M~ wrote:
polarbear wrote:
You left something important out --- a highway with 65MPH traffic and NO SHOULDER is no place for a cyclist. I cycle many highways but they have ample shoulder for me to ride on, otherwise, listening to you, I might just as well ride residential streets and stay of all highways. The biggest problem here in N. America is drivers have no patience or respect for cyclist, period. They think the road belongs to the automobile!!!In Ontario "Bicycles are prohibited on expressway / freeway highways such as the 400 series, the QEW, Ottawa Queensway and on roads where "No Bicycle" signs are posted."
Now, the 401 has a HUGE shoulder and the speed limit is 60mph. But you would only catch me dead on that stretch of highway. Literally. Nobody would last more than 30 minutes biking on that shoulder. Obviously it depends on the highway. But I know from experience that there is a huge difference between a car going 100K/h and one going 70 k/h. But knock yourself out. I was just saying I personally agree with that one portion.
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Haha,you don't ever want to come and ride on highways here in Oz,especially anywhere in Queensland north of Noosa where 100kph with no shoulder is normal.I've ridden the road from Brisbane to Cairns a few times and while it is getting better some of it is just madness.We used to share the road that is the Ironman Cairns bike course with trucks and trailers loaded with sugar cane and absolutely no shoulders.
Funny thing about roads in parts of Ontario and Quebec is that the freeways and highways with shoulders are the safest places to ride regardless of speed.I got taken into custody twice in Thunder Bay for riding on the highway out of town westbound.Stupid cops couldn't fathom that it was safer for me to ride on a highway with a shoulder than a secondary road without one.
I also got busted by the cops for riding on the freeway into Gatineau from Montreal.He pulls me over on the freeway with lights and siren on and then asks.."Where are you from?".I look back at the Australian flag flying over my trailer and say "Australia". He then tries to lecture me on how dangerous it is to ride on the highway and I say " You mean with this nice big lane all to myself?".He then points at all the traffic and says " Look at all the traffic,it is too dangerous" to which I relpied," Clearly you have never tried to ride into Buenos Aires on a Monday morning,this isn't traffic".He then started to get mad at me and told me to turn around and ride off at the exit that I had just passed to which I replied,"So is it safe to turn around in this lane and ride back down the highway on the wrong side of the road?"..At that point he started to see the flaws in his logic but I did what I was told and rode back down the highway,the wrong way,to the previous exit and found my way eventually to Gatineau Park..
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Last edited by:
Ultra-tri-guy: Apr 13, 12 3:46