Today was spectacular. Warm, sunny and simply perfect.
After biking the kids and I to church and home I decided I needed to enjoy the afternoon with a solo bike ride. I have been dying to try out the new Beacon Street bike lanes that have been painted in the last month or so. Today seemed perfect. I rode all the way to Coolidge Corner, Brookline via the bike lane. Granted it was a Sunday with light traffic, but I was pleased with how easy it was. I merged into traffic to pass cars in the lane and dealt with intersections I tend to hate even in a car.
My only issue was I was so busy getting out of the house that I left my keys at home. So once I got to Brookline I couldn't leave the bike locked anywhere! I did bring the bike into The Paper Source and the sale person said that my bike was so lovely, it matched the store and could be a display. I appreciated that and bought some Xyron sticker maker refills and then turned around to go home.
Below is a short video of my ride to Brookline. I somehow turned the video off during my epic "taking the lane" on Beacon from Cleveland Circle until the bike lane magically appears again at Washington Square. Again, Sunday traffic made it so easy. I don't think I could try that on a weekday morning.
Over the past three and a half years of my riding I have quietly listened to the pros and cons about bike lanes. I respect those who dislike bike lanes because they force riders to be in the door zone. I also respect those who think bike lanes will be a gateway to forcing all riders into the bike lane and never into regular traffic. However despite that, I can honestly say that I attempted to ride out to Brookline on my own solely because there were bike lanes put down along the route. I was curious to see how well they worked and while they at times put one near doors and at other times put one near debris, they gave me the confidence to ride where I wouldn't have as well as forced me to engage in VC riding when the bike lane disappeared, or turned into sharrows. I felt legitimate riding in them and relaxed knowing I had the white line to help me maintain a straight line with.
I dunno- take a look at the video and see what you think.
( The music is a french pop group Yelle that I found out about from Geekhouse's Marty Walsh's Facebook page. I quickly fell in love with their fun sound and I thought it was only perfect to use the songs as my soundtrack as they make me think of hip and cool bikey things.)
I can understand why some don't like bike lanes - but like you, I feel as if I have more of a right to use the road when they're there rather than when they're not - even though I do have a right to use the road regardless!
ReplyDeleteI do ride on the road when I have to - but something about a bike lane makes me feel like I can enjoy the ride that little bit more. I would never relax entirely - but it is a little bit calmer.
I agree that bike lanes instill more confidence to be where I should be. After getting yelled at just the other day when I took over a very narrow road lane, a bike lane or sharrows would have shown the driver that I had a legitimate right to be there.
ReplyDeleteBike lanes are far from a perfect solution, but I think that where the road is wide enough, the pros outweigh the cons and it is a relatively low-cost install for the city. I do like not being stuck in traffic during my morning commute--I can just ride alongside those who are crawling along in their cars. But it is true that you have to ride as far to the outside of the door zone as space allows. Unfortunately, lanes do not seem to be laid out consistently.
ReplyDeleteHey MamaVee. I thought you might enjoy a project myself and a good friend have been working on for the last 2 years, called 'Bicycle Portraits'. Our 6000 kilometer journey around South Africa by bicycle aimed to be a photographic study of South African commuter culture (something that is nearly non-existent here), but it's turned into a portrait of a nation through the bicycles that they own and ride every day, revealing all manner of social, historical, class and cultural nuances never imagined. We are about to publish the best 165 portraits (from over 500 photographed) in book form, accompanied by 6 essays and beautiful watercolor maps for each portrait indicating where it was photographed. We are currently in the last phase of fundraising through pre-sales of the books (plus great extras like prints and special editions) on the wonderful Kickstarter platform.
ReplyDeletePlease have a look at www.bicycleportraits.co.za/kickstarter for our Kickstarter page, or visit www.bicycleportraits.co.za to see the project online - and please spread the word!
Hope you like it! Ride safe!
Stan.
Stan Engelbrecht
Day One Publishing, South Africa
+27(0)82 928 6586
stan@dayone.co.za
silencebegan (Skype)
/bicycleportrait (Twitter)
www.dayonepublications.com
www.bicycleportraits.co.za
www.bicycleportraits.co.za/kickstarter