DeniseGoldberg "I feel much safer in the road, behaving like a vehicle....If I were on a path like the one in your photos - well, it appears that I would always need to stop in order to safely get across any cross streets."

I feel the same way. A recent encounter with another cyclist, middle age gal on Box Store bike, not a sports or fitness rider but somone who rides every day in all weather even this heat got me thinking.

For us speed is our friend. Sure it backfires because peds missjudge our speed and walk smack dab into us but with cars it's our friend.

But the other day I was impatient angry even, with this gal on her box store bike.

How dare she be riding the wrong way in the bike lane

Then I thought "Trek, how is she going to do that left turn on West Tennyson? How is this slow and quite possibly cognitively impaired (we've met when I walk Mae many times, she never seems to remember me or Mae) gal on a Huffy going to speed up, take the lane, speed up, take another lane, speed up get in the middle of the left turn land on West freaking Tennyson? And doesn't she have as much of a right to ride to work as you do?

Yep, she's going to ride her bike "just like walking but a little faster".

On the other hand, there are green space bike paths here that she can use for part of her commute, there is a bike ped overpass...I never see her on that.

What I see on the bike ped overpass if anyone is the occaisional recreational rider. We have the resources, we get the maps and go online. More important I did exploratory rides for months to find the (unsigned, unmarked) bike ped overpass.

If you're the vast majority of cyclists in my area you are not going on a recreational ride to find a safe way to work. The "urban poor cyclists" go up over the freeway overpass same route he/she would drive, even though they can see from there the paralel bike/ped overpass.

For me it's a complex issue and class is part of that.

How do we reach more riders and drivers to "share the road"? Most of these cyclists don't surf TE, or surf anywhere or even visit a LBS. they don't consider themselves cyclists. How do we reach them? I can't yell at all of them If not, the drive will be to have seperate routes/paths.