Just a reminder we need Bike Lanes

Tim McNamara writes:

This reminds me of what I think is one of the worst situations in
traffic- having to deal with a right turn lane when going straight
ahead on the bike, in rush hour. I come across this sort of situation
fairly regularly, and there rarely seems to be a graceful way to
handle it. The cars want to get into the right turn lane, naturally
enough, and I want to get across it to the non-turning lane.

Around here it is not uncommon to see a right turn only lane and
adjacent to that a lane where the driver has the option to go straight
or turn right. These are a pain to deal with on a bike when you are
going straight through. You might think it would be easier, just ride
down the middle of the second lane, however, that is frequently the
lane most drivers want to use when turning right ('cause they can then
make a quick left into *Bucks, or whereever). The one that I had to
negotiate every morning was also at the end of a 1/2 mile uphill
section, with a freeway off-ramp at the bottom, so the speed
difference was huge. Usually I'd take the third lane and then deal
with merging back to the right after crossing the intersection,
however, getting to the third lane wasn't always easy. Fortunately,
if I couldn't go straight through, I could also get to my destination
by turning right, so I'd then proceed with plan B.

Joe

"Just zis Guy, you know?" writes:

Yeah, they don't make any space but they define YOUR space. It's like,
"this is my turf," and not "sorry, didn't see you"...

But the space they define is (much) smaller than the space I would
otherwise take for myself. Your bike lanes may vary.

That would seem to be an argument for bike lanes 8-(. What I find
annoying about them is that they are the usual place for a lot of
construction. Time to lay some fiber optic cable, let's just cut a
trench down the middle of the bike lane and, when finished, fill it
with concrete or a really rough patch job. If cities were serious
about having bikes stay in a particular lane, they needn't bother
with paint. Just pave a really smooth section on the side of the
road. Of course, paint is a lot cheaper.

I find it amusing to be riding in a bike lane and see a sign,
completely blocking the lane, with the helpful wording "Bike Lane
Closed Ahead". Cannot say I've ever seen the equivalent placement in
a regular lane.

Joe

"Just zis Guy, you know?" writes:

Yeah, they don't make any space but they define YOUR space. It's like,
"this is my turf," and not "sorry, didn't see you"...

But the space they define is (much) smaller than the space I would
otherwise take for myself. Your bike lanes may vary.

That would seem to be an argument for bike lanes 8-(. What I find
annoying about them is that they are the usual place for a lot of
construction. Time to lay some fiber optic cable, let's just cut a
trench down the middle of the bike lane and, when finished, fill it
with concrete or a really rough patch job. If cities were serious
about having bikes stay in a particular lane, they needn't bother
with paint. Just pave a really smooth section on the side of the
road. Of course, paint is a lot cheaper.

I find it amusing to be riding in a bike lane and see a sign,
completely blocking the lane, with the helpful wording "Bike Lane
Closed Ahead". Cannot say I've ever seen the equivalent placement in
a regular lane.

Joe

Tim McNamara wrote:
panicky, whimpering, nearly peeing in their pants terrified. These
are the folks bike lanes and bike trails are intended for. Very few
of us in these rec.bicycles.* newsgroups are these people.

That was my assessment of Quixote when he first started posting here.
He devoted a good bit of time this week to proving me right.

Mitch.

Tim McNamara wrote:
panicky, whimpering, nearly peeing in their pants terrified. These
are the folks bike lanes and bike trails are intended for. Very few
of us in these rec.bicycles.* newsgroups are these people.

That was my assessment of Quixote when he first started posting here.
He devoted a good bit of time this week to proving me right.

Mitch.

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 00:50:05 GMT, Joe Riel wrote
in message :

Yeah, they don't make any space but they define YOUR space. It's like,
"this is my turf," and not "sorry, didn't see you"...

But the space they define is (much) smaller than the space I would
otherwise take for myself. Your bike lanes may vary.

That would seem to be an argument for bike lanes 8-(

Why? I have no problem taking my place in the traffic.

