Bike to Work Days - are they irresponsible?

Triathlon Forum
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Are we (as in the proverbial cycling community) being irresponsible in promoting Bike to Work Days (and similiar events)?

I’ve ridden a road bike for 22 years now. I am actually considering NEVER riding on the road again.

I’ve seen the temperament toward cyclists go from us being an annoyance to motorists being outwardly and actively hostile toward us. I know it always happened - it just seems so much worse lately. Cities grow, traffic gets worse, country roads are harder to find. That ‘one mile of hell’ you used to have to travel to get to a lightly traveled road is now most of your ride…

We (again - the proverbial cycling community) know what we are getting into every day when we get on the bike. The poor souls that we’re telling to ride to work today probably have no idea how bad it actually is out there.

They also tend to do things like: ride the wrong way down a sidewalk ‘so they can see traffic coming’. This type of thing just gives us an even worse name.

My main concern, however, is: Are we promoting sending these people into something that is life-threatening - and they just think it is a nice little bike ride?

I know what some of the responses will be… If you get enough people riding bikes perhaps the attitude toward cyclists will change. Grow up! Driving itself continues to get even more hostile - let alone being out there on a bike. With an America that is getting fatter by the minute - do you really think we’ll ever sway enough people to change the general opinion?

I’ve been waiting for 22 years for the attitudes to change. They’ve only gotten worse.

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Personally I think we’ve been approaching the “let’s try to make the motorist more friendly” the wrong way.

They’ll never be “friendly” as long as we’re sharing teh same space. Like you mention motorist are being “less friendly” to other motorist each day.

I believe the correct method is to approach from a political standpoint and see if we can get more “bike space”. Bike lanes on roads, additional “main route”, rather than “recreational” bike paths etc etc. If we can get bike lanes on major roads we are no longer “sharing space” or inconviencing drivers in anyway.

We’ll still have the A-holes, but we’ll probably have less people even notice us if they know they don’t jhave to worry about driving around us.

~Matt

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Matt,

Here in Jacksonville, we have a law in place that says they must build a bikepath on any roads they do X amount of improvement on (it may be a state law - I don’t know). What this amounts to is a glorified ‘shoulder’ with a picture of bikes painted on it.

I appreciate the sentiment - but I’ll tell you - I’m still a few inches from death every couple seconds. It may actually be worse because the drivers don’t feel like they need to slow down AT ALL.

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I bike to work daily - the confrontations between the car drivers themselves are far more common than the problems I have with the drivers. I commute faster by bike than I generally could by car - sometimes twice as fast. It’s mostly stupidity I have to deal with (people on cell phones, or with poor judgement or driving skills), not hostility. Bike to Work Day is a great idea. Yes, some people will be in over their heads but if 1 out of 20 who try it sticks with it it’s worth it. It’s subjectively the safest day of the year to ride around here, from a driver awarenes/tolerance angle - safety in numbers. I think there should be a formal bike to work day monthly if not weekly. With gas up to $3 a gallon I’ve noticed more novices every day, but it doesn’t take long to become competent if someone has the sense to learn, and I’d submit that most people who have the guts to try it once are more likely to be among those capable of learning how to do it right. You’re right, it’s potentially dangerous, but life is dangerous. I could be dead next week but I’d rather live on my two wheels than cower in my house or my 4 wheeled cage and die of heart disease, or worse, adrenalin and endorphin deprivation.

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Here in Jacksonville

OK, now, see, your first post wasn’t quite fair…you should have included this information. Bike to Work Day in FLORIDA probably is a bad idea. It’s the most unsafe state in the nation for cycling. Out here on the left coast, we’ve got it a lot better. It’s not perfect, but it’s certainly not suicide.

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I commute to work by bike or running on avg 4 days per week, and consider it absolutely critical to my overall well-being. That said, I’ve had my share of bumps and bruises on the bike. However, my approach to riding in traffic has its genesis in the London traffic of 1992, which is where I first did any city riding.

What I learned there, was that if I wanted to be a part of the public roadway, then I had to act like it.

That is, I take/demand my rightful place in the flow of traffic, I don’t ask permission.

When I take my place, my rights are respected and my appropriate place given. No beeps, no shouts, no second thoughts, I’m just another vehicle.

When I ask, I am denied, and denied, and denied by traffic. No respect given for the timid, hesitating cyclist. Horns, yelling etc. follows.

That’s how I learned and that’s how I approach it today. I don’t ride in the middle of the lane, but if it’s unsafe for me to be too close to the curb, I’ll move out into the lane until I’m riding safely. Even here in Atlanta, where traffic sucks in too many ways to count, I rarely get bad feedback from drivers. When I do, it’s usually a strange situation and laughable.

I’m all in favor of everyone riding their bike to work, and I gladly share my philosophy with anyone who asks. I don’t preach, but I like to think my morning smile after a solid 25miles at least makes some drivers wonder.

T

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Hey southerntim… I am glad I am not the only person who rides with that approach to traffic

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I take a somewhat similar approach, especially to the smiling part. When someone does honk, yell, etc., rather than responding in rage (like I used to), I give my biggest smile and my biggest wave, and yell good morning (or whatever is appropriate) if their window is down. The goal is they’ll wonder what I’m doing right that I can be so darn happy riding my bike (or running - although getting run off the road running happens much less often). They also can get confused and wonder if they know me and probably feel bad honking/yelling at someone they know (or so I like to think).

I ride my bike to get around every day. If for some reason I drive, my stress level goes up a lot. And it takes me longer to get to work.

We have to keep in mind these are adults we are asking to ride to work. There’s a risk with everything - if they don’t realize the risk or do something stupid, it’s not our fault for encouraging them to do something good for themselves and the world.

