that, after that experience, I've fallen into the Vehicular Cyclist camp. When I ride, it's always in the road, following traffic laws, and taking the lane when potholes, parked cars, ice, sand dunes, turning cars, or other obstacles make it unsafe to stay near the shoulder. By and large drivers respect that behavior and treat me more like a car, only occasionally edging me out in that nerve-wracking "If I'd twitched I'd be dead" way. I also never "filter through," but always wait in line with the traffic. I've had too many close calls with drivers unexpectedly swerving to the right and almost hitting me. (Once my front wheel touched the side of the car, it was so close. Good thing I was going slow enough to stop on a dime!)

Bike lanes don't make much of an appearance in Metro West Massachusetts. However, my Seattle bicycling experience has made me leery of them: Bike lanes seemed more like shoulders with a bike painted on the road, rather than anything special. The proximity to parked cars and the door zone, in addition to the high glass and grit accumulation in those lanes, made me rather leery of thinking they were all that great. I spent most of my time in the driving lane or the shoulder. Perhaps the issue with bike lanes is they tend to usurp common sense, so a normally cautious rider thinks "I'm safe in this lane," which is no more true than in a regular driving lane. Exercising caution wherever you choose to ride -- even to what feels like an extreme level -- can never hurt.

I agree 100%.

[jobob]

Great post kfergos! I'd pony up $2 for that.