MBs on Bike Paths...

[lordoflightaz]

I think riding on bike paths is ok. It is a bike first. Where I live the streets that should have bike lanes don't, (anyone that knows Phoenix, I am talking about Bell Rd as an example.) so I use the sidewalk so that I get to live. If I know that I can move over 1/2 a mile or use a bike path I will. What I consider when doing this is that I am now the one that has to take the MOST care since I do have the advantage of a motor assist and always yield to pedestrians.

What I find rather funny is that as I go tearing down a sidewalk at a screaming 15 mph, pedestrians can't hear me coming up behind them. I think my bike is rather loud. I don't have a horn so I often have to slow to a dead stop and say"excuse me, can I get past?"

FYI, Phoenix was originally designed by civil engineers the major roads are 1 mile apart going north/south and east/west. Almost in every case there is a secondary way that is 1/2 mile between these. I tend to travel those secondaries, but most don't go under the freeway. It is almost impossible to get lost if you know the names of the presidents (all the downtown streets were named after presidents up to Grant.). are and can count to 100. Avenues are west of Central Ave, Streets are east of Central. (There were rules for Lane, Drive as Ever wonder why there is a road called "Baseline"? That is what it is the "Base Line" for the grid.

 

[John-Forrest]

I can see it could get complicated with pedestrians. Where I live, the bike path near me is the Norwottuck Trail, built over an old railway, near Amherst, MA. There are quite a few pedestrians taking a walk, chatting, listening to their MP3 players, watching birds, with children, elderly people, dogs and baby carriages. It's tricky enough trying to manipulate a bicycle around those people, let alone a MB. I myself like to take those walks - and I'd hate to have some kid on an MB running up the throttle to 30 mph behind me!

It's nice to have respite from motors in special places. I hate trailbikes and snowmobiles when I'm hiking, for example. That's one reason I like to shut my motor off downhill and on scenic level ground.

I wouldn't want to ride on sidewalks on my MB at all, unless I shut it off to use a short cut. As a rule of thumb, I ride about a yard away from side of road so people can see me better and to avoid broken pavement and glass on extreme side. I keep looking at rear mirror and pull over if I see a big truck coming. Downtown, I ride right in middle with cars, I can keep up with the traffic there, and have to be there to make left turns.

There's a lot of talk about Obama dollars going to re-build roads and highways - we should advocate for yard-wide sidelanes. Bicyclists AND MBs would unite for that!

 

[iRide Customs]

They should not be allowed. Most bike paths around here already have signs that say "No Motorized Vehicles". I think you'd just be asking for trouble as you come up on a jogger with a dog etc...

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Yes, one of the troubles with bike paths is that nearly every single one of them is actually considered "multi-use paths" (MUBs) That brings in walkers and joggers and such. These folks do not consider themselves to be part of a traffic flow. And they shouldn't be expected to, for that matter. Leisure foot traffic should not be mixed with serious transportation.

It would seem that a mandate for a yard wide shoulder on every road would help the alternative transport movement immensely. The cost of construction would not be huge in most places. In many rural places the road bed itself would have to be widened, I suppose. And when you add in the sheer miles involved, then maybe that would be too much. But perhaps exceptions could be made in remote places where there is little traffic of any sort.

In some suburban spots the roadway might have to encroach currently private property through eminent domain. A touchy subject, but there's little hesitation to do it when it would convenience auto traffic. (Once the money has been appropriated, anyway.) And I know of many places where bicyclists ride on or near the white line while an unused sidewalk sits just a few feet to the right.

It couldn't be done on most urban streets. But there the need is somewhat less. For a motored bike, anyway. We can pretty much keep up with that traffic.

If this were done seriously the cost might not be insignificant. But I suspect that the payoff would be huge.

 

[John-Forrest]

One possibility would be to paint that white line a yard away from side or existing white line. In future years, car widths will decrease and SUVs will become unpopular. At the very least, demand better maintenance for roadsides, create smooth asphalt, sweep the glass, increase fines for throwing glass on roadsides.

 

[wheelbender6]

It's hard to avoid brushing pedestrians on a mult-use path on just a pedal powered bike.
If you need to take a multi-use path for a short cut or to avoid a dangerous area, kill the motor and pedal.

 

[FightForTheCause]

You need to be able to use bike paths in some areas. Safer than the bike lane for sure. Just if you see people, either shut off or idle your motor as you pedal by them, to show them that you are aware and care of their presence.

 

[Happy Valley]

It's hard to avoid brushing pedestrians on a mult-use path on just a pedal powered bike.
If you need to take a multi-use path for a short cut or to avoid a dangerous area, kill the motor and pedal.

Yup, good advice.

 

[lordoflightaz]

It's hard to avoid brushing pedestrians on a mult-use path on just a pedal powered bike.
If you need to take a multi-use path for a short cut or to avoid a dangerous area, kill the motor and pedal.

Now this brushing of pedestrians sound like a sport. Do you get points for brushing? What about homeless under the bridges? If I hit a shopping cart do I have to take it back to Walmart?

Most of the bike paths that I go on are in the flood canals. I want to find out how to get on the one that runs just south of the 101 up by Union Hills. I would love to find a back way up to Arrowhead Mall Probably need to do a little Google Mapping, even if the pictures are a couple of years out of date.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Another weakness of MUPs; there are so few of them that you can't count on them to get you to your particular destination.

This is so obvious that it shouldn't need to be said. But there is an auto lobby out there that wants bikes off the road. One of their arguments is that we shouldn't be on "their" roads because we have alternatives. Useless, even illusory, alternatives. But they don't care about that. We must care, though.

Until there are enough paths to transport us properly (if that's even possible) we should avoid them. The roads are our only real paths and we need to keep a presence on them.