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Kimberly's Blog
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Thursday, 22 October 2009 13:40 |
Bike lanes can be very useful to many people. Unfortunately, it looks like there are some people who think bike lanes are all that's needed for cyclists.
But, the more cycling you do the more you can see that bike lanes aren't the end-all for bicyclists. There are many times when bike lanes can't be used.
People trash bike lanes deliberately or accidentally. Debris falls into the roads because some people don't know how to tie down loads on their vehicles and check the ties to make sure everything will hold.
Florida has very hard tropical rains that fill the gutters during and after the rain. It's common for rain to flood 1/3 or more of a normal lane. But, I've seen flooding so serious that four-lane roads with center turn lanes were reduced to two lanes with no center turn lane. So, everyone was ignoring the painted lines and traveling in two lanes on the crown of the road. Cyclists shouldn't be driving in flooding or standing rain for the same reasons motorists shouldn't be doing it.
After the rains have flowed into storm drains, the rain leaves sand and other debris behind right where the bike lanes are. Bicyclists can go down when riding through sand. Then there are the bigger objects left behind. I've had to pull a 6-foot long 2x4 board out of a storm drain. The board was sticking out 3 or more feet into the road, right where the bike lane would be and right where a motorcyclist could crash into it. Another time, I saw a water-logged double bed mattress that the flood waters had dragged into the road. I had to leave it because it was much too heavy to pull out of the road.
Bike lanes next to parked cars are another serious problem. Mention door zone bike lanes (DZBLs) and you'll get a lot of comments from cyclists who have had a lot of experience trying to use them. There are the obvious issues with people opening car doors deliberately or without looking in front of cyclists. Squirrels and loose pets can jump out from behind parked cars, leaving you to crash into the animals because there's no time or space to avoid crashing. Then, there are the motorists coming out of side streets, alleys, and drive ways who pull right out in front of DZBL cyclists because the motorists and cyclists can't see each other over the parked cars. (My tall cycling friends will just need to understand that we short cyclists can have different hazards.) DZBLs become even more hazardous when car traffic is heavy and there are a lot of parked cars. It's really easy to not get hit by a car when there are few or no cars around. Bicycling education and good safety techniques can prevent the crashes.
Disabled cars sitting on bike lanes, people parking cars and trucks on bike lanes..... The list goes on and on about times cyclists can't use or don't have access to bike lanes.
What do you do when the bike lane can't be used or there is no bike lane? That's when vehicular cycling (VC) skills are needed. A lot of sources provide good education on VC skills. Just search the internet, read and think about what you learned, and put the education into practice. Start by practicing the VC skills on side streets. Then, go to streets with more motorist traffic. Eventually, you'll be experienced enough and know enough that you can tackle just about any road you find.
Here are some good sources of vehicular bicycling information:
The Florida Bicycle Association explains Florida's state bicycle laws.
www.floridabicycle.org
http://bicycling.about.com/od/thebikelife/a/forester.htm
LA Times article about vehicular bicycling
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-biking2-2009nov02,0,2055848.story?track=rss
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Donating Gas Money to Charity fund drive, Nov & Dec 2010 |
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Kimberly's Blog
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Sunday, 26 July 2009 01:40 |
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Donating Gas Money to Charity
2010 Fund Drive Flier and Pledge
Some St. Petersburg Bicycle Club, Inc., members have come up with a way to help generous supporters be able to donate more money to their favorite charities/non-profits. We've started the “Donating Gas Money to Charity” fund drive which will operate during November and December 2010.
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