The guy he nearly killed was a sidewalk cyclist going 15 mph on the sidewalk. If you ride far to the right and try to pass a guy turning right, you'll get hit and (in Colorado anyway) it will be your fault. Like Reppe, I don't have much problem with sidewalk riding as long as you do it at pedestrian speeds and otherwise behave like a pedestrian. That means you don't cross at the crosswalk until you see that the way is clear.
Not everyone believes cyclists should ride on the sidewalk, ever. The new blogger for cyclicious, John Ardelli, is pretty adamant about it and I expect him to post any day now about the topic. He believes strongly that a cyclist on the sidewalk should always walk the bike. Pedestrians -- like the guy who took the photo to the right -- really dislike sidewalk cyclists almost as much as some motorists do. I agree in cases where there's pedestrian traffic on the sidewalk. But if I'm on an eight-foot sidewalk with nobody on the concrete and a mile between intersections, I'll open it up.
Do you take the road, the path, the sidewalk, or the mud trail next to the street? Let me know in the comments below.
Tags: cycling
Yeah, sidewalk cycling IS one of the topics I intend to tackle. I'm planning a series of articles on road cycling in general in the next few weeks. :)
ReplyDeleteUltimately, the way I look at it, if you're not going to go faster than pedestrian speed, anyway, why bother being on the bike? OK, maybe in some cases where someone has limited mobility and a bike helps them WALK I can see it, but for most people it's just a waste of time.
If you can't go faster than a walking pace, ultimately it doesn't seem that there's much point to using a bike. ;)
Besides the illegality of sidewalk cycing here in Calif., I can't stand the congestion; too many pedestrians, joggers, people walking dogs, shoppers in and out of doorways, etc.
ReplyDeleteI'll take the more predictable congestion of the roadways any day! At least there are established rules out on the asphalt!
I agree with John Ardelli in that if you're only going pedstrain speed why botrher riding the bike? Hit the road and enjoy the speed of a bicycle!
I'm riding in Boise, Idaho, whose roads are somewhat bicycle friendly, but with a ways to go. In order of my personal preference, I choose (1) alleys (just because they're fun and challenging), (2) streets with bike lanes, (3) streets w/out bike lanes but that are reasonably safe, and then (4) sidewalks, which I will use when everything else is less safe. Sadly, that ends up being the case in much of the city, though lately I've grown bolder about getting myself into the middle of traffic in the downtown areas. I'm extremely cautious at intersections when I'm on sidewalks, and always assume I'm invisible to drivers.
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