Must ride sidewalk

Quoted message said:

Want to get yous guys' opinions on this.. I've heard it's very
unwise/uncool and occasionally illegal to ride on sidewalks. However,
if I ride to work from home and DON'T use some sidewalks, the ride is
TWICE as far. Not a little further, but TWICE as far. This is because
I cross a major highway on a "pedestrian" overpass, then must move up a
frontage road on a sidewalk against traffic to my office, which is
right on the highway. If I don't do this, I must go on a long, long
trek through the neighborhoods behind the office and loop around or go
up a whole other exit on the highway and then back down. I love
riding, but come ON - why would I bother with this?

Make sense? Do most folks just ride the sidewalk in this situation?

for goodness sake. don't build this up. just ride where
you want. if you approach pedestrians, slow down and
give them the right-of-way. or walk your bike for a while.
the only time i worry about riding sidewalks is when a police
officer drives by. if i get close to a pedestrian, i might jump
the curb to the road, or ride on the grass. and i never
blast past someone walking. i like to ting my little
bell if i'm approaching from behind. just as a sort-of
warning.
....thehick

"frank-in-toronto" wrote: for goodness sake. don't build this up. just
ride where you want. (clip)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^
It is SO REFRESHING to read a reasonable response to this post, instead of
the zero-tolerance attack I expected.

frank-in-toronto said:

just ride where
you want. if you approach pedestrians, slow down

Good advice, thanks. Yeah, sometimes practicality outweighs
philosophy.

-Bill

Quoted message said:

It is SO REFRESHING to read a reasonable response to this post, instead of
the zero-tolerance attack I expected.
Why YOU !@&*#^$%!!!

There Leo, hope you feel better.

There's a major thoroughfare near my place that ends in a long S-curve hill
that becomes an onramp to a 6 lane highway bridge over the Fraser River...

--I'm speaking of Nordel Way, for those who ride there.--

You don't have much of a choice in riding the sidewalk...riding in traffic
there would be suicidal, and you'd have to get off the road anyway, because
bicycles aren't permitted on the bridge itself. (6 lanes, avg traffic speed
90kph, NO shoulder)

Brian

-who has seen more than one "dead man riding" down Nordel in traffic, in the
dark, and without lights...yikes!

[email hidden] wrote:
:> frank-in-toronto wrote:
:>
:>> just ride where
:>> you want. if you approach pedestrians, slow down
:>
:> Good advice, thanks. Yeah, sometimes practicality outweighs
:> philosophy.

I just gotta ask. How far is it if you ride the sidewalk?

:>
:> -Bill

[email hidden] wrote in news:1124920298.642633.316440
@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

Quoted message said:

Want to get yous guys' opinions on this.. I've heard it's very
unwise/uncool and occasionally illegal to ride on sidewalks. However,
if I ride to work from home and DON'T use some sidewalks, the ride is
TWICE as far. Not a little further, but TWICE as far. This is because
I cross a major highway on a "pedestrian" overpass, then must move up a
frontage road on a sidewalk against traffic to my office, which is
right on the highway. If I don't do this, I must go on a long, long
trek through the neighborhoods behind the office and loop around or go
up a whole other exit on the highway and then back down. I love
riding, but come ON - why would I bother with this?

Make sense? Do most folks just ride the sidewalk in this situation?

--Bill

Hopefully, the cops in your town never get priapistic for the cyclists, as
sometimes happens here in NYC despite the policies of our mayor: you
should know your rights and responsibilities beforehand. Your local DMV
web page should have the rules.

Riverside, CA had the weirdest rules I've ever seen. In some parts, there
are bike LANES. Where they couldn't fit in a lane, they had bike ROUTES,
which is basically a sign on the road saying "Bike Route." Everywhere else
you MUST ride the sidewalk. I always rent a bike at a destination or
travel with a fold-up, just to keep my hand in and get a taste of the local
conditions. It seems like the only riders were myself and the Mexicans,
and there was a police patrol just to make sure everyone was where they
were supposed to be.

--ag

Quoted message said:

Want to get yous guys' opinions on this.. I've heard it's very
unwise/uncool and occasionally illegal to ride on sidewalks. However,
if I ride to work from home and DON'T use some sidewalks, the ride is
TWICE as far. Not a little further, but TWICE as far. This is because
I cross a major highway on a "pedestrian" overpass, then must move up a
frontage road on a sidewalk against traffic to my office, which is
right on the highway. If I don't do this, I must go on a long, long
trek through the neighborhoods behind the office and loop around or go
up a whole other exit on the highway and then back down. I love
riding, but come ON - why would I bother with this?