Guy
--
"then came ye chavves, theyre cartes girded wyth candels
blue, and theyre beastes wyth straynge horn-lyke thyngs
onn theyre arses that theyre fartes be herde from myles
around." Chaucer, the Sheppey Tales

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 00:50:05 GMT, Joe Riel wrote
in message :

Yeah, they don't make any space but they define YOUR space. It's like,
"this is my turf," and not "sorry, didn't see you"...

But the space they define is (much) smaller than the space I would
otherwise take for myself. Your bike lanes may vary.

That would seem to be an argument for bike lanes 8-(

Why? I have no problem taking my place in the traffic.

Guy
--
"then came ye chavves, theyre cartes girded wyth candels
blue, and theyre beastes wyth straynge horn-lyke thyngs
onn theyre arses that theyre fartes be herde from myles
around." Chaucer, the Sheppey Tales

Joe Riel writes:


Yeah, they don't make any space but they define YOUR space. It's like,
"this is my turf," and not "sorry, didn't see you"...

It is not their turf - if you are riding as fast as traffic or preparing
for a turn, etc., you can leave the bike lane. If a driver will not
respect the rights of cyclists (or other drivers for that matter) the
sensible thing to do is to take away that driver's license.

But the space they define is (much) smaller than the space I would
otherwise take for myself. Your bike lanes may vary.

The space is not smaller: without the bike lane stripe, you'd simply
have a wide outside lane and would be riding in about the same spot
anyway. Think of a bike lane as just another lane in a multilane
street. If you are a slow moving vehicle relative to other traffic,
you are required to use the right-most lane (leftmost in the UK)
available to you. Whether the lane makes sense in a particular case
is something you hire traffic engineers to determine.

What should be done of course is to make the bike lane as wide as
possible, with the adjacent lane about 12' wide (standard width) or a
bit more if speeds are high. If you stay near the outside edge of the
bike lane you will then be riding at about the same distance from the
adjacent traffic lane's strip that Forester recommends in _Effective
Cycling_. There, he states that you would normally ride about 14'
from the lane stripe. A bike lane stripe 12' from that lane stripe
puts a cyclist at just this point. That leaves plenty of room for a
car to pass conveniently and gives you a decent amount of clearance
from the curb. If the road is too narrow to do this and still meet
bike lane standards, you should take that as an indication that
installing a bike lane on that road is problematic.

--
My real name backwards: nemuaZ lliB

Joe Riel writes:


Yeah, they don't make any space but they define YOUR space. It's like,
"this is my turf," and not "sorry, didn't see you"...

It is not their turf - if you are riding as fast as traffic or preparing
for a turn, etc., you can leave the bike lane. If a driver will not
respect the rights of cyclists (or other drivers for that matter) the
sensible thing to do is to take away that driver's license.

But the space they define is (much) smaller than the space I would
otherwise take for myself. Your bike lanes may vary.

The space is not smaller: without the bike lane stripe, you'd simply
have a wide outside lane and would be riding in about the same spot
anyway. Think of a bike lane as just another lane in a multilane
street. If you are a slow moving vehicle relative to other traffic,
you are required to use the right-most lane (leftmost in the UK)
available to you. Whether the lane makes sense in a particular case
is something you hire traffic engineers to determine.

What should be done of course is to make the bike lane as wide as
possible, with the adjacent lane about 12' wide (standard width) or a
bit more if speeds are high. If you stay near the outside edge of the
bike lane you will then be riding at about the same distance from the
adjacent traffic lane's strip that Forester recommends in _Effective
Cycling_. There, he states that you would normally ride about 14'
from the lane stripe. A bike lane stripe 12' from that lane stripe
puts a cyclist at just this point. That leaves plenty of room for a
car to pass conveniently and gives you a decent amount of clearance
from the curb. If the road is too narrow to do this and still meet
bike lane standards, you should take that as an indication that
installing a bike lane on that road is problematic.

--
My real name backwards: nemuaZ lliB

On Sat, 04 Dec 2004 19:59:01 GMT, (Bill Z.)
wrote in message :

If a driver will not
respect the rights of cyclists (or other drivers for that matter) the
sensible thing to do is to take away that driver's license.

For once we are in complete agreement.

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