Why is this an exciting time to be a bike commuter in Chicago?

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on September 3, 2012 at 12:26am

David Barish said:

I have been riding in the city for over 30 years.  I commute but not every day.  Its not such a solitary pursuit these days. In the early 80's I was one of only a handful of cyclists on the road.  Because of this most cars were surprised to see me they didn't know what to do with a bike on the street. This made things more dangerous regardless of intent.   There are more and more bikes on city streets these days. That reality has made motorized vehicles more aware.  This is more and more true the farther in you get.  in the few miles surrounding the loop there are often a gaggle of bikes at a stop light. This reality has made it easier for us all.  With more and more bikes there are more and more riders who can help with a pump, a patch or a phone.  City blocks have lots of bikes, all kinds of them, locked up. Its a beautiful sight.  More an more somebody rides up and says, "nice wheels" and that's what they really mean.

 

Unchanged is the sense that we are junior citizens of the road. That remains a problem and a mission.  Hence the chatter of protected lanes,  whether the law does and should apply to us, and whether we are protected by those who are supposed to serve and protect.  This forum, even when divisive, helps us focus on that mission.  We may disagree on what should be done but all seem to agree that there is plenty to do.  Thanks Ethan at ATA, Elizabeth at Ride of Silence Chicago and the many other activists who keep up the good fight on behalf of cyclists. 

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on September 3, 2012 at 12:27am

Sounds like you don't care for them . . . ?

Bill Savage said:

Waste of time and money.  They aren't true separated lanes for bikes, and delivery vans park in them with impunity.  They are not safe, as now we get doored by passengers rather than drivers exiting their cars.  The money spent on them would have been better spent on covering up the bike lane portions of steel grate bridges (how many thousands of flats a year do those things cause) and on many many more miles of the newly-widened painted lanes.  A few miles here and there of half-assed separate lanes do not transform Chicago into Copenhagen.

h' said:

But what do you think of the new bike lanes overall?

Bill Savage said:

Bollixed is more like it.  But the England-English meaning of the term might elude people.

James BlackHeron said:

Bollardized?   Too close to Bowdlerized I guess. 

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Permalink Reply by h' Zerocats on September 3, 2012 at 12:29am

I don't buy it. I think you're an idealist with an analytical bent and your negativity is simply an outlet for the frustration of having a clear sense of how things should be to measure the current state against.

Bill Savage said:

Jason: right on.  I know my own comments can be negative, because I'm a pessimist

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