Bicycle Law Revisions: (sub)Standard & 3ft Minimum

I recorded this quite a while ago and kept it private because I didn't like a bit of it. Today I watched again and my standards must be lower so I'm publishing it. The proposed laws I talk about are now REAL laws.

It's a narrated bike video journey on west 26th Street, Louise Ave and 41st Street. In it I demonstrate lanes that are wide enough to safely share and lanes that are not.

Day 10 of #30DaysOfBiking

Today's ride was adventuresome.

It was so bad, what usually takes me 25 minutes took 45!

The ice was thick, but really only the first 1/10th of an inch on the road matters.

I shot a Vine.


While I was stopped and posting it a dog walker approached. It was my city traffic engineer! He's managing a 24 hours a day crew right now. Sounds like traffic signals don't like the weather either. It's never bad to be a face for city officials to think of when they're thinking of road users, eh?

The bike trail surface proved more predictable than roads - which is to say for 20 minutes I rode knowing the slightest error would dump me on the pavement.

Still I averaged 10mph which is fast enough to actually get somewhere.

I saw two separate bike tracks - I was not alone.

Riding in this was extreme, no doubt. I didn't fall and dabbed a few times. The Pugsley tires are 4 inches wide and not studded. It's important to keep centered over the top of the bike. I don't expect to turn with any speed, not even small adjustments. Wind and cambered surface can push me in directions I don't want to go, but I accept that until I can scrub enough speed to make a course correction.

If the windspeed would have been more and the temperature less I would not have ridden.

Happy 30 Days of Biking. It really is joyful.

Substandard Width Lanes

South Dakota law says a rider can move from the right-hand curb or edge of roadway when the lane is substandard width.

South Dakota law defines a substandard width lane as a lane that is too narrow to safely share side by side with another vehicle.

The question at hand; what is “too narrow?”

Determining too narrow is more of an art than a science.

If the driver or rider is drunk, texting, sleeping, talking on the phone, or fighting with the kids in the back seat there’s not enough pavement in the world to make a lane wide enough to safely share side by side with that vehicle.

Speed plays a role too. It is much easier to share a lane side by side with a car going 20mph than a car going 80mph.

The ability of a rider to ride predictably straight also plays a role.

Let’s see if we can find an empirical width. In feet. Something we can put a tape measure to.

1. How many feet do you need to your right between you and the curb to feel like you’re riding safely?

2. How many feet wide are you?

3. How many feet do you need to your left between you and a passing car?

4. How many feet wide is a passing car?

Typically when these four numbers are added together you’ll get between 14’ and 18’. The bike safety experts I know will readily agree that a 14’ lane can usually easily be shared side by side with a car.

Fact: MOST South Dakota lanes are 10’ or 12’. So, which lanes are too narrow to safely share side by side by a bicycle and a car? MOST.

--

Here’s how I apply this to the way I ride.

I look ahead as far as I can see and pick the left most lane position that will afford me safe passage by any obstacles to my right. Most often it’s a parked car so leftward enough to safely pass if the car door opens while I’m riding by.

Any driver that sees me immediately realizes there is not enough space in the lane to pass me. Expectations are set.

When I become aware of a driver behind me I evaluate the situation. Can I safely move to the right to give the driver more space to pass? When can I safely move to the right to give the driver more space to pass?

When I can move right, I do move right.

First Accumulated Snow 2012 - Bike It!

It snowed. I rode. To work and back. My ride, condensed, with occasional commentary.

Cold Air Density

The sweaty guy on my bike tonight wanted to know if cold air is more dense.

Finished Bicycle: Dec 13, 2012, 5:35:14 PM
Average: 12.36 mph
Distance: 7.91 miles
Bicycle This Week: 26.40 miles
Bicycle This Month: 89.59 miles

http://www.cyclemeter.com

12/10 Transportation Donut

This donut is for the past two weeks. I replaced 83 single occupant vehicle miles with my bicycle and my feet. Yes, walking counts too. All 2 miles of it.

Morning's Ride To Work

BillySquier'sMusic and I agree - best winter morning in a long time!

Finished Bicycle: Dec 11, 2012, 8:54:32 AM
Average: 13.70 mph
Distance: 5.28 miles
Bicycle This Week: 5.28 miles
Bicycle This Month: 68.47 miles

Before The Tubas

I found a free hour before Tuba Christmas.

