It may seem a little odd to be discussing bike-car relations during what many people regard as the end of the biking season, but one of the great things about the Twin Cities is there is no biking season — even on the coldest, snowiest day imaginable, you’re guaranteed to see at least one renegade on a bike. So, in light of the good points that were raised yesterday, here’s a bit more on the matter.

First, a photo illustrating why some bikers don’t stick to the bike lane:

… because sometimes the bike lane doesn’t stick with the bikers. In this example outside Roadguy headquarters on Portland Avenue in Minneapolis, the Giant Eraser has apparently struck again, because the lane suddenly vanishes for half a block, then resumes.

Relatedly, in yesterday’s post, I neglected to include Part II of the e-mail I received from bicyclist Lisa:

“The roads are rarely set up to keep us safe from traffic. My current favorite street is Gortner on the University campus. There’s a bike lane, then it disappears (we are not to ride on the sidewalks), then it appears again. I’m never completely sure where we are supposed to be when it goes away. Teleported over that section of road, perhaps.”

Now that would make a great photo. She’s right, though — there are gaps in the system. And, as Third Base Line points out, there are plenty of user errors even where the lanes are fine. She encouraged me to consider taking CrapCam over to Hennepin Avenue for some prime Moron Patrol hunting:

“Sometimes, you even get a SuperMoron [driving a car] in the bike lane. Now that’s quality entertainment — particularly when a bicyclist takes it upon themselves to pedal at approximately the speed of cold molasses right in front of them. You can learn some brand-new swear words right there.”

I’m realizing that, while I’m not always respectful of laws designed for motorized vehicles when I bike, I am usually pretty respectful of others on the road. Last year, I read a great New York Times article about British driving tests (the full story for paying Times subscribers is here), and the first line of the article has stuck with me as a guide for proper road behavior:

“Force another car to slow down while you’re taking your road test, even if you are not in danger of causing an accident, and you fail.”

In other words, first do no harm — which is not a bad rule of the road, no matter what you’re piloting.

Got more thoughts? Add ‘em to the fray below.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 24th, 2006 at 6:05 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.