Make sense? Do most folks just ride the sidewalk in this situation?

--Bill

I think you are confusing the prevailing group attitude about "sidewalk
riders" with riding on the sidewalk when forced to do so. A "sidewalk
rider" is one that chooses to ride on the sidewalk that parallels a
perfectly acceptable and safe road. To borrow your description, that
type of riding is unwise, unsafe, and- in many juridictions- illegal.
How much of your route is on a sidewalk?

Regards,
Bob Hunt

Quoted message said:

frank-in-toronto said:

just ride where
you want. if you approach pedestrians, slow down

Good advice, thanks. Yeah, sometimes practicality outweighs
philosophy.

-Bill

SOmetimes you can't avoid the sidewalk like those overpasses with
pedestrian walkways. If it's a choice between that and a scary road or
going out of your way, then take a sidewalk but be very cautious and go
slow! As long as you don't ride on a sidewalk as a habit, do stupid
stunts and the like, don't worry about being some kind of outlaw!

My working assumption is that, unless otherwise posted, it's legal to ride
either on the road or the sidewalk. If there is a local ordinance and
nothing's posted, you're most unlikely to get anything worse than a lecture.
The worst that ever happened to me was to be "kicked off" of I-15 east of
the Cajun Pass, where biking is legal. There was no sign saying that had
changed. The officer held the wire on the fence for me so I could get to
the frontage road, and was generally interested in the trip I had underway.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Want to get yous guys' opinions on this.. I've heard it's very
unwise/uncool and occasionally illegal to ride on sidewalks. However,
if I ride to work from home and DON'T use some sidewalks, the ride is
TWICE as far. Not a little further, but TWICE as far. This is because
I cross a major highway on a "pedestrian" overpass, then must move up a
frontage road on a sidewalk against traffic to my office, which is
right on the highway. If I don't do this, I must go on a long, long
trek through the neighborhoods behind the office and loop around or go
up a whole other exit on the highway and then back down. I love
riding, but come ON - why would I bother with this?

Make sense? Do most folks just ride the sidewalk in this situation?

--Bill

Andy Gee said:

Riverside, CA had the weirdest rules I've ever seen. In some parts, there
are bike LANES. Where they couldn't fit in a lane, they had bike ROUTES,
which is basically a sign on the road saying "Bike Route." Everywhere else
you MUST ride the sidewalk.

That cannot be true. California does not permit communities to
force cyclists to ride on the sidewalk.
--
Ben Pfaff
email: [email hidden]
web: http://benpfaff.org

Quoted message said:

Want to get yous guys' opinions on this.. I've heard it's very
unwise/uncool and occasionally illegal to ride on sidewalks.

I ride on the sidewalk if it's shorter or safer.

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Want to get yous guys' opinions on this.. I've heard it's very
unwise/uncool and occasionally illegal to ride on sidewalks. However,
if I ride to work from home and DON'T use some sidewalks, the ride is
TWICE as far. Not a little further, but TWICE as far. This is because
I cross a major highway on a "pedestrian" overpass, then must move up a
frontage road on a sidewalk against traffic to my office, which is
right on the highway. If I don't do this, I must go on a long, long
trek through the neighborhoods behind the office and loop around or go
up a whole other exit on the highway and then back down. I love
riding, but come ON - why would I bother with this?

Make sense? Do most folks just ride the sidewalk in this situation?

--Bill

Can't speak about where you are, but here in the UK it is illegal to cycle
on the footpath/pavement (our terms for sidewalk). So I don't do it -
period. If I come to a section of route where I 'have to' go on a footpath I
dismount & walk the bike for that part (which is legal over here).
Personally - as a driver or cyclist I tend to obey the relevant laws over
here :-)

Cheers, helen s

On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 06:26:03 +0100, "wafflycat"

waffles*A*T*v21net*D*O*T*co*D*O*T*uk said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Want to get yous guys' opinions on this.. I've heard it's very
unwise/uncool and occasionally illegal to ride on sidewalks. However,
if I ride to work from home and DON'T use some sidewalks, the ride is
TWICE as far. Not a little further, but TWICE as far. This is because
I cross a major highway on a "pedestrian" overpass, then must move up a
frontage road on a sidewalk against traffic to my office, which is
right on the highway. If I don't do this, I must go on a long, long
trek through the neighborhoods behind the office and loop around or go
up a whole other exit on the highway and then back down. I love
riding, but come ON - why would I bother with this?

