Originally Posted by
Last ride 76
My daughter (11) was into riding when she learned a few years ago... But now to get to a "safe" (up and back the cul- de -sac isn't enough now that she's older) place to ride we have to throw the bikes into my truck. To ride beyond 300 yds. she has to pass a supermarket, Dunkin' D, Starbucks, McD, Wendy's, 2 gas stations & regular shops, banks and parking lots. Even I'm taking a chance with all the disengaged drivers in a hurry*... And it's not like riding to a friend's is easy anymore, like when I was young.
Can't really fault the kids, in this aspect.
* I've already had 3 VERY close calls of drivers trying to turn and squeak in front of me to get whatever... since the end of March, and I ain't going fast 12-15 mph. (I'm not counting the silly, annoying ones.)
It sounds like this is suburbia, and maybe this gets mentioned further down, but the asinine developers of urban sprawl areas are killing kids playing outside as much or more than anything mentioned so far. You can hardly get from one subdivision to another or to a park with out getting on a major thoroughfare. Then because that major thoroughfare is the only way to get from A to B it's overcrowded with frustrated motorists before cyclists and pedestrians even enter the picture.
I developed my love of cycling in an urban residential matrix. Mostly low volume roads because there were almost infinite ways to get from A to B. Even as I got older and started venturing to older inner suburbs you could still find plenty of calm roads. A big reason why I've always lived near an urban core.