Road or Sidewalk?

I had my first encounter with a jerk with an automobile the other day. I
was riding on the main 4-lane road going through town, as far to the
right as I could without going into the gutter, when from behind me I
hear the belligerent shout of "Get off the road!" I look back to see a
college punk in a black SUV. The traffic was light, and he had plenty of
room to pass me. I just ignored him and biked on.

But the incident brought to mind a question. I'm a fairly new cyclist,
having gotten my bike for Christmas last year. I've learned all the
rules of riding on the road and sharing the road with cars, and I follow
those rules religiously. I've never had a problem with a motorist until
the above mentioned incident. I see lot of cyclists riding on that same
road, and I also see a lot of cyclists riding on the sidewalks
paralleling that road.

My question is, should I be riding on the road when sidewalks are
available? I prefer riding on the road, and the sidewalks, while not
crammed with pedestrians, are never free of them either. What are ya'lls
thoughts? TIA!

Ken

"K-Man" wrote in message
...
I had my first encounter with a jerk with an automobile the other day. I
was riding on the main 4-lane road going through town,

I'll let others deal with the 'should I take the sidewalk?' part as I'm
sure many are eager to.

My 2 cents worth regarding the 'as far to the right as I could without
going into the gutter' part: It may seem counter-intuitive, and most
jurisdictions laws are worded in the manner of: 'cyclists should stay as far
to the right as is _practical_ or _reasonable_' or some other qualifying
words BUT: sometimes that merely encourages auto-addicts to crowd you off
the road. Some motorcyclist acquaintances of mine claim similar experiences
especially wrt to cars passing them without moving fully into the other
lane. They say eventually they get crowded right off the roadway.
Consequently they ride near to the centre line to force autos to fully take
the other lane to pass.

As cyclist you should consider whether the conditions merit 'taking the
lane' for your own safety - Both to be more visible, and less likely to be
crowded off.

As I said; my 2 Canuckian cents worth.

--
Ricky: 'What's an aptitude test?'
Lahey: 'A suitability test, Ricky'
Ricky: 'I'll wear a suit if I have to'

On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 15:26:19 +0000, loki wrote:

Some motorcyclist acquaintances of mine claim similar experiences
especially wrt to cars passing them without moving fully into the other
lane. They say eventually they get crowded right off the roadway.
Consequently they ride near to the centre line to force autos to fully take
the other lane to pass.

The motorcyclist way of treating the lane as being three--the middle being
"verboten" because of the oil drippage--works great around here in
Nashville, where folks often refuse to acknowledge a bike as a vehicle
[vs. a toy] I occupy the right side of the lane in the city here and have
have much better interaction with traffic because of it. I also make sure
to smile at folks and wink at the cute ladies... Sometimes I'll ride far
far right when I know somebody really has to pass and the going's tight,
but for the most part "occupying" the lane when I'm going withing 5-10mph
of traffic calms people that feel this burning desire to pass
otherwise--even if it's not going to really be in anybody's best
interest--since they simply can't.

The classic "pass" around here is the guy that MUST get past you because
you are a cyclist (!), then slows down and cuts you off making a right
turn. [slaps forehead and says duh...] I get a couple of these per day
even with my "assertive" style.

Oh well.

"maxo" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 15:26:19 +0000, loki wrote:

Some motorcyclist acquaintances of mine claim similar experiences
especially wrt to cars passing them without moving fully into the other
lane. They say eventually they get crowded right off the roadway.
Consequently they ride near to the centre line to force autos to fully
take
the other lane to pass.

The motorcyclist way of treating the lane as being three--the middle being
"verboten" because of the oil drippage--works great around here in
Nashville, where folks often refuse to acknowledge a bike as a vehicle
[vs. a toy] I occupy the right side of the lane in the city here and have
have much better interaction with traffic because of it.

In the discussion with the motorcyclists the circumstance was highway
driving. I'm not sure they felt the same way about city driving.

--
Fiona: 'What kind of knight are you?!?!'
Shrek: 'One of a kind.'

"loki" wrote in message
ogers.com
"maxo" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 15:26:19 +0000, loki wrote:

Some motorcyclist acquaintances of mine claim similar experiences
especially wrt to cars passing them without moving fully into the
other lane. They say eventually they get crowded right off the
roadway. Consequently they ride near to the centre line to force
autos to fully take the other lane to pass.

The motorcyclist way of treating the lane as being three--the middle
being "verboten" because of the oil drippage--works great around
here in Nashville, where folks often refuse to acknowledge a bike as
a vehicle [vs. a toy] I occupy the right side of the lane in the
city here and have have much better interaction with traffic because
of it.

In the discussion with the motorcyclists the circumstance was highway
driving. I'm not sure they felt the same way about city driving.

Regardless, motorcyclists should be riding in the driver's wheeltrack, which
in the US is the left side of the lane, because that's the most visible
position to the driver in front's rear-view mirror and wing mirror. The
centre of the lane is safe enough on the highway, it's at intersections you
get the big oil buildups in the centre of the lane. The gutterside of the
lane is a no-no whichever way you look at it, it collects all the crap and
is the least visible position.

--

A: Top-posters.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

"maxo" wrote in message
news
The classic "pass" around here is the guy that MUST get past you because
you are a cyclist (!), then slows down and cuts you off making a right
turn. [slaps forehead and says duh...] I get a couple of these per day
even with my "assertive" style.

