Bracelets for Bike Lanes?

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote:
On 20 Mar 2005 07:05:06 -0800, "donquijote1954"
wrote in message
.com:


OK, forget about bike lanes. Then what would it take to bring, say, 30%
of the world to ride bicycles in an age of pollution and oil scarcity
that feeds war?


Did you know that the bicycle is the most widely used vehicle in the
world, and that more people worldwide go by bike than by car,
motorcycle and bus put together?

Guy

That is changing, too. Cars are popping up in the former USSR and even
China now that they have some money. When the oil does run out there
will still be corn and things to make Ethanol or even Methanol. We have
plenty of coal that is unused for now due to it's high Sulfur content,
but just wait until some genius finds a way to run a car with it. After
that we have natural gas and Propane both of which are non-renewable.
Continuing, there will be Hydrogen, always available by way of
electricity and breaking down water. The electricity will be
hydro-electric, Solar, wind, and eventually Nuclear again. Cars just
won't go away as long as there are more people to want them and we are
having more people every day, past 6 Billion and still more on the way.

To be on topic again, could you just imagine building a few million
miles of bike lanes and turning loose 2 or 3 Billion unlicensed riders,
some of whom would want to do 25 MPH and others only 5 MPH???

It might actually be worse if you can imagine a bicycle traffic jam
every day for your commute to work. THAT would be a major bummer.

Different color bracelets for different speed lanes maybe?

Just a different viewpoint, as always with me.
Bill Baka

On Sun, 20 Mar 2005 10:09:04 -0800, bbaka wrote in
message :

To be on topic again, could you just imagine building a few million
miles of bike lanes and turning loose 2 or 3 Billion unlicensed riders,
some of whom would want to do 25 MPH and others only 5 MPH???

It would be like a freeway only, er, better.

Guy
--
May contain traces of irony. Contents liable to settle after posting.
http://www.chapmancentral.co.uk

85% of helmet statistics are made up, 69% of them at CHS, Puget Sound

"donquijote1954" :

Wolfgang Strobl wrote:
"donquijote1954" :

We need *bike lanes* to be sure.

Ah, bike lanes. Sure. Thanks, but no thanks.

OK, forget about bike lanes.

Good.

Then what would it take to bring, say, 30%
of the world to ride bicycles in an age of pollution and oil scarcity
that feeds war?

I'd make a start by not trying to marginalize those who already ride
bicycles for transport by squeezing them into a dirty ghetto at the
outermost edge of the road.


Perhaps TAKING THE LANE or TAKING THE ROAD if need be

Sure, if and when the need arises, im taking the lane.


and saying "THIS
IS MINE, and I won't chip in anymore with your stupid dinosaur?"

Many people around here in Germany just ride their bike simply because
it is the easiest way of getting from A to B.


--
Wir danken für die Beachtung aller Sicherheitsbestimmungen

donquijote1954 wrote:


You know it's a jungle out there. Let me know when it's safe. My bikes
are ready to hit the road. (Just allow for a tune up to remove the rust
from sitting there for several years.)


Ah ha, a bike lane afficionado who doesn't actually ride a bike. Perhaps
you need some experience before infusing us with your lack of knowledge
about your beloved bicyclist containment areas.

Wayne

Callistus Valerius wrote:

Like I said I hate bike paths, and they are extremely dangerous, from my
experience. But bike lanes, are fantastic, but you have to have a whole
network of them through the city, otherwise they could be dangerous as you
transition from bike lane to a street without a bike lane.

I haven't ridden in a decent bike lane, where by "decent" I mean
well-maintained, well-planned, of adequate width, or safe. But I
haven't ridden on all bike lanes. Where do you find these wonderful lanes?

On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 15:57:41 -0600, Pat Lamb
wrote:

Callistus Valerius wrote:

Like I said I hate bike paths, and they are extremely dangerous, from my
experience. But bike lanes, are fantastic, but you have to have a whole
network of them through the city, otherwise they could be dangerous as you
transition from bike lane to a street without a bike lane.

I haven't ridden in a decent bike lane, where by "decent" I mean
well-maintained, well-planned, of adequate width, or safe. But I
haven't ridden on all bike lanes. Where do you find these wonderful lanes?


All new state roads in florida are required to have a four foot wide
bike travel lane built and striped each direction. It's the outside
lane on all roadways and drivers know to watch for bikes there.

PMDavis wrote:
On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 15:57:41 -0600, Pat Lamb
wrote:

I haven't ridden in a decent bike lane, where by "decent" I mean
well-maintained, well-planned, of adequate width, or safe. But I
haven't ridden on all bike lanes. Where do you find these wonderful
lanes?


