forgive me i step on someones toes ~rant ahead~

[wowbaby]

Originally Posted by jimmyrocks

I feel like adding to this rant today

In PA, if a cyclist is going slower than the "prevailing" speed of the roadway, they must limit themselves to the shoulder, unless they are using a turning lane. Cyclists can also use sidewalks, as long as it's not in the business area of the town, they just need to yield to pedestrians.

But the problem is that the roads were not designed to accommodate both automobile and bicycle traffic effectively. Most of the roads were designed for slow moving vehicles, and updated to accommodate cars. The people on bikes have just as much of a right to use the roads as do the people in cars, and there is no reason they cannot share the road effectively.

We can blame PennDOT for building these nice one-purpose roads, the Cyclists for taking these roads (although at an average 15mph, these roads can significantly shorten the ride), or the Automobile drivers for not paying attention or wanting to slow down for these Cyclists.

It's easiest to blame PennDOT, but it really comes down to personal responsibility on both the Drivers and the Cyclists.

AMEN!

[hapyheart]

Obviously, there are times when the bike riders have no choice, but to use the small roads and it can me managable. The thing that irritates me about certain bikers is if they ride in the middle of a lane as if they are a car. This happens alot on crawford and center, ect. If you in a car of any size you can't get around them. They more or less force you to follow behind them at their speed which is far slower than that of a car. Please please get yourself a car if you have to ride in the middle.

[jimmyrocks]

I wonder if this is me you're referring to, I do ride up Crawford sometimes, although I try to take Hanoverville Road instead. I've only ridden on 512 a few times, and it's not fun, there is pretty much no shoulder at all at some points.

Come to think of it, I bike on the sidewalk on Crawford when I'm there... I'm sure the pedestrians love me going 20mph down their sidewalk, but there's not much room in the road for bicycles.

The road that scares me the most is Santee Mill, I usually get off my bicycle and step a few feet off the road when a car comes by. You really can't be too careful, and really, it only takes 30 seconds.