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Ive not kept track, but would imagine that Ive travelled 10s of thousands miles in austin on foot, bike, and skates. Ive done so for fun, to get to work and school, to go to the store...everything...I have owned and regularly used a truck as well...its difficult to carry more than 100lbs. without one, even though I have carried that much in tools to work on a regular basis for years. I intimately know of the hazards and difficulties of doing so...but I also know the pleasure, exercise, and connectedness I receive from doing so. I have no plans on ever stopping...Granted, I would love the opportunity to travel under my own power more often.
Saying that...I have 2 comments...
1. No matter how many laws are written to protect bikers, and to give them rights....I WILL NEVER RIDE IN MY LEGALLY GIVEN INVISIBLE BIKE LANE. I will never put my own life at extreme risk to take advantage of "my right". Screw my right...the piece of paper giving me the right to do so will not stop a car from turning me into a vegetable, or killing me! And to those of you that DO take advantage of those rights- with your helmets, and lights and huge set of balls swinging as you ride- Your crazy....I will personally happily slow down, make room and give you your legal and congenial space...but Im part of a small minority...While Im on Lamar going 12 mph while you ride in your legally given space....there are masses of people behind me that dont care, dont know, and are getting pissed...many will recklessly swerve around me to get ahead...only to nearly run over the very bikers I have tried to give respect and space to...\
All I can say is that as far as Im concerned...and partially based on the reactions and experiences of other drivers....GET THE HELL OFF THE ROAD...Take a different route...ride on the sidewalk (YES BREAK THE LAW!!!IN DEFIANCE OF WASTED SIDEWALKS)(BUT GIVE THE PEDS. THEIR "LEGAL" SPACE AND RESPECT) No sidewalk? Go off road!!! Its more exercise and fun!!! Learn the backroads!! Enjoy the scenery!!! But GET THE HELL OF THE ROADS!!! For the record- there is obvious safer times and places to ride in the road....JUST DONT DO IT ON DANGEROUS BUSY ROADS!!!! DONT BE AN IDOT (AND RISK YOUR OWN LIFE) FOR THAT SAKE OF PROVING A POINTLESS POINT...
2. I was just reading that Austin will be/ has been spending 84000000 on sidewalks in a matter of years...Wow...thats a lot of money...I personally am in the construction field, and decided to do a little math....
1 yard of concrete =s 27' x 3' x 4" of sidewalk
1 yard of concrete =s -$100.00
27' of concrete forms, and wire mess =s -$50.00
27' of a little digging and dirt removal =s (city cost? $1000.00s ? - cost of putting unemployeed workers to work? 2 workers get it done by lunch- YOU decide what thats worth..)
27' of pouring and finishing side walk =s (city cost? $1000.00s ? - cost of putting unemployed workers to works? 2 workers get it done in an hour- YOU decide what thats worth..)
IT IS POSSIBLE TO BUILD 27' OF SIDE WALK FOR LESS THAT $300.00...
$84,000,000 / $300.00 =s 280000 27' sections of side walk. =s 7,560,000' of sidewalk. =s 1431.8 miles =s 47.7 sidewalks back and forth across austin north to south...city limit to city limit (which is right at 30 miles on IH 35 )
I was just curious how many feet of sidewalk we will be getting for 84 mill...
Years ago, I worked and lived in Rosedale area...the neighbors decided that a sidewalk was a good idea for people to get to the park and pool in the area...the city told them no....there wasnt the money to do it....SO, the neighborhood got together and did enough fund raising and volunteering to take care of it themselves....THEY WERE NOT ALLOWED TO DO IT and were forced to stop the process....
If youve made it this far.....Thanks for listening!!
Maik
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One suggestion --
You might consider taking the TS101 class offered by the League of American Bicyclists. Among other things, they go into accident statistics; the short form is that sharing the road with cars is actually much, much safer than you'd expect -- and a very large majority of the accidents that *do* happen are either (1) the cyclist's fault [wrong-way cycling, running without lights at night], (2) things which a cyclist can avoid via better behavior [riding on the sidewalk (which invites accidents due to poor visibility by cars pulling in and out of driveways), poor lane positioning (riding in the "invisible" part of the road is indeed often a very bad idea; the class teaches lane positioning for visibility and predictability)], (3) things a cyclist can avoid or reduce the severity of using emergency maneuvering [ie. the quick-turn to avoid getting hooked by a turning vehicle when there isn't enough room to stop].