Make sense? Do most folks just ride the sidewalk in this situation?

--Bill

Can't speak about where you are, but here in the UK it is illegal to cycle
on the footpath/pavement (our terms for sidewalk). So I don't do it -
period. If I come to a section of route where I 'have to' go on a footpath I
dismount & walk the bike for that part (which is legal over here).
Personally - as a driver or cyclist I tend to obey the relevant laws over
here :-)

Cheers, helen s

Not to give you a hard time, but have you never ridden on the sidewalk, say
as an 'escape route' if crowded by a car? In that instance it wouldn't be
illegal, right? Or perhaps it would be illegal, but not cited. ;-)

What if you rode on a sidewalk for a very short distance, and then into a
gas station and cut across it to another exit and resumed road riding.
Would that be illegal in England? Here if you did a 'short cut' through a
gas station with a car you would be ticketted. I have no idea what would be
done here in the States if a cop saw a cyclist doing it - I doubt they'd do
anything as long as the cyclist didn't ride dangerously through that area
of the parking lot.

I consider it ok to ride through an apt complex parking lot, or a shopping
center (which has its hazards!), and soforth, but carefully. I prefer the
road, though, and I can't recall that I've ever done that, but it wouldn't
faze me.

If I'm coming up to an uphill intersection that's difficult to navigate,
particularly if I've redlined it too long, and I want to turn left (or in
your case right) I might cut over before the light and slowly and
cautiously ride theside walk on the wrong side for 20 feet, and then back
onto the road (carefully) though I've only done that once since I was
afraid I couldn't get restarted on that hill. It's not a practice I make,
but there are some things I do if I feel it's dangerous not to take a short
cut. I've ridden down a side walk to get to a parallel road when the main
road was a high speed divided highway with no close entry points. That was
no fun since the sidewalk was covered with debris (it was on a bridge).

So, though I don't make it a practice, if I get into trouble, or need to
emergently escape trouble I've used a sidewalk for very short stretches. In
fact in Virginia Beach, they have marked some double wide sidewalks as
'bike routes' and you are allowed to ride on them. So without postings, I
don't see how they could cite a rider for being on a sidewalk elsewhere -
he'd just say 'hey, you encourage me to ride on the sidewalk where I live,
and I don't see a sign prohibiting it here...' ;-)

jj

"jj" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Not to give you a hard time, but have you never ridden on the sidewalk,
say
as an 'escape route' if crowded by a car? In that instance it wouldn't be
illegal, right? Or perhaps it would be illegal, but not cited. ;-)

Last time I rode on the pavement/footpath I was a kid.

Quoted message said:

What if you rode on a sidewalk for a very short distance, and then into a
gas station and cut across it to another exit and resumed road riding.
Would that be illegal in England? Here if you did a 'short cut' through a
gas station with a car you would be ticketted. I have no idea what would
be
done here in the States if a cop saw a cyclist doing it - I doubt they'd
do
anything as long as the cyclist didn't ride dangerously through that area
of the parking lot.

Riding on the pavement/footpath is illegal over here.

That's not to say many a cyclist doesn't do it. But that's no reason for me
to break the law. If it were, I might take up the more financially lucrative
holding up a bank jobbie ;-)

Personally I *loathe* footpath cycling over here it is *guaranteed* to get
up the noses of pedestrians and motorists alike and many column inches of
press are devoted to it. I have perfectly good highway tarmac to cycle on
legally and safely. There are periodic police crackdowns on cyclists using
pavements, cycling at night without lights etc., but usually very little
enforcement of the law. Still doesn't mean I should break the law though.

As my teenage son has been known to quip at adult cyclists he sees on the
footpath, "What's the matter? Mummy not think you are old enough to ride on
the road yet?" Needless to say, he doesn't ride on the footpath either - he
cycles as he should, with good road awareness and assertive cycling
techniques, as he was taught to do so.

Cheers, helen s

Quoted message said:

I consider it ok to ride through an apt complex parking lot, or a shopping
center (which has its hazards!), and soforth, but carefully. I prefer the
road, though, and I can't recall that I've ever done that, but it wouldn't
faze me.

