Bike Lanes

OK, this one's obvious; but if it's so obvious, why doesn't anyone do anything about it?

If reducing gasoline consumption is our goal, we should encourage bike riding. Duh.

So why is it that when the county road commission repaves and widens roads here in mid-Michigan, they don't automatically add bike lanes? How hard would it be to make the auto lanes and shoulders a little narrower?

As it is now, I bike five miles to work on sidewalks. Good idea? I think not. Pedestrians hate me (OK, and I hate them, but I try to be polite--which reminds me: to ding my bell or not? I feel like a boor when I ding it, telling them to get the hell out of my way, but I get yelled at when I don't ding it).

I have broken spokes going over curbs or rough curb cuts. OK, I was racing with a young pup who was fully geared-out and riding with traffic in the busy city streets. I was trying to prove that a middle-aged codger in penny loafers could keep up, even riding on the sidewalk. I did, but I broke spokes in the process. When I pulled up next to him at a red light, he said, "Dude. Pretty good, especially in those pants." I'm not sure why he thought pants made a difference, but I accepted the compliment.

When it gets snowy, the sidewalks are the last thing to be cleared, if they're ever cleared. Drivers pay no attention to who's on the sidewalk; I have been cut off many times, even by drivers who just passed me and couldn't possibly not have seen me. In fact, one time a driver waited for me to pass before pulling out of a driveway, drove past me, then turned right in front of me into the next driveway. I ended up flat on my back, having gone over my handlebars. That's when I got a bike with upright bars so I could reach the brakes faster.

Really, it's like urban mountain biking with extra hazards, which is sort of fun, but only for the adventuresome. It's pretty hard for me to recommend to colleagues that they commute by bike, knowing that they'll need to jump curbs and dodge ditzoid drivers.

But bike lanes! Now that would be inviting. No curbs, no sidewalks. I suspect bicycle commuting would increase many-fold. And it makes a community seem so much more friendly, hip, and welcoming. I can't believe that it costs much more.

So here I live in the semi-country (a township suburb of Lansing), and there's no way for me to get anywhere without riding down a busy two-lane road that not only has no shoulder but CURBS. (Why does it need curbs?) So when I'm in the road, all traffic must go at my pace because I can't even pull over onto the shoulder. Drivers aren't crazy about that.

So Ingham County Road Commission, you don't need to tear all the roads up and install bike lanes immediately. But whenever you repave one, would you at least consider it?

And how about bike paths? I can always dream.