Bike or Car: Which is Healthier:

It isn't the yield signs, it is the excess stop signs on the high volume trail, now legally equivalent to a highway. Only some of them meet state traffic standards, the rest are equivalent to putting stop signs on an arterial so that the lightly used cross streets get preference.

Add in the 10 mph speed limit, for a single driveway. From one direction the signage does not meet traffic code standards. I have never been pulled over for speeding in a car, only on a bike. I didn't get a ticket (was not exceeding the unposted limit for the rest of the trail), but the legality of that sign would have been an issue.

But these problem signs are not in relatively bike-friendly Seattle. They are in another jurisdiction along the trail.

 

With all the respect that I can muster: Bull Shit.
Does generalizing like that help anybody? My bicycles are my main form of transportation. How is it that my bikes are toys? I share the road with other cyclists (many of whom around here have no car) and with cars.

Chicken and egg. If we don't ride bikes, we don't need separate lanes, right? So maybe we should try riding bikes, and pushing toward better bike facilities. If instead we drive cars because there are no bike lanes, we get nowhere.

You realize that cars kill FAR more other car drivers than cyclists, right? Per hour of transportation use, riding a bike is safer than driving a car. And since cyclists don't kill other cyclists or car drivers very often - we're all safer if we ride. Oh... and we don't pollute - which is responsible for 10's of thousands of more deaths per year in the USA alone. I'm sorry for all the hurt and dead cyclists that you know. The best way to prevent others from suffering the same fate is to get them out of their cars and onto bikes. Will you help?

It is more likely to happen if you take a proactive approach. Something beyond wanting to see these lanes magically appear.

 

I've been an active member of my city's bicycle advisory committee for about ten years. The group is a good balance of cyclists and pedestrians along with city staff, councillors, and school board reps. We discuss plans, problem areas, and maintenance issues from several not-always-compatible points of view. For all the talking we do, the single most effective way of communicating the cyclist's perspective is to get everyone out for a bike ride. Invariably, the response is "I get it now."

The hardest thing to change is your mind. Or maybe someone else's mind. The easiest way to do that is simply show them.

I would suggest anyone who thinks cycling is a good idea, but not a good idea for them, should find a local civic committee or bike club and ask questions. Maybe there is a perfectly good route to work, or school, or the mall, or even to the beach, from where you live. Odds are someone would be happy to show you.

 

Here are about 1200 bikes loading on one of our ferries across Puget Sound.

I'm at the gates in back, holding up the next couple thousand for the next couple boats.

 

Man. That's a lot of toys!

 

These are the bike lanes I would like to see installed

TreeHugger-Style Roller Coaster in Japan: It's Pedal Powered : TreeHugger

 

So much for developing my trackstand abilities.

Same issue with motorcycles. Ride one and quickly come to realize that the typical cell-phone attached soccer mom is the most dangerous thing to everyone's safety.

Fixed that.

 

I've not yet seen any Vehicle Code specify that a foot must be down. An officer can site you for anything he wants. But it isn't illegal unless it violates the VC. And the VC's typically state that you must come to a stop. And a track stand is a stop without a foot down. Would be a bugger to have to fight it - but fight it I would!

I certainly see far more expensive car toys on the road!

 

I'm thinking "toys" probably relates not to the serious users of bikes for transportation, but the percentage of Americans that actually use bikes. Pitifully low.

I admire each and every one of you that bike places.

 

well that sucks. i always slow down and get visual confirmation from drivers that they are allowing me to go, but i can sit motionless with no feet down if i have to.

yep. Chehalis-Western Trail. runs from one end of Thurston County all the way to Woodward Bay on the shores of Puget Sound.... most of our trail is only about 6-8 feet wide though

agreed, its all what the officer wants to enforce. for the kids that got the ticket, i am sure they deserved it and i doubt that it was for running a stop sign

it like my Zenn. all vehicles in WA State require a front license plate. my Zenn EV does not have a front license plate mount and i have never been pulled over for it and one of my favorite plug in spots is Lacey City Hall in front of the Lacey Police Dept.

 

Oh good!

When we rode the Yelm-Tenino trail some years ago, after discovering the trap rock had been converted to pavement, we also did the C-W to Lacey. The available map showed a separate DNR route north of Lacey, but a quick ground search couldn't find a connection, and we were running out of time.

But on the Thurston County Parks website it appears that numerous improvements have been added, including incorporating that DNR trail into C-W to Woodard Bay. It is time to go back and do it again.

My 15 foot comment referred to the trail right-of-way, which is usually even wider than that. 6-8 feet is quite normal for the pavement.

 

Woodward Bay Trail is separated by a few major streets all of which will soon be bridged. the last bridge should be finished within the next few days.

 

I'm like the Increadible Hulk, as you well know.