For me in comes down to one very basic principle and that is the road ways and everything associated with them were designed for *motor vehicles *simple really. As a result they were not designed for me OR my bicycle. I am forced to deal with a system that was not designed for me. So, If I take liberties fine I've got to do whats good for me. I've been riding for as long as I can remember pretty much and although the way I ride has changed it's more of an evolution than anything. Over time I know what works and what doesn't.
Even in situations where there's bike lanes, (Which I do use when it makes sense) they were put in after the fact, problem we have here in Dallas is there's insane numbers of people moving here and it's quickly overwhelming our Infrastructure, roads especially. NOTE to people thinking about moving here *Please don't* it's starting to really really Suck! We ARE expanding bike trails and whatnot at a aggressive rate, but unfortunately I think the perception of Bike trails in general is that they are a Recreational resource; this mindset makes me a little crazy, Because, people can walk, Run, Or even casually recreate on their bicycle just about anywhere. If you are not going anywhere, you can go nowhere, just about anyplace. A bike path should facilitate alternative transport and it will be very effective at that if we keep that in mind. Don't build bike paths from nowhere to nowhere. I am OK with people walking their dogs or whatever, but 9 times out of 10 I am using the bikepath or trail for Transportation, as a practical tool, putting tax dollars to functional use, decreasing traffic for the other people who are not so inclined. Is it wrong for me to expect a little consideration? I don't think so; I try to work with the cars, the traffic in a collaborative fashion, you give me a little space and I'll give you a little space, etc. Fortunately, on my 16 mile one way ride to work, roughly half of it is on a bike path, another 4ish miles are residential/lightly traveled streets, but balance is sidewalks. No biggie really, I don't think riding a bike on the sidewalk is technically legal, but it's kind of understood that it's the only safe option. The only place I've ever caught any grief for riding on the sidewalk was Guadalupe St. in Austin, but that was 30 years ago. So, Yeah, I don't know why I had to unpack all that, but do what's good for you on or off your, bike; I'm not going to judge. But, the whole riding on the sidewalk is against the law argument, just kinda gets me fired up. It's one thing if you live in NYC, SF or maybe Chicago, but just about anywhere else in this country it's frequently your best option. I try to be courteous, because I think it's in my best interest, but we cannot continue to grow automotive use, sadly it's not sustainable. Bike commuting is growing here, despite the ever shrinking availability of shops catering to cyclist, that should be a sign. I expect Ebike commuting to Double in 2020 and probably every year after that. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/4c8c7453-9d75-4681-818f-48f0d155ae05%40googlegroups.com.
