Originally Posted by
kraftwerk
Kojak
Have you thought about helping plan bike lanes in your community so they will be a lot more useful for everyone?
True, Europe is better but we must start somewhere.
In NYC if a street is shared with a bike lane the cyclist is required to use it or risk getting a ticket.
You say AAA are "ostensibly acting on behalf of the opinions and wishes of those who make their existence possible. " Hey I am a memeber thats why i get their dumb magazine. But their sentiment is not in my best interest at all. That is like saying " Corporations are just looking out for their best interest" Which is the attitude which has almost ruined the modern world.
Full disclosure : I own two old clunkers but only use them if I need to go further than 25 miles, otherwise I take one of my bicycles which I much prefer.
ps. I love my Schwalbe Stelvios 451 on my folding bike.
I have seriously considered getting involved with the local area Bicycle Coalition; maybe sooner than later.
My time here is coming to an end as we are losing our child care provider, and it looks like I'm on deck (my wife is a University professor which trumps tire huckster 999 times out of a 1,000). If I can eek out the time, I'd like to get involved, and see where it leads me. My career has taken so many twists and turns in the last 5 years I'm not sure what to expect other than the unexpected. I may eventually land back here once the kids are in school full time, then again, I may not.
To clarify my position, I'm not against bike lanes per se, I'm just not thrilled about the current state of affairs, and as a confident cyclist, I feel safer taking up a lane rather than being shunted to the side of the road. The inference I get is "you don't belong on the road, you belong out of the way". A sentiment which is backed up by laws (as you mentioned) which require me to be in a bike lane if there is one. Does this mean that I can't merge into the left lane so that I can turn left? Will it be my word vs. a law enforcement officer in this situation if I get a ticket for not being in the bike lane? I have that very situation on my commute into work in the morning and have been verbally abused several times for "not being in the bike lane". Fortunately, the laws here do not require me to use the bike lane..... maybe I'd better check on that..........