All new state roads in florida are required to have a four foot wide
bike travel lane built and striped each direction. It's the outside
lane on all roadways and drivers know to watch for bikes there.

"Know to watch for bikes there?"

Personally, I don't see how a stipe of paint makes me more noticeable.
The only times I've had motorists fail to notice me, a bike lane would
have hurt, not helped. By that I mean: I'm most visible when I'm in
the middle of the trafel lane, not skulking at the road edge. So I
move to the middle of the travel lane if there's doubt about my
visibility.

But if you really want some paint to tell motorists to watch for bikes,
please keep the paint on "Share the Road" signs. At least they won't
cause trash and glass to be collected where I'm supposed to ride. They
won't complicate my maneuvers at intersections, where most accidents
happen. And they won't confuse motorists into thinking I'm not allowed
left of some arbitrary stripe.

"PMDavis" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 15:57:41 -0600, Pat Lamb
wrote:

Callistus Valerius wrote:

Like I said I hate bike paths, and they are extremely dangerous,
from my
experience. But bike lanes, are fantastic, but you have to have a
whole
network of them through the city, otherwise they could be dangerous as
you
transition from bike lane to a street without a bike lane.

I haven't ridden in a decent bike lane, where by "decent" I mean
well-maintained, well-planned, of adequate width, or safe. But I
haven't ridden on all bike lanes. Where do you find these wonderful
lanes?

All new state roads in florida are required to have a four foot wide
bike travel lane built and striped each direction. It's the outside
lane on all roadways and drivers know to watch for bikes there.

I do not experience conflicts with cars when I'm in a bike lane and going
slowly -- the problems only happen when I'm going relatively fast.

Motorists expect bikes to move at 5-10 mph. On an uphill grade in a bike
lane, grinding away at these speeds, I never have problems with cars. But if
I'm doing the descent on the other side of the road at 25 mph, right hooks
and cars turning left into me seem to be constant problems.

I wouldn't be surprised if the folks who support bike lanes in general are
slow or inexperienced riders; fast riders who pile on the miles probably
have had enough problems with bike lanes that they feel they are dangerous.

I expect that all these wonderful Florida motorists all so nicely aware and
alert and looking for bikes in the bike lanes are expecting pokey people at
low speeds. Zip along at above 20 mph, and I bet there would be a different
experience.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at:
http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

On 21 Mar 2005 18:37:02 -0800, wrote:


PMDavis wrote:
On Mon, 21 Mar 2005 15:57:41 -0600, Pat Lamb
wrote:

I haven't ridden in a decent bike lane, where by "decent" I mean
well-maintained, well-planned, of adequate width, or safe. But I
haven't ridden on all bike lanes. Where do you find these wonderful
lanes?


All new state roads in florida are required to have a four foot wide
bike travel lane built and striped each direction. It's the outside
lane on all roadways and drivers know to watch for bikes there.

"Know to watch for bikes there?"

Personally, I don't see how a stipe of paint makes me more noticeable.
The only times I've had motorists fail to notice me, a bike lane would
have hurt, not helped. By that I mean: I'm most visible when I'm in
the middle of the trafel lane, not skulking at the road edge. So I
move to the middle of the travel lane if there's doubt about my
visibility.

But if you really want some paint to tell motorists to watch for bikes,
please keep the paint on "Share the Road" signs. At least they won't
cause trash and glass to be collected where I'm supposed to ride. They
won't complicate my maneuvers at intersections, where most accidents
happen. And they won't confuse motorists into thinking I'm not allowed
left of some arbitrary stripe.


I doubt that you are riding in Florida, where intentionally targeting
bike riders is considered good sport.

PMDavis wrote:
On 21 Mar 2005 18:37:02 -0800, wrote:


Personally, I don't see how a stipe of paint makes me more noticeable.
The only times I've had motorists fail to notice me, a bike lane would
have hurt, not helped. By that I mean: I'm most visible when I'm in
the middle of the trafel lane, not skulking at the road edge. So I
move to the middle of the travel lane if there's doubt about my
visibility.

But if you really want some paint to tell motorists to watch for bikes,
please keep the paint on "Share the Road" signs. At least they won't
cause trash and glass to be collected where I'm supposed to ride. They
won't complicate my maneuvers at intersections, where most accidents
happen. And they won't confuse motorists into thinking I'm not allowed
left of some arbitrary stripe.



I doubt that you are riding in Florida, where intentionally targeting
bike riders is considered good sport.

a) I have ridden in Florida, with no problems

b) If drivers are "intentionally targeting bike riders," does a stripe
of paint provide some magic protection? Can't they drive right across it?

IOW, you're making no sense.