NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #31/NN_1992_31.iso/spool/rec/bicycles/soc/1273

Internet Message Format | 1992-12-22 | 1.9 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!haven.umd.edu!darwin.sura.net!spool.mu.edu!hri.com!noc.near.net!news.cs.brandeis.edu!chaos.cs.brandeis.edu!dkw
From: [e-mail] (David Wittenberg)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.soc
Subject: Re: Bike paths (FROM Re: Cycling and Environmentalism)
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 21 Dec 92 18:38:06 GMT
References: <[e-mail]>
Sender: [e-mail] (USENET News System)
Organization: Brandeis University Computer Science
Lines: 29

In article <[e-mail]>, [e-mail] (John A. Pershing Jr.) writes:
 the BRP is a divided highway so that, for the most part, all of
|> the people are going the same direction.  Everything else is the
|> essentially the same:  an intermixture of would-be racers trying to
|> ride as fast as possible, family groups including 5-year-olds on
|> tricycles, pedestrians, roller skaters, people who can barely balance
|> on a bike, etc.


This sounds disturbingly like auto drivers complaining about
bicyclists: they're slow, they swerve, you never know where they're
going.

Where do you want these people to ride?  If people are going to
bicycle at all, they must learn somewhere.  I hope my daughter will
want to ride a bicycle eventually, and I can imagine that she would
get frustrated if restricted to the 100 or so yards of our street.
My wife and I average 12 mph.  Many people in this forum claim to
average 24 mph.  If we can't share a 2 lane (per direction) highway
with no cars, how are we going to ride on a 1 narrow lane (per
direction) with cars?

I have ridden on several roads when they were closed to auto traffic,
and found that the riders weren't as skilled as those I normally meet
on the roads.  With the extra road width, I didn't think I was in any
more danger than  on  the roads I normally commute on.  I did have to
change my style of riding somewhat.

--David Wittenberg