From: casseres@apple.com (David Casseres)
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.soc
Subject: Re: Bike paths (FROM Re: Cycling and Environmentalism)
Date: 29 Dec 92 00:17:38 GMT
Followup-To: rec.bicycles.soc
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.

In article <19921221.071155.364@almaden.ibm.com>, pershng@watson.ibm.com
(John A. Pershing Jr.) wrote:
> 
> ... you will find that the
> "bikes only" rule will not be followed -- the bikepath (especially a
> nice, 12-foot-wide one) will immediately be overrun with pedestrians
> (many with dogs on leashes), roller skaters, skateboarders, and
> probably mo-peds and other small motorbikes.  Even if, for some strange
> reason, you find *only* bicyclists on the path one day, you will find
> family groups (including very small children on trikes), hacks and
> tyros who can barely stay upright on the bike, with many people
> ignoring the center line, weaving back and forth, etc.

Quite right.  And there's a good case for providing bike paths in park
areas specifically for the use of these folks (though I think anyone using
a motor on a bike/pedestrian/skate/dog path should be jailed).

> "Bike Sundays" were one of the most dangerous situations I encountered
> in 10 years of riding in and around Boston.... On Sundays in the
> Summer they close the Bronx River Parkway for the exclusive use of
> bicyclists.... 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.

For a counterexample, we also have a "Bike Sunday" road closure here in
the San Francisco Peninsula (Canada Road).  It has exactly the kind of mix
you describe, but it has no crossroads or signals.  It is not particularly
dangerous.  I have taken my daughter to ride there many times, when she was
six and seven years old, and we'll go again this summer when she's eight. 
She has learned a lot on this road that would have been harder and more
dangerous to learn in the presence of motor traffic, and we've enjoyed it a
lot.

> Oh... one more practical problem with bike paths:  the total lack of
> maintenance.  Within a few months, the path will be littered with
> broken glass and other trash.  If you get snow there, I doubt that the
> bike paths will get plowed.  After a few years, it will develop cracks
> and potholes that will not be repaired.  At least, this has been my
> observation of bike paths that I have known (and avoided).

I avoid most of the bike paths in my area, for the usual reasons, but I do
get a look at them once in a while and they are not littered with glass and
trash.

It is important to understand that not all cyclists ride "competently," as
most of us in these newsgroups would undertand competent riding.  Nor will
they ever, no matter how many John Foresters lecture them.  I do not think
it unreasonable to have public facilities for their enjoyment.

Here's a question for those who insist that *all* bike paths are evil:
should we destroy all pedestrian paths?  Or should we just forbid cyclists
to use them?

I realize that the real problem is attempts to offer bike paths as the only
place for us to ride, and the only solution to our concerns about safety in
traffic.  But it is one thing to insist that bike paths are not the answer
for serious recreational and transportation cyclists, and quite another to
insist that all bike paths are evil and deadly to all cyclists.

--

David Casseres
Exclaimer: Wow!
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.soc