I had one of these Must Get Around Cyclist drivers yesterday -- a big black
Ford Imposition, or whatever those things are called. It just got around me,
and duh, there was a flagger -- why did the driver think I was slowing down?

I scootled around the hulking SUV, and chatted with the flagger. I mentioned
in a sort of jolly fashion that the driver of the car behind me nearly put
me into ditch so he could get up to the front first. All smiles, he said he
saw that behavior, and suggested that I go ahead of the vehicle to ensure
that he drove through the construction area at a safe enough pace, which I
did.


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato and .net for .com
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 14:39:11 +0000, Claire Petersky wrote:

"maxo" wrote in message
news
The classic "pass" around here is the guy that MUST get past you because
you are a cyclist (!), then slows down and cuts you off making a right
turn. [slaps forehead and says duh...] I get a couple of these per day
even with my "assertive" style.

I had one of these Must Get Around Cyclist drivers yesterday -- a big black
Ford Imposition,

Are you sure it wasn't a GMC Denial? Or a Chevy Subhuman? I'm looking for
other catchy names too. He he.

or whatever those things are called. It just got around me,
and duh, there was a flagger -- why did the driver think I was slowing down?

I scootled around the hulking SUV, and chatted with the flagger. I mentioned
in a sort of jolly fashion that the driver of the car behind me nearly put
me into ditch so he could get up to the front first. All smiles, he said he
saw that behavior, and suggested that I go ahead of the vehicle to ensure
that he drove through the construction area at a safe enough pace, which I
did.


Excellent, and if he complains, tell him that you're playing "Indy" and
you're the "pace care". Oh, what fun!

Good on the flagger, though I hope he didn't **** the guy off, as
satisfying as that is, you've got the potential of creating an enemy out
of a simple adversary that way. :/ not good--I've done it many times
myself. Oh well. Resume riding ladies and gents, nothing to see...

maxo wrote in message ...
On Thu, 10 Jun 2004 14:39:11 +0000, Claire Petersky wrote:

"maxo" wrote in message
news
The classic "pass" around here is the guy that MUST get past you because
you are a cyclist (!), then slows down and cuts you off making a right
turn. [slaps forehead and says duh...] I get a couple of these per day
even with my "assertive" style.

I had one of these Must Get Around Cyclist drivers yesterday -- a big black
Ford Imposition,

Are you sure it wasn't a GMC Denial? Or a Chevy Subhuman? I'm looking for
other catchy names too. He he.


For some reason, my brain has latched onto this theme, so here are a
few for you: (all Fords, for some reason...)

Ford's new line:

The Excavation/Infestation/Exploitation/Exhibition/Ejac... I'll stop
there.

The Incursion, which replaces the older Inversion that came with the
Firestone tires...

The Intrusion.

The new pickup truck, The F-NotThrifty.

The Implosion.

The Deplorer, or maybe the Deplorable.


Don't blame me, it was a slow day today!

Jonathan

K-Man wrote:
I had my first encounter with a jerk with an automobile the other
day. I was riding on the main 4-lane road going through town, as far
to the right as I could without going into the gutter, when from
behind me I hear the belligerent shout of "Get off the road!" I look
back to see a college punk in a black SUV. The traffic was light, and
he had plenty of room to pass me. I just ignored him and biked on.

But the incident brought to mind a question. I'm a fairly new cyclist,
having gotten my bike for Christmas last year. I've learned all the
rules of riding on the road and sharing the road with cars, and I
follow those rules religiously. I've never had a problem with a
motorist until the above mentioned incident. I see lot of cyclists
riding on that same road, and I also see a lot of cyclists riding on
the sidewalks paralleling that road.

My question is, should I be riding on the road when sidewalks are
available? I prefer riding on the road, and the sidewalks, while not
crammed with pedestrians, are never free of them either. What are
ya'lls thoughts? TIA!

My thought? Don't let one idiot influence your safety/enjoyment of riding.
(Don't cower over by the gutter, either; you're entitiled to the right-side
portion of the lane, and sometimes the whole damned thing.)

A bicycle is a vehicle that belongs on the road (or a trail), NOT the
sidewalk.

Bill "cautious yet assertive" S.

In article , k-
says...
I had my first encounter with a jerk with an automobile the other day. I
was riding on the main 4-lane road going through town, as far to the
right as I could without going into the gutter, when from behind me I
hear the belligerent shout of "Get off the road!" I look back to see a
college punk in a black SUV. The traffic was light, and he had plenty of
room to pass me. I just ignored him and biked on.

But the incident brought to mind a question. I'm a fairly new cyclist,
having gotten my bike for Christmas last year. I've learned all the
rules of riding on the road and sharing the road with cars, and I follow
those rules religiously. I've never had a problem with a motorist until
the above mentioned incident. I see lot of cyclists riding on that same
road, and I also see a lot of cyclists riding on the sidewalks
paralleling that road.

My question is, should I be riding on the road when sidewalks are
available? I prefer riding on the road, and the sidewalks, while not
crammed with pedestrians, are never free of them either. What are ya'lls
thoughts? TIA!

Pedestrians are generally much less predictable than drivers and their
vehicles, so from the way you describe it, you will probably be safer on
the road. Also, drivers don't expect fast-moving vehicles on the
sidewalk when they are coming out of side streets and driveways, and
will likely pull out in front of you. Now if there were no shoulder and
bumper-to-bumper traffic in both lanes so that you don't have any room
to ride, it might be a different matter, but bikes usually are safer on
the road than on the sidewalk.

You really have to use your judgement for any given situation.

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