Last weekend, especially, I noticed something regarding the two-wheeling adventures of my fellow Charm City residents:
A big increase in people riding their bikes on the sidewalks, even in Hampden/Roland Park where there are nice bike lanes.
Now, mind you, I’m not talking about twelve year olds on BMXs. I’m talking about people on hybrids and old road bikes, some with helmets and a bike rack. While I’d be hard-pressed to explain exactly how I get this impression, but most of these folks strike me as new cyclists, or, at least, new commuters.
Don’t get me wrong. I get annoyed when some jackass comes barreling down the sidewalk while I’m walking somewhere, and they expect me to move. Unless I’m actually going to get run over, I don’t move. In case you live under the proverbial rock, everyone has to yield to pedestrians in Maryland, even cyclists on the sidewalk. Read the law. I mean, I often think to myself, “You sissy, get in the road!” More often, I get a sigh or a nasty comment from the person who is actually being rude and doing something that is both dangerous and illegal.
But there’s something different about some of these new-seeming folks. For one, they are polite. They ride around you or excuse themselves and wait for your response. That’s just plain nice, no matter how you are travelling. They are on the sidewalk, so they ride at walking speed. And they seem like they are paying attention to traffic, people on foot and where they are riding. In other words, they seem like conscientious cyclists.
I know, the topic of riding on the sidewalk gets people fired up. I’ll own up to riding on the sidewalk on some scarier parts of Northern Parkway, when traffic is bad and when no one’s walking on the sidewalk. I’ll also admit to speeding on the sidewalk from the corner of my street, twenty yards or so to my apartment building — and that I once scared the crap out of two of my neighbors doing that at night (for which I apologized).
I don’t know what my point is, except maybe to relate some new commuters in Mob Town and how happy that makes me, even if they are not using the sweet new bike lanes in North Baltimore.
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07.06.08 at 2:46 pm
Jennine
I wish we could get some of those sidewalk cyclists down here. To be fair to the bikers of the CVBD, most of them do ride in the street, which is madness down St. Paul at rush hour, but those who do ride on the sidewalk are generally assholes.
07.06.08 at 6:11 pm
Fixup
“But there’s something different about some of these new-seeming folks. For one, they are polite. They ride around you or excuse themselves and wait for your response. That’s just plain nice, no matter how you are travelling. They are on the sidewalk, so they ride at walking speed. And they seem like they are paying attention to traffic, people on foot and where they are riding. In other words, they seem like conscientious cyclists.” Can’t see any problem with this, if it’s just one or two people on a quiet pavement, and if it’s next to roads that are way too fast/busy (like the 40mph dual carriageways in birmingham).
But if it’s on a busy pavement in a city centre where the roads are all 20mph then there’s no excuse really…. imagine what would happen if you had 15 cyclists riding on the pavement, it would be a nightmare for peds.
07.06.08 at 7:12 pm
Johnny
Definitely on quiet streets when it’s the nicer variety of sidewalk riders:)
Last weekend, at least.
Now that I’ve said something, I’m gonna get my foot run over walking to the market!
07.06.08 at 7:50 pm
mule1
I’ll own up to it. Riding on the sidewalk that is. There is a 2 block section of 39th on my commute that I ride on the sidewalk. The street is just to damn busy and narrow. Plus I never once have come across anyone walking. But it does bug me when I see people riding on the sidewalk wizzing passed foot traffic. I think this is one of those things where the use of common sence comes into play.
07.06.08 at 10:35 pm
Claude
When I’m out with GF and Wee One and we’re on Harford Rd. or Taylor Ave. I tend to make them use the sidewalk because neither of them are used to traffic. When I’m alone I’m usually on the street unless it’s too crazy.
This weekend we did a few orbits of Lake Montebello and we had some problems with pedestrians in the bike lane, who were also walking the SAME DIRECTION as the bikes, so unless you were hyperaware of their failure to care that you were there, you wound up tangling with either traffic (swinging left) or other pedestrians who were where they belonged (swinging right). Asshats.
07.07.08 at 12:25 am
mule1
I know someone who bikes around Montebello alot and has the same problem with pedestrians in the bike lanes. She said she finds if you go later in the evening, like around 7:30 or 8:00 there are less idiots.
07.07.08 at 1:53 pm
Montebello Cruiser
Pedestrians who walk in the bike lane around Lake Montebello are a problem. And many of them act like they belong there. We almost wiped out a little kid last week who came from behind two tall walkers (in the walking lane), right into our path in the bike lane. It was scary! We’ve been going for our ride at about 8:30 p.m. It’s cooler, the sunsets are at their peak and there are fewer walkers spilling over or choosing to walk in the bike lane.