Bike Lanes.... some great images from the BBC
stolen from carsrcoffins.com
twenty years ago I would have ridden my bike on the beltway before riding on a bike path
now, I extend my trip extra miles to get out on the path and away from cars
yet... the paths are not perfect
normally I do not care about the crumbling asphalt beneath my tires
the areas raised by roots and rocks do not bother me
yet when I tow my children in the Burley Trailer I get a grand idea of how imperfect these trails are
or even when I put aside the mountainbike or the cross bike and get on the thin tired fixed gear I can really feel this stuff
but... I am not crying out for trail repair
more than anything
I want more trail
I want more trails leading to different places
I want more trail so that the people who seek out these trails can be more spread out
on a nice day these trails get a bit congested
perhaps too congested for anyone to feel comfortable taking even a single speed with some off road gearing to a spinning pace
it is madness I tell you
okay...
a little trail repair would be nice
but... before we move to trail repair I think that there needs to be a bit of an education to the car commuter traffic that these trails are here
but since signs or painted lines are not getting the point across
there may need to be an option that changes behavior
spikes that pop up in front of the cross walk as a walker, runner, mother with children, or cyclist approaches would be nice
but this would not stop the car
the car would continue at the same pace above the speed limit through the cross walk flattening whomever or whatever happened to be in its way
the thought of a sniper in a tree is also good... but that does not stop the car either.... it will change future behavior... but we are trying to keep the users of the path safe as they intersect with car traffic
looks like we are falling back on old standby.... speed bumps and speed humps!
there are several points on Rock Creek Parkway where the bike path crosses the road
the cars moving along these stretches of road tend to be doubling the speed limit yielding to no man or womyn (as there is no man in woman)
so.... I say that there should be a speed some rumble strips starting 10 or 15 yards before the point where the path crosses the street
then
have the crosswalk raised... like a massive speed hump
the cars should be bringing down their speed anyway as most of these crossings are at off ramps
the runners, walkers, and cyclists could then let their heart rate be dictated by their work outs rather than the near death experience as some ignorant driver tests their ABS system and measures the height of their bumper to the human leg
just a thought
just a rant to now where as usual
in reality I do need to approach the folks at WABA to try and have bike lanes put in certain parts of the city
stolen from carsrcoffins.com
twenty years ago I would have ridden my bike on the beltway before riding on a bike path
now, I extend my trip extra miles to get out on the path and away from cars
yet... the paths are not perfect
normally I do not care about the crumbling asphalt beneath my tires
the areas raised by roots and rocks do not bother me
yet when I tow my children in the Burley Trailer I get a grand idea of how imperfect these trails are
or even when I put aside the mountainbike or the cross bike and get on the thin tired fixed gear I can really feel this stuff
but... I am not crying out for trail repair
more than anything
I want more trail
I want more trails leading to different places
I want more trail so that the people who seek out these trails can be more spread out
on a nice day these trails get a bit congested
perhaps too congested for anyone to feel comfortable taking even a single speed with some off road gearing to a spinning pace
it is madness I tell you
okay...
a little trail repair would be nice
but... before we move to trail repair I think that there needs to be a bit of an education to the car commuter traffic that these trails are here
but since signs or painted lines are not getting the point across
there may need to be an option that changes behavior
spikes that pop up in front of the cross walk as a walker, runner, mother with children, or cyclist approaches would be nice
but this would not stop the car
the car would continue at the same pace above the speed limit through the cross walk flattening whomever or whatever happened to be in its way
the thought of a sniper in a tree is also good... but that does not stop the car either.... it will change future behavior... but we are trying to keep the users of the path safe as they intersect with car traffic
looks like we are falling back on old standby.... speed bumps and speed humps!
there are several points on Rock Creek Parkway where the bike path crosses the road
the cars moving along these stretches of road tend to be doubling the speed limit yielding to no man or womyn (as there is no man in woman)
so.... I say that there should be a speed some rumble strips starting 10 or 15 yards before the point where the path crosses the street
then
have the crosswalk raised... like a massive speed hump
the cars should be bringing down their speed anyway as most of these crossings are at off ramps
the runners, walkers, and cyclists could then let their heart rate be dictated by their work outs rather than the near death experience as some ignorant driver tests their ABS system and measures the height of their bumper to the human leg
just a thought
just a rant to now where as usual
in reality I do need to approach the folks at WABA to try and have bike lanes put in certain parts of the city