Feel like I'm now part of the community

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Permalink Reply by Alex Z on August 7, 2013 at 12:41pm

Is it true that any part of Sheridan has a no-bikes rule in the Chicago city limits? A guy at a bike shop on the Loyola campus told me as much, but I suspect he was wrong.

Jared said:

I occasionally notice roads here and there that ban bikes from the roadway.  Ridge Road in Evanston is one and some parts of Sheridan ban it. 

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Permalink Reply by Tom Dworzanski on August 7, 2013 at 1:23pm

The burbs don't have enough cyclists so people assume you're not in the right place when you're on the street. I'd like to see some of you critical mass kids do your thing in the burbs.

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Permalink Reply by Bez on August 7, 2013 at 2:38pm

I was thinking recently that a Critical Mass Naperville/Aurora would be extremely useful.

I mean, other than the fact that bikes are banned on the main drag in Naperville

Tom said:

The burbs don't have enough cyclists so people assume you're not in the right place when you're on the street. I'd like to see some of you critical mass kids do your thing in the burbs.

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Permalink Reply by SlowCoachOnTheRoad on August 7, 2013 at 3:33pm

I can easily imagine someone driving a BMW or Mercedes (both part of the Germans' Big Three) finding those puny bikers annoying bugs to be windshield wiped out of their view.   After all, bikes disrupt the grand experience of being in a SPORTS car!

Steve Courtright said:

I have noticed the same David, but significantly also Mercedes drivers.  It is, I believe, a function of the German Proverbial Expression, "Ordnung muss sein" which translates to "There must be order."  Apparently, the sudden explosion of bicyclists insisting on our rights upsets their ordered way of life.

Just tongue in cheek here (sort of).

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Permalink Reply by MFrank on August 7, 2013 at 3:47pm

agreed and i believe city drivers are more conditioned to drive alongside cyclists.

Jeff Schneider said:

I think the difference is that more city drivers are also cyclists, so they understand a bit better why we don't hug car doors, why we might need to maneuver around potholes and glass, etc.  Non-cyclist drivers probably just think we are being assholes taking up so much more room than they imagine we should need.

Almost as big a difference between US cities and the best biking cities in Europe (in my experience) as the fact that they have so many more cyclists and much better infra, is that the drivers are also so much more careful and courteous.  Maybe it's because most of them are cyclists, too.

Lanterne Rouge said:

My take on it is that you have to be extra careful in the suburbs. People are just less accustomed to seeing cyclists on the road and just don't know how to co-exist with them. 

I was hit on Glenview & Crawford about a month ago. Some kid thought he could squeeze in the right lane where I was and swept right in to me. 

I also get the odd verbal 'nasty-gram' every so often when I'm riding on Lehigh or Glenview Rd. To me, this is baffling because there are plenty of signs reminding to share the road with cyclists. You can't please all the people all the time, I guess.

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