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I'm all for avoiding busy, dangerous roads. I take side routes (like Blue Bonnet instead of South Lamar) if I'm going south. I noticed they put in bike lanes down there on Lamar. It's helped, but it's still a crazy road.
With some exceptions, riding on the sidewalk is more dangerous, unless you go 5mph.
I've biked over 60,000 miles, never been hit. If back when I was 14 I decided it was too dangerous to ride on the roads, I would of never of had such great experiences of road cycling.
Titling this thread "damn bikers", I don't agree with. I believe your problem is with the City/State highway department. I suggest you send your feelings to them, since they are causing the problems by not building safe roads. I come from CT, a state that has sufficient shoulders on nearly every road. Coming to TX - it's scary seeing how little thought was given to cyclists. Only thanks to the efforts of those who've purposely worked for road (cycling) improvements, does Austin have some roads that are safe for biking.
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bamboo, I suspect you're trolling. Your dollar figure on Austin sidewalk construction is a bit vague. You don't state how many years it covers, nor do you compare that figure to that spent on motor vehicle roadway construction. I suspect that sidewalk construction amounts to a VERY small percentage of total funding. Ask Amy Babich.
Also, your estimate of the cost per running foot of sidewalk construction conveniently ignores certain facts... such as legal, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) requirements, surveying, administration, management, which require more professional expertise than that required by two men wielding shovels. There's regulations on on pay requirements depending on where the funding comes from. There's quality standards for this sort of work which were put into place for good reasons, but which drive up costs. You wouldn't want to drive your car over a bridge that's poorly built, would you?
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I've commuted via bicycle off and on to work over the past 15 years, and have done so on an almost daily basis for the past 2 1/2 years. During that time, I've been involved in only one accident with an automobile; and that was on one of the few days I drove a car to work. I was stopped in the middle of the road due to vehicle traffic being backed up (NOT bicycle traffic), and a car coming up behind me didn't stop.
It's amazing to me how motor vehicle drivers accept traffic congestion due to other cars as a normal thing, but get irate and impatient when a bicycle holds them up for 10 seconds. I'd be willing to bet that bicycle traffic accounts for much less than 1% of the total delays experienced by motorists, yet for some reason, it really pisses people off to be held up for a few seconds by a cyclist.
I also have to wonder why your ALL CAPS TIRADE wasn't reserved for the idiot motorists who would swerve around you in the situation you described, thereby endangering everyone on the road, including you in your truck.
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The City of Austin sidewalk plan is here: <<www.ci.austin.tx.us/publicworks/downloads/sidewalk_mp_resolution.pdf>> it discusses funding, and what it would take to construct the absent sidewalks in our City and to improve the damaged ones.
Take TS 101 here: <<www.austincycling.org/education/classes/traffic101>>. This is a great course for folks that are interested in driving their bicycle like a vehicle. I too have been riding for over a decade and have never been in a crash. I use the effective cycling techniques taught in this course and they have kept me feeling and riding safe.
I DO agree that route planning is an integral skill to learn as a cyclist. Often times beginner cyclists want to ride the same roads they drive on as a car because they aren't aware of better routes. Use the Austin Bicycle Route Map. You can pick one up for free at our office (505 Barton Springs Road, 8th floor) during office hours, or purchase one at most bike shops. You can also use CapMetro's site to plan your bus trip with the City's bike routes included (*note* Google, I do not believe uses Austin's official bike routes...but...I'm not sure. If anyone out there wants to verify, that would be great.) Michael's site also has this: http://bicycleaustin.info/getaround/routes.html a good resource...
Also, while it is highly annoying and potentially dangerous to ride on sidewalks, it is only illegal in 11 areas of the City. They are here: http://bicycleaustin.info/laws/
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I also forgot about our new Neighborhood Partnering Program (in response to the bit about the Rosedale Neighborhood). See this link for an introduction: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/publicworks/npprogram.htm
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Hey, ...GET THE HELL OFF THE ROAD... thanks for making the problem worse than it already is. Just this morning my girlfriend had that and worse yelled at her as she was stopped at a red light on her bike. She was taking the lane so as to safely go straight through an intersection. The driver got out of his car to scream at her to get on the sidewalk. When she refused to move, he got back in his car and hit the horn and moved his car up behind her to threaten her. She would have taken down his plate number, but he didn't have a front plate.
But again, thank you for feeding into this kind of irrational thinking and making the roads less safe for all of us!
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I am bamboozed and moved with this fellow's attempts to reasoning. It is hard and not everybody can master it, but he should keep trying; he might eventually get it.
