getting used to sharing a roadway with cars and trucks and buses has also been a bit of a learning curve. it's funny to think that i've ridden this route hundreds and hundreds of times but it still takes a while to get used to thinking like a vehicle on a road filled with other larger vehicles that are sometimes driven by (shall we say) unhappy people. the route i take has no bicycle lane. instead i rely on the highway traffic act which suggests that a cyclist has an area one metre from the curb that they may inhabit.
cyclists always look for an edge in dealing with the weather, roadspace, equipment, appearance so you're likely to see the odd piece written by me that looks at some of those needs.
today i'd like to share a novel idea for protecting the space nominally referred to as a "bicycle lane". originally shared by the good people over at dustbowl, this cool idea is making the rounds of cyclists for whom stepping into a car just 'cause it's cold, wet, dark or whatever just isn't an option.
(click on the image to enlarge it so you can read it!!)
i think that this has some potential although it's terribly expensive and honestly, most bike lanes i frequent quickly become parking spots making cycling them something of a waste of time. still, it's nice to see people thinking a little bit beyond the single white line and stencilled cyclist model.
2 comments:
$5,000-$50,000/mile is prohibitively expensive. Yowsers!
There are some areas of town here that have bike lanes (white-lined) on the roadways. They're mainly in the "villages" ... Hunter's Creek, Bunker Hill, etc. On those streets where there are bike lanes, there's no parking (ever!). Many of our bayous and parks, now, have bike trails ... mile after mile of them.
But for you, who travels back and forth to work on roadways daily, every trip has got to be a real adventure. I remember a close call you had just a few months back, and then another time when you danged near did real damage to yourself (particularly your hands and fingers) when it was wet and the temp dropped so rapidly.
hi goldenrod, it is really really expensive but i like the idea. cycling is an adventure and there's never any excuse not to have a little adrenalin pumping through my veins after any decent ride. i have several friends and acquaintances and colleagues who are cyclists and my stories are not all that different from theirs. the temperature is slowly rising - thrity celsius yesterday but that was a bit of an oddball temp. for this time of year - so water becomes the key piece now. lots of water before and after a ride. i love the freedom though and the self-reliance and the example it sets for my students.
steven
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