Do you ride your bike on the sidewalk?

[Midwest]

Yes, I bicycle on the sidewalks. I do not know or care what the laws say in my area.

I think this issue needs to be taken on a case-by-case basis for the cyclist. I live in northern Kentucky near Cincinnati and bicycling is really not a safe activity here. In downtown Cincinnati I would definitely cycle on the streets due to lower car speeds and pedestrians being all over the sidewalks. However, in my home town of Crescent Springs you are taking your life in your hands by being on the road.

In Crescent Springs, the main drag allows for speeds of 45 mph. There is no bike lane, but there are sidewalks lining most of the road. In all my time living here, I have rarely seen pedestrians or cyclists. Everyone drives for some reason despite the plentiful sidewalks and closeness of all the stuff you'd need. The chances of colliding with someone on the sidewalk are low. Car drivers are simply not used to doing things like stopping before crosswalks or checking for pedestrians because there usually aren't any to speak of.

What amazes me is that most of these same people work in Cincinnati where they happily follow all traffic laws, stop before pedestrian crossings, check for walkers, share the road, etc. But when in Crescent Springs it's like they can't believe anyone would do anything other than use a car - a very dangerous mentality.

Therefore, I bike on the sidewalks, stop at intersections and wait for crossing lights. It's worked out well so far and I've only ever had to slow down one time to account for someone walking.

To end this post, check out these insane images my friend captured of a bus passing him while cycling across a bike-accessible bridge into Kentucky from Cincinnati. This would make me never want to ride again!

http://citybeat.com/cincinnati/article-29879-on_the_road_again.html

Did the bus drive lose his job?  He should that's insane.

[MountainMan]

No. I've been creamed by cyclists riding on sidewalks a few times (when I'm walking), and had numerous near-misses. I'm sure they thought they were paying attention, riding safe, not a hazard to pedestrians, and all that BS, too.

Yes, and sometimes they may call out, "On your left" or "On your right," meaning they are going to pass you on that side.  That just assumes that the person they are coming up behind can hear them.  In my case, that is not true.  I don't hear them, so not being aware of them, I won't get out of the way, or they'll startle me by suddenly flying by my left or right side.  I've been lucky so far that I haven't been hit by a cyclist. 

I'm in a new city now, so who knows yet what it is like here.

[greaper007]

Yes, Mountain Dew commercial type road bikers in full spandex regalia can be real douche bags on bike paths in the city.    I was walking through Cherry Creek with my 5 and 3 year old last week and we were probably overtaken by a dozen road bikers that didn't signal or give a friendly hello or smile as they passed (something I always try to do on a multi-use path).   

Maybe they were afraid that if they opened their mouth a bug would fly in and increase the weight of their ridiculously expensive carbon fiber bike by 1.5 grams.    Then they'd be back in steel road bike territory.....Oh the humanity.

[GuitarStv]

But if you don't dress up like superman, how will anyone see that you're a serious cyclist?  This is why I usually wear a cape.

:D

[Tai]

When I mentioned being forced off the road by motorists I am referring to cars nosing into the curb as close as they can in front of me forcing me to either 1) pop up on the curb 2) fall over onto the curb if I'm going too fast to stop short, 3) stop or 4) ride into them. This happened on otherwise empty roads so it seemed pretty deliberate, it was also a long time ago, when I was young enough that a fall off a bike didn't do any major damage. If anyone can offer an alternate explanation for this behavior (often accompanied by abuse and swearing on the part of the driver/passengers like "get off the road b****") I'd love to hear it. Many parts of this city are not cyclist friendly, and the police don't seem to be either. But I guess that's just my perception?

[LadyMuMu]

I'm late to the discussion but when I ride I prefer to ride in the road rather than a sidewalk for most areas. We are in a mid0-sized university town that has a fair share of cyclists though. It also doesn't hurt that usually I have two cute kids on the back of my bike (it's a cargo). I do let my kids ride on the sidewalk though--at least until they are old enough to have better control.

My pet peeve are bikers who blow through stop signs. Not only is it dangerous for the rider and other vehicles, it encourages folks to see bikers as "special" users of the road rather than regular users of the road. As a result, I often come to 4-way-stops where people try to "let" me go first because I'm on a bike and "special." What they don't realize is that they're actually making things more dangerous for me, as another car might go, thinking it was their turn instead. I've been known to put my hands on my hips while waiting for my turn at a 4-way-stop to discourage the behavior.

[SugarMountain]

I feel like many of you would change your opinion if you moved to my area.  I also see nothing wrong with cycling across the street in the pedestrian cross walk.  I fail to see how it would somehow be safer for me to walk my bike across and spend 3x as much time in an intersection.  I don't blow through intersections without looking, I usually have to stop and wait for the lights to allow me to cross.

The problem is less at large intersections with stoplights, although it can be an issue there too.  The problem is when you come to an intersection where the cross street has a stop sign but the street you are on (or are next to on the sidewalk) does not.  The driver on that street is going to be looking to the road and may well pull out in front of you because they aren't looking fro someone going 15 mph on the sidewalk.  At large intersections, people making left turns will similarly be looking at the road for oncoming cars and for pedestrians already crossing in the intersection, not bicyclists 40 feet from the intersection coming at 15 mph.

[Jack]

I was walking through Cherry Creek with my 5 and 3 year old last week and we were probably overtaken by a dozen road bikers that didn't signal or give a friendly hello or smile as they passed (something I always try to do on a multi-use path).   

Maybe they were afraid that if they opened their mouth...

Maybe they were afraid that you would react inappropriately, by turning into their path.

