Tucson Cyclists: Help Me Understand (Young: how much, to live, dangerous)

[VicTree]

Tucson does a pretty good job of providing bike lanes on most every main road. As a driver I'm happy to share the road with cyclists and always strive to put at least 3 feet between my vehicle and the cyclist.

But I'm puzzled by and hope you cyclists out there can help me understand why so many cyclists ride on or very close to the line separating the bike lane from the road rather than toward the middle of the bike lane.

The bike lanes on my route look to be about 3 feet wide so putting your bike in the middle of the lane provides half the space that (I believe) should separate cyclist from vehicle. The car lanes on my route are wide enough to allow us to slide over 1.5 feet without encroaching oncoming traffic.

But, if you're riding on the line it's very difficult for us drivers to move over enough to provide adequate space between car and bike without risking a head-on collision with oncoming traffic. It just seems like an unsafe situation and one that is very avoidable.

Am I missing something?

[volosong]

Unless you are a rider, you wouldn't know about this. There is a LOT of debris in bike lanes. Most serious road cyclist have fairly thin, high pressure tires, (to put it in layman's terms), which are much more susceptible to damage from said debris. He or she is just trying to avoid getting a flat tire.

The solution is for city's street sweepers to make a run on the bike lanes and road shoulders at least quarterly to clear the junk.

[Bummer]

Great observation, VicTree . . .

. . . and NO, you are NOT missing anything.

I try to ride my Mountain Bike at least once a day and usually only drive my vehicles about three or four times a week . . . what you are addressing is far too common.

Frequently I have witnessed cyclists either riding alone or two abreast in a relatively narrow bike lane either on or very close to the "line" with no regard for the vehicles on the road.

Such blatant arrogance and/or ignorance very often makes me embarrassed to admit I am a regular bike rider.

Sadly, I rate this obnoxious behavior right up there with the Jay-Walkers.

[bkolodzi]

Originally Posted by volosong

Unless you are a rider, you wouldn't know about this. There is a LOT of debris in bike lanes. Most serious road cyclist have fairly thin, high pressure tires, (to put it in layman's terms), which are much more susceptible to damage from said debris. He or she is just trying to avoid getting a flat tire.

The solution is for city's street sweepers to make a run on the bike lanes and road shoulders at least quarterly to clear the junk.

I am a walker as opposed to being a bike rider. While I am out walking, if I see trash, I make a mental note of it and the next time I walk, I take a trash bag and pick up the trash. Just a suggestion, but maybe once in a while, you could take a bag with you and pick up some of the worst of the debris. Just think of how it could be if the entire biking community did this instead of relying on a street sweeper. It seems like it could help you stay on the middle of the bike lane and make it safer for bike riders and drivers alike.

[rbwpi]

Originally Posted by VicTree

Am I missing something?

Yes. The section of the bike lane closest to the motor vehicle lane has much less debris than the section closest to the curb.

[eddie gein]

Originally Posted by bkolodzi

I am a walker as opposed to being a bike rider. While I am out walking, if I see trash, I make a mental note of it and the next time I walk, I take a trash bag and pick up the trash. Just a suggestion, but maybe once in a while, you could take a bag with you and pick up some of the worst of the debris. Just think of how it could be if the entire biking community did this instead of relying on a street sweeper. It seems like it could help you stay on the middle of the bike lane and make it safer for bike riders and drivers alike.

In Tucson in particular, the problem is not so much trash as it is gravel, sand, glass and stickers. In the foothills and the perimeter of town there is lots of roadkill in the bike lanes.

And this may not make sense to motorist but along the edge of the road a cyclist inherently feels "safer" because they can move in either direction if need be. If you are in the middle of the bike lane you are really restricted in your ability to move to the right due to the debris, and a cyclist on a road bike does NOT want to get off of the pavement with thin tires. As crazy as it sounds, the side of the road is scarier than the motor vehicle traffic.

[bkolodzi]

Originally Posted by eddie gein

In Tucson in particular, the problem is not so much trash as it is gravel, sand, glass and stickers. In the foothills and the perimeter of town there is lots of roadkill in the bike lanes.

And this may not make sense to motorist but along the edge of the road a cyclist inherently feels "safer" because they can move in either direction if need be. If you are in the middle of the bike lane you are really restricted in your ability to move to the right due to the debris, and a cyclist on a road bike does NOT want to get off of the pavement with thin tires. As crazy as it sounds, the side of the road is scarier than the motor vehicle traffic.

If this is the case eddie, why do we bother with bike lanes at all? If this debris issue is that bad, why are you using thin, hi pressure tires? Why not move to a thicker off road type tire? In cars, we change tires to match road conditions. Where I used to live we would use regular tires most of the year, but in the winter, the studded tires went on for 3 months.


Again, I suggest that the bike community make an effort to take care of the bike lanes. Just how much carbon and other pollution goes into the air if we had a street sweeper sweep every bike lane quarterly as previously suggested. How many hundreds or thousands of gallons per year of fossil fuel would be used in this effort to clean the bike lanes? I think that practice might nullify any improvement to the environment made by people riding bikes.


Instead of asking the city to do this for you, why not get your bike group together to take a weekend day a month and go take care of the 10 worst locations for trash and debris?

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by bkolodzi

If this is the case eddie, why do we bother with bike lanes at all? If this debris issue is that bad, why are you using thin, hi pressure tires? Why not move to a thicker off road type tire? In cars, we change tires to match road conditions. Where I used to live we would use regular tires most of the year, but in the winter, the studded tires went on for 3 months.


Again, I suggest that the bike community make an effort to take care of the bike lanes. Just how much carbon and other pollution goes into the air if we had a street sweeper sweep every bike lane quarterly as previously suggested. How many hundreds or thousands of gallons per year of fossil fuel would be used in this effort to clean the bike lanes? I think that practice might nullify any improvement to the environment made by people riding bikes.


Instead of asking the city to do this for you, why not get your bike group together to take a weekend day a month and go take care of the 10 worst locations for trash and debris?

EXCELLENT SUGGESTIONS, Bkolodzi . . .

As I posted previously, I avoid the city streets as much as possible and head to the Rillito Bike Trail, however, I have never experienced "debris" in the Tucson bike lanes to anywhere near the extent addressed in some posts.

Also, I prefer and will only ride a Mountain Bike primarily due to the safer, wider tread tires for obvious reasons as suggested. Besides, I am NOT trying to break any speed records . . . I prefer Safety via Logic and Common Sense.

[PartIrish]

Many bike lanes in Tucson are less than 3 feet wide--some where I live (NE Tucson) narrow at points to 1-2 feet. On the outside of that bike lane is very rough terrain; sometimes slippery gravel, sometimes broken-up blacktop paving and often glass and other debris. The pavement often drops off 3-4" into dirt, which is a hazard. This makes cycling in the middle or outer portion of the bike lane dangerous for a cyclist. I agree that cycling 2 abreast is inconsiderate and does nothing for the whole "share the road" idea. But when I encounter a single cyclist riding near the inner part of the bike lane, I just give them a wide berth as long as traffic allows.

[Bygeorge]

Thank goodness for bike trails. I gave up on streets with bike lanes. Seen too many cars using bike lane as a turn lane. Yikes! There are far too many inattentive drivers to share the road. Younger people can cope but not an old rider like me. There is no winning with a car or truck on any street. I have not really seen that much litter in bike lanes.

Cheers.