SF New Mexican: Thintelligent thinking.
Cyclists push for change in partial road resurfacing. “Lujan and county Public Utilities Division Director Robert Martinez said the agency thought most bicyclists used a bike and pedestrian path in Eldorado and didn’t think paving only a portion of the shoulder was an issue at the time. The division can’t fix the problem, they said, but it will have the shoulder swept and post ‘Share the Road’ signs.” My italics.
It should be no surprise to anyone in traffic engineering that mixing cyclists with pedestrians is a recipe for broken bones, dead dogs, injured children (esp. enthusiast road cyclists at 20mph plus). The research has been around for years, yet many persist in ignoring these realities. Riding amongst pedestrians is a *dangerous* activity. We’re much better off in the traffic lanes. On the road, cyclists by law are supposed to ride as far to the right as *they* deem safe. Drivers don’t tend to notice the condition of the shoulders, and judge cyclists harshly for causing them to have to move their foot off the gas pedal for a couple of seconds. [Oh, the inconvenience.] That is not to say that there are not bad-behaving cyclists, oh no. But we’re not trying to muscle all cars off the road for a few bad-behaving drivers, is it fair to muscle off all cyclists for a few bad eggs?
We have a great deal of road cyclists living out here. In Eldo, the shoulders are so rarely swept and so terribly rough, I ride in the lane when I’m on my road bike - so the shoulder lip is only a consideration if I lose it and have to ride off it. I haven’t been out with my MTB yet to see how much of a pain in the butt it is. I guarantee you the newly paved sections will begin degrading at the edges first. The shoulders are in only marginally better shape than the old road was. And the freeze-thaw cycle is going to savage those generously high edges (they’ll dam water and will start loosening by spring). I think the ‘savings’ was actually a colossal waste of $$.
Read cyclist/traffic engineer John Forester.
My best advice for being safe on the roads? Train on rollers for a while. Better balance means less weaving, better bike control, and a safer bike experience.
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“Lujan and county Public Utilities Division Director Robert Martinez said the agency thought most bicyclists used a bike and pedestrian path in Eldorado and didn’t think paving only a portion of the shoulder was an issue at the time.”
County Public Utilities apparently also didn’t notice the bike and pedestrian path is only on ONE side of the road --therefore, if you live on the opposite side of the road you must bicycle to the path and encounter the shoulder lip twice.