Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 560
City cycling
8/10/2016 at 10:27 PM
I commute across the city daily on my bike, I rarely ride on the paths, particularly in the 34th and Richmond area, first the paths on Richmond heading east are extremely rough particularly if you a faster rider, even with a front suspension bike, and one you get to 26th they end.
second It's dangerous to ride on the paths at a decent pace during peak times, as they are often full of pedestrians, leisure cyclists runners, kids, strollers, pokemon hunters, many of which are wearing headphones, it much safer on the streets.
A bike does not need to be licensed there is no laws for that, I use the same common sense riding on the road on my bike as I do driving my truck or car. I cycle anywhere from 30-50 kph in the city, and often keep pace with traffic, I use the right hand side of the lane, and stay within a meter of the curb, I stop behind the stop lines, and ensure turning cars have the room to turn right in front of me on a red.
90% of drivers in Brandon are really good, 5% are too cautious, and are afraid to share the lane, I always leave as much room as I can, if your driving a normal car or truck, you should have plenty of room. The other 5 percent are dbags most of which are city bus drivers, or jacked up diesels, and some guy driving a white truck with a red local "paving company" logo that always blazes by me as close as possible and then rides the curb at lights, so I can't pull up to the stop line, but I'll fix him, not a smart idea when you have a company logo on your truck!
This shouldn't be anew concept, bikes and vehicles have shared the road for decades, and in many cities, in equal numbers, we all just need to be considerate of each other's space.