Biking vs. safety?

[Syonyk]

And while I'm on this rant:  I have found the cycling directions function of google maps to be more than useless, (utterly laughable, in many cases) as the logic of it seems to be to put one on non-street paths whenever and wherever possible, no matter how much the route distance is increased.  As a test, try asking google maps for bicycling directions for a trip that you already comfortably ride on the roads.  It will likely be absurd.

It's not a bad general algorithm for people who are looking for ways to bicycle somewhere.  As a general estimation, people who are asking Google how to bike somewhere probably aren't hardcore cyclists, so routing them on flatter trails is a better option and more likely to get them to *actually bike* than routing them down heavy traffic streets.

If you're a hard core cyclist in an area who runs twice as fast as the estimated pace, you probably don't need Google Maps to get you somewhere.

[Eric]

If you're only riding at a walking pace, why not just walk?  If you want to ride, then pick a less busy street or one with very wide shoulders to start.  If you need to learn how to ride a bike, then find a park, not a sidewalk.  The sidewalk is the worst option as it's slower and more dangerous, not to mention it's probably against the law. (it is in most places, but obviously not all)

Sustaining a jogging pace on a bicycle is quite easy.  Much less effort than actually jogging and therefore more suited to travel to work and such where you don't wish to arrive a sweaty mess.  Also, I don't buy the arguments that it's not possible to ride at that speed as I do it all the time.  Oddly, bikes have brakes and if you start to go too fast, you can use them to slow back down.  It's really not that hard.  Saying it's not possible is a really lame excuse when the bike is specifically equipped to do exactly that.

I didn't say it wasn't possible.  I said it was a bad idea because it's both slower and more dangerous.

Here, the law is that children on bicycles must ride on the sidewalk.  Adults, are allowed on the sidewalk if the adjacent road has a speed limit over 25 mph.  It makes a lot of sense as the over 25 mph roads are heavily congested and don't have shoulders, plus the community is designed as a bunch of little "cells", there aren't residential roads connecting them, you have to bounce out to a major road to get in between.  Really, the bike laws are very common sense and practical for the ancient horrible city design we're dealing with.

Huh.  I prefer to ride on actual main roads now that I'm used to it.  But I guess it can still be intimidating if you've never done it.  My suggestion is to build up to it.  That may involve choosing places to ride that do have a large shoulder or light traffic at the start until you're comfortable.

[GuitarStv]

Sustaining a jogging pace on a bicycle is quite easy.  Much less effort than actually jogging and therefore more suited to travel to work and such where you don't wish to arrive a sweaty mess.  Also, I don't buy the arguments that it's not possible to ride at that speed as I do it all the time.  Oddly, bikes have brakes and if you start to go too fast, you can use them to slow back down.  It's really not that hard.  Saying it's not possible is a really lame excuse when the bike is specifically equipped to do exactly that.

I didn't say it wasn't possible.  I said that it's not realistic to expect someone to always know exactly what speed they're going on a bike and always react to slow down to an ill defined 'jogging pace'.  Realistically, your mind is likely to wander at some point during your cycling journey and you're going to go too fast.

If your goal is ease of mobility, you will go faster for less effort by cycling on the road.  The many cuts and bumps (and pedestrians) on sidewalks will slow you down, the many intersections will prevent you from maintaining speed, and your own self imposed limit to jogging speed will all drastically increase the effort needed to get anywhere.

[enigmaT120]

I wrote this post back in 2011 because I was tired of the irrationality around cycling and safety.

https://thelazyrando.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/the-safety-myth/

They key is to evaluate your options, make good choices and then relax and enjoy an awesome ride to work.

-- Vik

I liked that post, thanks for sharing it.  Well, and writing it in the first place.