Oh man! I meant to post to this topic yesterday after what I saw on my way home. I have to say that I abhor riding on the sidewalk, and I always feel like so much less of biker when I'm forced to ride on the sidewalk for whatever reason. (Obviously, I try to keep this to a minimum).
So, I'm riding home after work, on a road with a flipping bike lane, no less, zipping by the stopped traffic. I see a lady riding on the side walk approaching the intersection in front of me. I assumed that she was on the sidewalk because she had just unlocked her bike or something, and was thinking 'ok, she's going to get into the bike lane in front of me come this intersection, I'm going to slow down'.
No, she procedes through the intersection and stays on the side walk. I think 'oh, ok, she's not a real biker, she has no idea what she's doing, there's a whole flipping bike lane right here!". Then, I promptly watch a car pull into a driveway right in front of her, and her nearly slam into it. Of course, the driver wasn't expecting her on the sidewalk! I'm glad she wasn't hurt, but really? I'm sure in her head, it was the driver's fault and "omg, see how unsafe biking is, I nearly got hit on the sidewalk!". All I could do was shake my head at her when she caught up to me at the next light.