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I was waiting to get my haircut yesterday and read and article in bicycle mag about a city council person in NYC wanting to eliminate bike lanes and has gotten amnesty for people who have received parking tickets for parking in the bike lanes. I would have thought a city with that much congestion would be doing things to promote bike riding not tear it down.

Chicago has added a lot of bike lanes and it does make it easier to ride in the city, but you do have to watch for the ballistic cabbie or the jerk who just doesn’t care about driving in the bike lane.

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With an America that is getting fatter by the minute

not only is America getting fatter by the minute, America’s love of big honkin’, lame-ass, functionless, chrome-encrusted, pavement-bound hummers and other useless, for-looks-only, SUVs is getting fatter by the minute. sort of appropriate–big fat people in big fat cars that maim when they hit anything. and for that reason, I stay on the fat-tire bike as much as I can to stay away from the carnage on the roads.

let’s see … how many times did i say ‘fat’?

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Seattle and the surrounding county have put out cycling maps showing the roads color coded for shoulder width, bike lane, bike path, traffic level and roads to be avoided. They also have all the park and ride lots and public facilities marked. I used my map all the time when I first moved here to find routes through the city. Do other cities have this kind of map or something similar?

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yeah, little old Delaware had this sort of cycling map a few years ago. Roads were mapped in Green, Yellow and Red. It was mostly good information, but some fantastic, low traffic routes wouldn’t make the cut (yellow or red) because they had no shoulder. It was probably a highway engineer that put the map together, based on shoulder width.

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Hey Gary:

I think you make some good points but it sounds like you’re at a place where the frustration hit your limit. I do some bicycle advocacy work in a place that is pretty bike friendly (Berzerkeley, CA) so take this comment with a grain of tofu.

What is the alternative? Quit cold turkey? No more Bike to Work Day at all? My attitude is that any publicity is good even if no one takes us up on it. The posters in the hallways of corporations across the country at least send a message that there is a solution out there to one of the major ills of urban American existence. And for we regular bike commuters and avid cyclists, its a day of celebration (and around here at least, lots of goodies like free pastries and coffee, Power and Clif Bars, water bottles, etc.) and acknowlegement of our contributions to relieving both pollution, road wear and tear, and in most cases, congestion.

I never really thought about the “luring the unsuspecting to their deaths” angle. I have more that 25 years of bike commute, road and MTB race, and world wide touring experience and as a result I slip pretty seamlessly around the streets. So much so, if I have a close one, I blame myself for not being just that much more savvy and alert (I know, not fair to me but the reality of a car addicted country). However, as it’s been said here, “a life without risk is no life at all”. Or, “Anything worth having is worth taking a risk for”. Or, " fill in your favorite carpe diem bon mot here "

Anyway, great thread, food for thought. It’s prompted me to consider leading a group of newbies next month to make sure no one gets pegged on the way to work. They’re on their own on the way home though.

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its a state law, and live somewhere else, and youll be thanking God for bike lanes. I used to bike in MD, and people drive the exact same way as they do in FL, but youre in the same lane as they are. I find the 3-4 ft bike lanes great and much safer, people might not drive perfectly, but they never do, and at least here youre not in the same lane.

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Bikes lanes on major roads are nothing more than extra room for passing to most drivers. It’s a great idea in theory, but I see motorcyclists and cars zoom right down local bike lanes all the time, especially as they get close to an intersection and they plan on turning.

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everyones comparing bike lanes to the ideal situation. All im saying is a little extra room for cyclists (so cars dont have to try to sqeeze around them) is better than no room. are they perfect? of course not, but i assure you, they are 10 times more safe than fighting with cars for the road. sure ive seen cars in the bike lane, but you know what? ive seen many more cars in the road itself. where would i rather be? bike lane, every time. think of a better idea, or stop bitchin, because there are tons of people who would love to stop their use, and cyclists have to fight pretty hard to keep em.

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The Chicago Bike Federation has a map of local routes but I don’t think the city or county has much to do with putting that together. I suppose the county does have maps of park district routes but they’re usually inclused loops within a forested area. Most are pretty nice but they can get rather crowded on nice days.

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I have been riding to work occasionally for a few weeks now in NYC. So far so good for me but I think the time of day certainly helps. I am at work by 7am. I also don’t have that far to go. The worst people here in NYC are the cab drivers and the people crossing the street. The people seem to stare into the sky and just keep walking. They never look both ways. Like other people have said I assert my right to be on the road by taking a lane when I need to.

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I’ve been to Florida lots…I’ve cycled in Florida…it’s got nothing on Long Island! I have occasionally ridden to work. I would love to do it more often and plan on making it more of a routine this summer.

BUT - it is incredibly dangerous. There are almost no “shoulders” on the roads here. You ride on many roads here and you’re “in the lane”…you may have 6-8 inches lateral to the white line, then it’s dirt or curb. I genuinely feel that I’m taking a tremendous risk each time I venture out. It’s one of the major reasons I’m looking to get us out of here ASAP.

I’ll be “biking to work” on many a day in May as well as the rest of the season, but it’s probably not the brightest thing to do…

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I think that the cycling community is being irresponsible if we promote bike to work days as an lifestyle choice and then don’t back that up with education.

Here in Austin (and elsewhere I would imagine) a local cycling club routinely holds rides designed to show prosepective bike commuters where to ride, how to ride, and answer those great burning questions newbies have. Also, each year on bike to work promotion days there are lots of spots around towns where riders can group together. Also, there are free breakfast tacos which is another story. Mmm, breakfast tacos…

Another thought I have is that riding during rush hour might be safer in a lot of ways than other times of the day since cars are jammed together and can’t get up to ramming speed easily. Of course there is always the bozo who jumps in the bike lane to run up to the light to make a right turn. And biking during rush hour compounds the pollution poll your lungs pay.

-Joey