My Check Engine light came on Friday night as I was driving back from the orthodontist. Saturday morning I packed my bike into my car and drove to a mechanic. It's only a couple miles, no big deal riding back. Except that on the major thoroughfares there are no sidewalks.
I appreciate the new roads, but why can't Harris County Precinct Three complete them by adding sidewalks? It's too dangerous to ride on the roadway, it's virtually impossible to ride on the median or the ten-foot space between the roadway and property lines.
All of the neighborhoods have nice sidewalks, but you can't actually get anywhere safely without driving because there are no sidewalks connecting the neighborhoods with schools and commerce. It's absurd.
(Welcome Chronicle readers. I appreciate the link, Chronicle staffers. Can you publish an article or two about the lack of sidewalks? Maybe an editorial? It's great that we have bike trails, but I'd rather have sidewalks.)
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And that is why America is fat. And other countries are getting fat. They build suburbs and roads without making it possible to walk (or bike) safely in the area.
This is why I could never live in a city that size, Lou. Minor arterials in smallish cities are wonderful for biking.
BTW, I really like the "drop the car off and bike to work" idea and practice it whenever possible!
In the California city where I live, you'd get a ticket for riding on the sidewalk! On the other hand, most road other than small residential streets are marked with a bike lane on the right hand side of the roads moving in the same direction as traffic. Oh well.
Here in Madison it is glorious to bike pretty much anywhere. The streets are wide and many have bike only lanes. We also have a lot of connecting bike paths. None of this helps six months out of the year when it is colder than a witches t1t though.
And that is why America is fat.
I think it's because Americans traded one vice (smoking) for another (overeating). My grandparents didn't do any more walking than me and they weren't fat. But they smoked like chimneys. Is it just a coincidence that as Europe adopted American attitudes towards smoking during the 1990s that Europeans became fatter?
Obesity should be just as stigmatized as smoking. Instead we make allowances for it.
A good way to entice people to not get as fat is to allow health insurers to charge higher premiums to obese folks. You know, actually let the price of insuring someone reflect the risk in insuring him.
I realize how different American eating habits are when I go out to lunches and dinners with European businessmen. The Europeans (especially the French) are very slow eaters compared to Americans. They try to enjoy their food more than we do I think. The Brits tend to eat more like Americans. I try to eat with the slow, measured pace of the Europeans but I get really bored and end up just scarfing my food.
Requiring sidewalks is evil socialist central planning, don't you know?
Laws differ from city to city.
Here a small area of downtown is the only place you are not allowed to ride your bike on the sidewalk.
We seriously considered making the kids bike to school when gas prices hit their record high.
I would have made them ride on the sidewalk (5 miles one way)
Ah yes, the American problem, or one of them, I should say.
One thing I probably miss more than any of the rest after I moved here is the ability to hop my mountain bike and actually go somewhere. Anywhere. Well, anywhere outside my little subdivision.
And actually, my subdivision isn't isolated in a geographic sense. It's right up against others, but all are isolated from each other by private property and fences. To go one block over to the "back neighbour" takes a half mile drive.
And I say drive, not bike, because it's a busy 40 mph two-lane road once you dart out of the subdivision, and not a sidewalk to be seen.
Amazingly, the "old road" (pre-1980?) is only 50 feet over from the current road, but they chopped some of it up and let people fence off parts of it, instead of using it for what would have been a fabulous bike path. Aaarghhhh!
Not so amazingly, nobody else in my neighbourhood even cares. That's because they have NO intention of getting their fat arses on a wobbly bicycle for any reason, thank you very much.
Legally, you can't ride your bike on a sidewalk anyway. You HAVE to ride it in the roadway.
Legally, you can't ride your bike on a sidewalk anyway. You HAVE to ride it in the roadway.
Then they can issue me a ticket and I'll make a big stink about it in the courthouse.
Again, think about this: There are no sidewalks to the school.
Legally, you can't ride your bike on a sidewalk anyway
Is that just in Houston/suburbs? I know in some places, it's legal at least for kids (12 or younger?) to ride on sidewalks.
If... there... are... any... sidewalks.
No sidewalks to the school? And you live in a town? That's incredible.
Is that just in Houston/suburbs?
I don't know that it's true. Rorschach, can you cite the statute? I've never gotten a ticket for this, and plenty of police officers have seen me (and many others) ride on sidewalks, with no tickets issued.
Like I said, *IF* this is the law, issue me a citation. I will go to the courthouse and make a very public stink about it. I think it is worth paying the fine in order to draw attention to this very serious problem.
BikeTexas has a concise summary of the state laws regarding bicycles. Basically boils down to: a bicycle is a vehicle, with the rights and responsibilities thereof.
Texas Transportation Code, chapter 551, OPERATION OF BICYCLES, MOPEDS, AND PLAY VEHICLES.
TTC, chapter 541, DEFINITIONS. Defines terms such as "vehicle", "bicycle", and "highway" (basically any public street).
So... nothing I've seen yet that says it's illegal to ride a bike on sidewalks. Just information that confirms I am legally allowed to ride on the road, which would be suicidal.
I've ridden my bike on non-freeway roads plenty of times, and most motorists give plenty of room -- except for young drivers, who love to swerve as close as they can to bicyclists, while honking and screaming.
All new roads should have bicycle shoulders, and I'd vote for requiring a high school diploma, or be 18 with a GED, before giving out drivers licenses.
Lou, I stand corrected, apparently it is legal under certain circumstances.
http://www.publicworks.houstontx.gov/bikeways/faq.htm
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