I have noticed an increase in the number of bike lanes in our communities over the past few months.
We have bike lanes on sidewalks, on side streets, on well- travelled roads and major thoroughfares. They are on the curb lanes and in the middle of the road, but I have not seen any bikes in these designated lanes.
Maybe the powers that be found a liquidation sale for gallons of white line paint and, like the movie Field of Dreams, decided that, “If we paint lanes, bikes will come.”
I did follow three avid cyclists decked out in colourful jackets and spandex leggings, as they rode along the road, ignoring the bike lanes on the side walk. They had to be aware there were bike lanes because there are bicycle pictures stenciled on the sidewalk every 50 feet or so.
I have a friend who has a bike that cost more than what a small mortgage used to be. He has the colourful clothes, special shoes and teardrop helmet and he does a lot of bike riding.
I asked him if he uses the bike lanes on the sidewalks. “I can only speak for myself, but I don’t use them because with all the driveway let downs, sign posts, people with dogs on leashes and Moms with strollers, there are too many obstacles and it is not an easy ride.”
I asked him about bike lanes painted on the roads.
“These are a positive step for cyclists but there has to be a lot of education for rural drivers to be safe. If the lane is along the curb, the drivers have to learn to do the right shoulder check before turning into a driveway or intersection.”
“If the bike lane is on the driver’s left, again they have to learn to shoulder check or look in their mirrors before opening their driver’s door into the lane. In the larger urban areas, they are learning this, but we have a way to go in the rural communities.”
The last thing anyone wants is a $2,500 carbon fibre bike embedded in our right front fender and a bike going 20 km/h hitting a padded door would make quite an impression.
Not to forget injuring the biker or the driver.
When I grew up here, our bike lanes were gravel shoulders. If we encountered a pot hole or a telephone pole we had to decide if we were going to swerve onto the road and get honked and yelled at or skirt the edge of a two foot deep water filled ditch.
We learned bike safety, hand signals and how to share the road with cars that had the right of way. When did it all change and who changed it? In the larger cities, bikes are part of the transit system, but we don’t have that here yet.
Maybe the bikes will come. In the meantime, look before you open that car door.
At least that’s what McGregor says.