Commuting on dangerous roads?

[spotlightmama]

DH would like to start commuting to work, but the only way to get there is on a pretty busy in-town "highway" with eight lanes and a 50 MPH speed limit. I have to be honest that I don't know if I can stomach the idea of him riding in the road on a road like this - it does not seem safe at all. I don't really view our suburban area as very bike friendly. What do you ladies do if you have to take road like that? Ride the sidewalk? He can take a different road for part of the commute, but there is no way of completely avoiding this road.

If you do take the sidewalk at all, what type of bike do you use? I've taken my Terry on the sidewalk and it is almost unbearable to me (waaay too bumpy).

I appreciate the input!

[Grog]

First, I must say that I appreciate your concern.

This being said, I sometimes find that fast roads with lots of lanes are safer than small streets, or at least if you're going straight and there are not too many intersections. If there are eight lanes, it's very likely that there is a very wide shoulder, too. Cars are going straight, not turning left and right into parking lots etc. all the time. Such roads are often engineered to help motorists see far away (because they are traveling fast) so there are few or no blind corners and steep hills. I will take a "highway" any day instead of a "multi-use path", and feel safer.

NO riding on the sidewalk for me. It's much more dangerous than the open road most of the time. Sidewalks are created with slow people (pedestrians) in mind. Fast-moving people (cyclists go about 3 times faster than pedestrians, or more) are NOT expected there. Of course there are exceptions but generally I avoid sidewalks like the plague. I don't want motorists thinking "bikes belong to the sidewalk" either, because it's the most dangerous place for me to be.

[OakLeaf]

+1 to what Grog said. I'd encourage him to take the alternate route as far as possible, even if it adds a couple of miles. But I guess I'd have to know the road specifically. There are roads I would never ride on, for sure. But there are also many U.S. routes and busy state routes that are perfectly safe IMO, if not the most pleasant rides.

[spotlightmama]

Hmm...thanks, I hadn't thought about that in regards to the road being straight. Good point.

I think partly it requires getting used to the idea of DH being in the road. It's funny that I feel fine riding in the road, but he can't stand it. I now see that I feel the same way when it's him, lol. Like I mentioned, our area isn't really bike friendly so it's so hard to imagine him on such a busy road.

I know sidewalks are a bad place to be; I have taken my bike on the sidewalk a few times, but only when I felt like it was much more dangerous to be in the road and only for very short times. I wish I could say I always felt brave enough to stay on the road, but I am just not there yet. I have since adjusted my routes so this isn't an issue anymore.

I've been using Google Maps to toy around with the route some - by adding another 3 miles to the route, he can avoid more of that road. I think that would help, too.

[SalsaMTB]

I commute on some busy roads, but nothing 8 lanes wide. That sounds pretty busy, the ones I'm on are 5 lanes. Anyway, some of the roads that I ride are very congested, but I plan my commute so I miss rush hour. If he can do that, I would STRONGLY recommend it. I always leave at 5am (shower and eat breakfast at work), and leave work either at 4pm or 7pm to miss rush hour.

[Aggie_Ama]

The bulk of my commute it a road with three lanes each way and a 60 mph speed limit. However, the shoulder is the same width as a regular lane and the road is straight as an arrow. I feel perfectly comfortable on this road. I feel less comfortable on the road I take for .25 miles that is pretty busy and has a bike lane. My commute begins 5:30 am, long before the rush starts at 7:15. I ride home at 4:00, just beginning to see the volume increase. The scariest thing about riding home is the high school along the way lets out at 4:05 and that means teen drivers are on that busy road!

If the road does not have an adequate shoulder, try alternate routes. Many commuters avoid the road I use and take routes through the neighborhoods that line the road.

[Melalvai]

Bike safety involves learning the actual statistics, because what "feels" safe to us is not truly safe. This is one area where you just can't trust your intuition. I can't recommend enough the Road I course offered through the League of American Bicyclists; check their website for classes near you. They also have a great deal of information on their site about safe practices while riding.http://www.bikeleague.org/

Riding on the sidewalk, and hugging the edge are common mistakes that intuitively feel safer, but are actually risky behaviors. Although it feels very daring and dangerous to "take the lane", and to use a left lane or a left turn lane, these things you should be doing regularly.

[spotlightmama]

Thank you for the link - I would like to try and take a class. That sounds very helpful! I absolutely know (in my brain) that my fear is based on fear-mongering (evil media), but convincing my heart takes a little work.

I drove the route the other day and there is no bike lane at all. (nor are there any bike sharing signs) It's funny how you start to realize how un-bike friendly an area is once you start riding.

If he goes out of his way a bit, he can take a bike trail for a pretty good portion of the ride. Personally, I'd rather ride the trail.

He is a HS teacher, so he will be riding outside of high-traffic times. But this is almost what scares me most. I get concerned that riding in the early AM means drivers are still tired and some may even be still out from night partying. We had a horrific car accident in our area a few years ago about that time of morning and it was caused by some younger guys who were still feeling the effects of a night of drugs and drinking. They caused a horrible accident that killed many people, several on their way to work.

I just need to keep building my bike handling skills and focus on being more confident on my bike.

[Geonz]

There's a 200-yard stretch where I take the sidewalk when there aren't people on it (almost all the time) and I take a right turn to get back into traffic. Aside from that, oh my, roads are better and safer here even if driver's sometimes so sincerely believe I should be on the sidewalk.
Straight wide roads in non-rush hour are, IMO, better than curvy 2-laners any day... but indeed, when the traffic's going 60+ it means *if* anything happens (that being statistically less likely) it's far more likely to be fatal ... which tends to be what sits on the front of our minds. I honestly don't know if I would have the ovaries to do it

[TahoeDirtGirl]

I started riding the roads this past year because I couldn't mountain bike. At first, I was pretty overwhelmed, but you get used to it. As for the fast traffic road, I have to agree, most of the people including myself that have been hit or 'bumped' were from people either turning onto or off of the main road. The one road I can think of that is 50 mph that is around me has a really ample shoulder and is pretty straight, which is, to me, better than some of the windy country roads I have been on.

Funny, I was thinking the other day, what if they could put a bike lane right down that grass strip in the middle of the highway here in Mass. and put Jersey barriers on either side to protect the bikers. Wouldn't that be great? Not sure how we would get on and off the highway!!! hey it was a thought!

[hipersons]

Tahoe I was TOTALLY thinking the same thing!