[redwitch]

I used to be a serious cyclist. I raced in at least one century (100 miles) a month. You couldn't pay me to ride in the bike lanes in California -- too many pedestrians, joggers, casual riders. As was said by TH, it's illegal to ride on the sidewalks. So, that meant I rode on the road with the cars. I did it in suburbia. I did it in the City. I did it in the country. I maintained the speed limit on the roads. I could do 50 mph for a short period of time and 35 for extended rides. Some people would honk in a friendly way and wave. Many would honk for all the wrong reasons.

The laws allows bikes on roads for a reason -- it's safer for the biker and for the pedestrian. We must follow the same laws the car driver does. We can get ticketed for holding up traffic as well as for speeding. We should stop at all stop signs and lights. We must yield the right of way.

Here, I hate seeing bikes and people on the multi modal lanes on Morse. It is just too dangerous to pass them during high season, so you either hold your breath, pray that the car you've spotted doesn't suddenly speed up and hit you and pass them or crawl along until all patience is gone while in your golf cart. If I had a choice, I wouldn't even take Morse on my golf cart, but I live off Morse so there's really not a lot of choice.

My attitude is that if the bike rider is fast enough, go for the road -- it's safer for all concerned in the long run (even if car drivers don't quite "get" that). If you're slower or just riding for fun, try to stay off the main drags (especially Morse).