If I'm coming up to an uphill intersection that's difficult to navigate,
particularly if I've redlined it too long, and I want to turn left (or in
your case right) I might cut over before the light and slowly and
cautiously ride theside walk on the wrong side for 20 feet, and then back
onto the road (carefully) though I've only done that once since I was
afraid I couldn't get restarted on that hill. It's not a practice I make,
but there are some things I do if I feel it's dangerous not to take a
short
cut. I've ridden down a side walk to get to a parallel road when the main
road was a high speed divided highway with no close entry points. That was
no fun since the sidewalk was covered with debris (it was on a bridge).

So, though I don't make it a practice, if I get into trouble, or need to
emergently escape trouble I've used a sidewalk for very short stretches.
In
fact in Virginia Beach, they have marked some double wide sidewalks as
'bike routes' and you are allowed to ride on them. So without postings, I
don't see how they could cite a rider for being on a sidewalk elsewhere -
he'd just say 'hey, you encourage me to ride on the sidewalk where I live,
and I don't see a sign prohibiting it here...' ;-)

jj

Ben Pfaff <[email hidden]> wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

Andy Gee said:

Riverside, CA had the weirdest rules I've ever seen. In some parts,
there are bike LANES. Where they couldn't fit in a lane, they had
bike ROUTES, which is basically a sign on the road saying "Bike
Route." Everywhere else you MUST ride the sidewalk.

That cannot be true. California does not permit communities to
force cyclists to ride on the sidewalk.

You may very well be correct. The cop may have been exceeding his
authority. The system actually worked for anyone who was familiar with it,
since the only people on the sidewalks in those zones were, in fact,
cyclists -- it was just bizarre to be pulled over by a cop for _not_
riding on the sidewalk.

--ag

Roger Zoul said:

I just gotta ask. How far is it if you ride the sidewalk?

With 50% sidewalk riding, the route *to* work is only 3 miles. Highly
hilly, though. If I stay on the street, it's about 6 miles (due to
one-way streets with sidewalks on only one side and few cross-streets).
Neither distance is long, but some weather and timing conditions make
3 preferable to 6.

The way home is just as scary, as a 55-mph frontage road is the only
way out of my office. Unless I sidewalk it on the xtra-wide sidewalk.
Which I do.

Quoted message said:

Want to get yous guys' opinions on this.. I've heard it's very
unwise/uncool and occasionally illegal to ride on sidewalks.

Depends where you are. In general, though, this seems to be true.
Bikes are dangerous to pedestrians, after all.

Also, sidewalks really aren't very good for getting any sort of real
speed--they're typically curved and graded for foot traffic.

(snip description of commute)

Quoted message said:

Make sense? Do most folks just ride the sidewalk in this situation?

I would--just like I ride the sidewalk rather than a major road near
home: there's no alternative route, and that road is _dangerous_.

--
Robert Uhl <http://public.xdi.org/=ruhl>
And it should be the law: If you use the word `paradigm' without knowing
what the dictionary says it means, you go to jail. No exceptions.
--David Jones

On Thu, 25 Aug 2005 06:26:03 +0100, "wafflycat"

waffles*A*T*v21net*D*O*T*co*D*O*T*uk said:

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Want to get yous guys' opinions on this.. I've heard it's very
unwise/uncool and occasionally illegal to ride on sidewalks. However,
if I ride to work from home and DON'T use some sidewalks, the ride is
TWICE as far. Not a little further, but TWICE as far. This is because
I cross a major highway on a "pedestrian" overpass, then must move up a
frontage road on a sidewalk against traffic to my office, which is
right on the highway. If I don't do this, I must go on a long, long
trek through the neighborhoods behind the office and loop around or go
up a whole other exit on the highway and then back down. I love
riding, but come ON - why would I bother with this?

Make sense? Do most folks just ride the sidewalk in this situation?

--Bill

Can't speak about where you are, but here in the UK it is illegal to cycle
on the footpath/pavement (our terms for sidewalk). So I don't do it -
period. If I come to a section of route where I 'have to' go on a footpath I
dismount & walk the bike for that part (which is legal over here).
Personally - as a driver or cyclist I tend to obey the relevant laws over
here :-)

Cheers, helen s

That's the way it is in Illinois. Its illegal to ride on the sidewalk.
An old rules of the road says to dismount and walk the bike if you
must travel on the sidewalk.

"Charles M" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

That's the way it is in Illinois. Its illegal to ride on the

sidewalk.

Quoted message said:

An old rules of the road says to dismount and walk the bike

if you

Quoted message said:

must travel on the sidewalk.

Not true. In Illinois, it varies by municipality. In the city
of Chicago, it's illegal unless you are under 12. In many
other areas, there's no prohibition.