His "GET THE HELL OFF THE ROAD" yelling seems to be the core of his argument. Profound.
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John, where was this? I generally get this kind of behavior on very busy roads, where you might expect people to get pissed. I stay off Lamar, guadalupe, and other major roads. It just doesn't make sense for me to go through that stress, and it doesn't save much time for me, blocks up flow of traffic (sorry, but you can show all the statistics you want, but it's not going to make me ride on 45mph roads).
This does NOT excuse that dickhead from yelling at your girlfriend. I would have loved to get his license plate and go give his car a new paint job.
Patrick
Hey, ...GET THE HELL OFF THE ROAD... thanks for making the problem worse than it already is. Just this morning my girlfriend had that and worse yelled at her as she was stopped at a red light on her bike. She was taking the lane so as to safely go straight through an intersection. The driver got out of his car to scream at her to get on the sidewalk. When she refused to move, he got back in his car and hit the horn and moved his car up behind her to threaten her. She would have taken down his plate number, but he didn't have a front plate.
But again, thank you for feeding into this kind of irrational thinking and making the roads less safe for all of us!
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My girlfriend was cycling south on Lamplight Village Drive, a neighborhood street, and was stopped at the light at Parmer Lane. She was in the right lane to go straight across. This lane is also a right turn lane. There is a left lane, but it is only for turning left. She didn't want to be so far to the left of the right lane that right turning cars could squeeze by her. That would likely result in her getting sandwiched between cars when the light changed. Once you get across Parmer, Lamplight Village Drive has a bike lane. It's a pretty good one since there is no parking or trash pick up along that stretch. There is a police station on that bit of road too. Not that it helps.
A few months ago, she was cycling home from ACC and going north through this same intersection. Going north, there are three lanes to choose from at the Parmer intersection. The right is right turn only. The left is left turn only. The middle lane is for going straight north on LV. Since she was trying to go north to get home, she got in the middle of the center lane to wait for the light to change. A cop pulled up next to her, in the right lane, and told her she needed to be in the right lane on a bike. Unbelievable. She told him she was going straight across and that's why she was in the middle lane. Fortunately he left her alone and didn't taze her for speaking up for herself. Maybe it's because she's smokin' hot and he was just coming up with a reason to talk to her.
Yeah, I try to avoid those 45mph roads too. I'm all for selecting the safest route possible. For my commute to work I ride some pretty wide roads, and also ride a dirt trail. I avoid cycling on FM 1325 where it connects to Mopac and Duval by riding the sidewalk for a short stretch. Yeah, I know, that sounds bad, but no one actually walks on it. And actually, one of the official bike routes runs along it here. In three years I have seen one person, and I made a point of stopping so there was no way he would feel like he was in any danger of being hit by a bike. The problem with 1325 along here is that the traffic comes in spurts and the cars are already jostling for position and I worry that I might not get seen in time. I know how to do it correctly, but I don't like the level of stress I feel.
We live in part of the suburban wasteland and are trying to make a go of it not owning a car. I always love it when people insist we should only ride on safe quiet roads. Too bad no one thought to tell my company to put our office in neighborhood. The good news is it's only 4 miles from home. There are lots of barriers to cycling here and so sometimes we are forced onto the busier roads. Maybe when the lease runs up we'll move to a safer area. I wonder if my boss would let me telework from Amsterdam?
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That's cool you are trying to go car-free in that suburban wasteland. Kudos to you John!
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Thanks. Yeah, we're actually doing something else too that adds to the challenge. We have been eating really well for years, but have decided to rely much more heavily on locally grown and organic food. We signed up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) box which gets delivered about 3 miles away. We cycle over to get our box every other Saturday. And let me tell you that food tastes better when you have to physically work for it. We get our locally raised chicken, cheese, milk and eggs delivered, but have plans to pick some of this up too once the weather cools.
We've been discovering lots of things. We never felt good about wasting food, but now we are hyper vigilant to make sure everything gets used. An exciting thing we have discovered is that not having a car has really freed up a ton of time. When we took this experiment on we decided to NOT be so militant that we would never use a car. We can save a lot of money, and a whole lot of time, by getting a car every once in a while and using it to make a huge grocery/bulk item run. It cost me at least $200 a month to keep my 16 yo car running. I can rent a u-haul van every couple of months for about $65 and get it all done on one day. We actually haven't done that yet, as we had the use of a relatives van for a short period.
We both have been frustrated with world events and politics. I've marched, written letters, given speeches, donated to causes etc etc, but nothing feels better than voting for a better way of living with how I spend my money.
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