This has happened enough to me that I no longer give warnings (despite the fact that I don't wear spandex).

As a result, I often come to 4-way-stops where people try to "let" me go first because I'm on a bike and "special." What they don't realize is that they're actually making things more dangerous for me, as another car might go, thinking it was their turn instead. I've been known to put my hands on my hips while waiting for my turn at a 4-way-stop to discourage the behavior.

This happens to me even when I'm driving a car, especially when there's congestion. What they fail to realize is that everybody would get through the intersection faster if the would freaking GO when it's their turn!

[frugalnacho]

I feel like many of you would change your opinion if you moved to my area.  I also see nothing wrong with cycling across the street in the pedestrian cross walk.  I fail to see how it would somehow be safer for me to walk my bike across and spend 3x as much time in an intersection.  I don't blow through intersections without looking, I usually have to stop and wait for the lights to allow me to cross.

The problem is less at large intersections with stoplights, although it can be an issue there too.  The problem is when you come to an intersection where the cross street has a stop sign but the street you are on (or are next to on the sidewalk) does not.  The driver on that street is going to be looking to the road and may well pull out in front of you because they aren't looking fro someone going 15 mph on the sidewalk.  At large intersections, people making left turns will similarly be looking at the road for oncoming cars and for pedestrians already crossing in the intersection, not bicyclists 40 feet from the intersection coming at 15 mph.

I come to a stop at both intersections.  I don't dismount and walk my bike, but I come to a complete stop and plant my feet on the ground and look.  Then I proceed when it's safe.  If its not a major intersection requiring a stop light and cross walk then I am most likely riding in the street.

[ketchup]

I bike 90% on the street.  There's an unavoidable 0.8 mile part of my commute that is on a fairly busy road with some annoying construction-related traffic patters, so for about half of that I ride on the sidewalk.  It sucks, but it's pretty light in foot traffic, and is very open, so I can see everything nearby.

[lisahi]

I bought a bike ($100 off for last year's model -- Yay). Anyway, this conversation is interesting and has made me think about how I want to approach my ride to work. I haven't yet biked to work because I want to pick up one more accessory I believe will make me feel safer--a helmet mirror. My neck doesn't turn as far as other people's necks so in order to see behind me well I would have to turn more of my body than I am able to do on a bike and still go straight.

Here, there are few bicyclists, few pedestrians, no bike lanes and 40 mph roads on my way to work. It's a straight 3.5 mile ride, though, on fairly even ground.

On the one hand, there aren't very many driveways on my ride (most houses don't face towards the main road), and this is not a walking town. So sidewalk riding wouldn't be as dangerous as I think it would be if there were more pedestrians and a lot of intersections/driveways.

On the other hand, there is an approximately 0.5 mile stretch of road with no sidewalk at all. It's grass. In this city, sidewalks aren't built unless there's a building it would front. No building, no sidewalk. Terrible city planning. Anyway, I google mapped the route and there is a clear path people have made who walk or bike on that grassy area. It actually looks more like a man-made but unintentional bike path. I've seen bikes on it.

In fact, I've seen people here biking on sidewalks far more than on the street. In the city's pedestrian/bicycle plan for 2010-2030, which I found online, there are a bunch of pictures of people biking on the sidewalk.

I have seen people biking on the street--rarely, but I've seen it. They are usually decked out in bike gear which makes me think they are more experienced riders. There's also a real, recreational bike path near my house that isn't useful for me to get to work, but is used quite a bit by experienced riders on the weekends. I think most of the bicyclists I see that look experienced are heading to that bike path (there are very, very few bike paths in the city).

That said, I still haven't decided what to do, and may have to take a test run after I get my helmet mirror to see how it goes.

As for the left turns I talked about earlier in the thread--I believe I've figured out the scariest one. There is an intersection at a corner up ahead. It's not a great intersection because it leads to the freeway and so there are a lot of big trucks, but there is a crosswalk that I can walk my bike across to get to the other side of the street.

[Bakari]

When I mentioned being forced off the road by motorists I am referring to cars nosing into the curb as close as they can in front of me forcing me to either 1) pop up on the curb 2) fall over onto the curb if I'm going too fast to stop short, 3) stop or 4) ride into them. This happened on otherwise empty roads so it seemed pretty deliberate, it was also a long time ago, when I was young enough that a fall off a bike didn't do any major damage. If anyone can offer an alternate explanation for this behavior (often accompanied by abuse and swearing on the part of the driver/passengers like "get off the road b****") I'd love to hear it. Many parts of this city are not cyclist friendly, and the police don't seem to be either. But I guess that's just my perception?

Sounds like vehicular assault.

If that happened to me, I'd start carrying a sport camera (like a GoPro). 
In a pinch, even a cell phone video can make the difference - there's been a few cases that the police responded to only after the video went viral on Youtube.

[greaper007]

I don't really see anyone making a differentiation between situations on this thread.   Not all streets, sidewalks or bicycles are built the same.     I often ride down a main thoroughfare in my town that has a 40mph speed limit.   It has a narrow bike lane, but it also has a double wide sidewalk right next to it.    Said sidewalk doesn't have any driveways and it only crosses about 3 or 4 streets in a 3 mile stretch.     Guess where I ride on my way home from the store?

Another time I ride on the sidewalk is when I'm pulling a trailer with my two children in it.    Cars just don't seem to see the trailer very well and they often don't even bother to give me a few feet of room on the road.    I can deal with my  potential death, but not for my kids.    So I ride slowly and defensively on the sidewalk unless we're on a road with very little traffic.