Biking downtown - streets vs sidewalks

onlyHskrfaninIL said:
Joe_5700 said:
Like Zoogies said, you should be riding your bike in the street if you are an adult. Do you know how dangerous a bike can be to pedestrians on a sidewalk?
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Right because riding a bike in the road, surrounded by much larger and much faster vehicles (typically driven by idiots I might add) is much safer for everyone. Thanks for the laugh.
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yeah, that used to be my thinking as well. The first time I found out it was illegal, an elderly couple were yelling at me and a friend for riding our bikes on the sidewalk. We stopped later and we were both like, "what the hell are they talking about?" It seemed completely unreasonable to ask us to ride on the streets...

But once you get over that initial resistance to the idea, it isn't bad at all. There is more space than you'd think. Furthermore, if you're rocking a bike you are far too badass to be among mere pedestrians B)

I agree with Moiraine on the rolling stops though. That's silly. I actually blow through red lights regularly because it's clear that there are no cars anywhere nearby, some pedestrian pushed the walk sign, and they're already across the street with 15 seconds on the ticker left to go. Not going to wait for that.

 
Joe_5700 said:
KC Cowboy said:
HuskerfaninOkieland said:
BRI tried telling all of us he was a motorcycle cop.

Don't taz me bro! :P
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Speaking of stupid cops, I got pulled over on my bike, on the sidewalk, near Wendy's downtown Lincoln. Apparently it's illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalks. Yes, that is your tax dollars at work. I swear the crime rate has to be at an all-time low.
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Like Zoogies said, you should be riding your bike in the street if you are an adult. Do you know how dangerous a bike can be to pedestrians on a sidewalk?
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I hope you're kidding. Do you know how many times I've almost been clipped by cars while biking on the street? Now, let's compare this to how many times I've almost killed a pedestrian. This is comical I'm even having to say this. Besides, I was biking to work at 7:00 am, when there are a 100 cars on the streets, and 0 pedestrians on the sidewalks. If it was during the lunch hour, you'd have a point. Just because the law says don't do it, doesn't mean they know what they're talking about. Anyone who's ever parallel-parked within 10 ft of a driveway on gameday knows what I'm talking about (because that's illegal too, and they will ticket and tow you).

 
I ride my bike to work everyday, and do 25 mile rides pretty regularly. Lincoln drivers know nothing about how to drive with cyclists. Pretty sad that I have to fear for my safety that some dumbass is going to clip me from behind.

 
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Lyons in the Sea of Red. said:
I ride my bike to work everyday, and do 25 mile rides pretty regularly. Lincoln drivers know nothing about how to drive with cyclists. Pretty sad that I have to fear for my safety that some dumbass is going to clip me from behind.
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That's the City of Lincoln's fault for not enforcing existing tailgating laws, especially if they're going to treat bicycles as vehicles and require them to be ridden on the road.

And the State of Texas has it against the law for anyone to operate a bicycle on a sidewalk, and I've seen local police pull cars over for not giving bicycles on the road enough room...but then again, it was the end of the month...

 
I hate the bikers in the street downtown, I have to cross the bike lanes every so often and once I almost went straight over into a biker. They are hard to see and the blind spot is huge, it's dangerous because most people, including myself, do not look for bikers.

 
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