I actually didn't cycle today as everything I had to get out and do was less than a mile away and the weather was perfect(70 degrees F and sunny). So instead I just walked, pushing my daughter in the Bob. And I noticed, far more new people, cycling than I've ever seen out before, which is great.
But, most of the new people I saw cycling where using the sidewalks. This is something that is actually pretty dangerous, more so most of the time than riding on the road. You see sidewalks are designed specifically for pedestrians, who move at 1-2mph, even joggers typically don't break 6mph. Which is slow enough for pedestrians to be able to safely negotiate passing and emergency collision avoidance on a 3' wide path. But even a casual cyclist will travel 8-10mph, and a cyclist moving at a good cruise will achieve 12-20mph. At those speeds the sidewalk is dangerously narrow for a bicycle, there simply is not enough time or room to safely pass pedestrians and other cyclists.
To be fair, there are a lot of roads in the suburban environment that are also fairly dangerous for cyclists where the sidewalk might be a better choice. But realistically to be safe on a sidewalk a cyclist needs to slow down to less than 6mph and be much more alert than you would be on a street. Did I mention sidewalk designers don't care about blind turns either?
]]> I actually didn't cycle today as everything I had to get out and do was less than a mile away and the weather was perfect(70 degrees F and sunny). So instead I just walked, pushing my daughter in the Bob. And I noticed, far more new people, cycling than I've ever seen out before, which is great.
But, most of the new people I saw cycling where using the sidewalks. This is something that is actually pretty dangerous, more so most of the time than riding on the road. You see sidewalks are designed specifically for pedestrians, who move at 1-2mph, even joggers typically don't break 6mph. Which is slow enough for pedestrians to be able to safely negotiate passing and emergency collision avoidance on a 3' wide path. But even a casual cyclist will travel 8-10mph, and a cyclist moving at a good cruise will achieve 12-20mph. At those speeds the sidewalk is dangerously narrow for a bicycle, there simply is not enough time or room to safely pass pedestrians and other cyclists.
To be fair, there are a lot of roads in the suburban environment that are also fairly dangerous for cyclists where the sidewalk might be a better choice. But realistically to be safe on a sidewalk a cyclist needs to slow down to less than 6mph and be much more alert than you would be on a street. Did I mention sidewalk designers don't care about blind turns either?
Also I can understand the trepidation some new cyclists may have about navigating in auto traffic. It is surely intimidating, especially if you haven't broken the 100 mile mark since taking up riding again (basically the 100 mile mark is roughly when riding will start to feel like second nature again). So while I don't encourage cycling on the sidewalk, if you feel you need to just keep it slow and be careful.
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