Finished Bicycle: Dec 8, 2012, 2:04:47 PM
Average: 12.32 mph
Distance: 14.04 miles
Bicycle This Week: 57.05 miles
Bicycle This Month: 63.19 miles

Snow Yeah Part I

For some reason I think it's important to ride the first snowfall.

Enjoy Dunn Bros.

Finished Bicycle: Dec 7, 2012, 3:13:31 PM
Average: 11.52 mph
Distance: 18.66 miles
Bicycle This Week: 37.90 miles
Bicycle This Month: 44.04 miles

Meeting @ Monk's

That was some of the coldest 50-degrees I've experienced. The 20mph wind and darkness may have been contributing factors.

Rode to a FAST meeting at Monk's tonight. I spent a fair amount of time taking the long way there.

Good to see the usual suspects and to welcome the new president and secretary. FAST 2.0 is getting started.

Finished Bicycle: Dec 5, 2012, 9:29:14 PM
Average: 14.14 mph
Distance: 19.24 miles
Bicycle This Week: 19.24 miles
Bicycle This Month: 25.38 miles

Happy Global Fatbike Day 2012

The internets told me today was Global Fatbike Day. So I too mine to the park and let it run aroud a bit.

O Holy Night...Then A Dog

On my ride home from work. It was after sunset. I was listening to the Christmas Story from my best of Francis Chan collection. Just as a trio began to sing O Holy Night a dog comes out of the darkness and manages to get my lower leg between its jaws.

Could it be a metaphor?

Amazingly it didn't bite me.

I'm smiling though. Lots of people dream about carrying a gun when they ride. It seems to me this would be a time where I would use one if I had one.

I'm glad I didn't and don't.

However, I am a fan of laws requiring dogs to make their owners use leashes.

Finished Bicycle: Nov 29, 2012, 5:54:29 PM
Average: 14.02 mph
Distance: 7.86 miles
Bicycle This Week: 28.48 miles
Bicycle This Month: 224.84 miles

Walk This Way

Walking to lunch is another way to avoid sitting in a car.

Finished Walk: Nov 29, 2012, 1:42:18 PM
Average: 3.26 mph
Distance: 1.65 miles
Walk This Week: 1.65 miles
Walk This Month: 1.65 miles

Just Another Ride To Work

It was fun! How was your ride?

Finished Bicycle: Nov 29, 2012, 8:58:03 AM
Average: 14.54 mph
Distance: 7.25 miles
Bicycle This Week: 20.62 miles
Bicycle This Month: 216.98 miles

Walgreens - Three Things I Like About...

First. 

Pictures of the six local locations. Emphasis added.

If there's a national retailer...

that has higher...

standards for...

pedestrian access to...

it's buildings...

I'd like to see it.

I wonder if there's ever been a board member who wondered if they were opening themselves up to some sort of liability problem by inviting people to walk across their parking lots to get into the building. I mean really, they're practically inviting someone to walk there.

Second.

The Walgreens iPhone App.

Seriously amazing to me. When my prescription runs empty I scan the barcode on the bottle with my phone. Before long there's a freshly filled prescription waiting for me to pickup. And with express pay I don't even have to find a way to pay.

This is easily my favorite iPhone App.

Finally.

We don't serve your kind.

So there I was parked and waiting patiently in the pharmacy drive-up this morning waiting to pick up a freshly filled prescription. I think I frustrated the pharmacist because she was having difficulty understanding my words. I've noticed there's a certain temperature that numbs my face enough that it changes the way my talking sounds. I think she had had enough when she decided to tell me that usually they don't serve bicycle riders in the drive-up. 

"It's a liability issue for us."

Why is this a favorite thing for me? Well, picking up prescriptions could be much more interesting and exciting. I wonder what the worst possible thing might be.

Just Another Ride Home From Work

I just noticed it's starting to get darker earlier.

Finished Bicycle: Nov 27, 2012, 5:37:11 PM
Average: 12.94 mph
Distance: 7.99 miles
Bicycle This Week: 13.37 miles
Bicycle This Month: 209.73

Walgreens Teaser

Oh, Walgreens, don't you know disallowing bicycle service thru drive-up is soooo 2006?

Finished Bicycle: Nov 27, 2012, 8:51:19 AM
Average: 13.23 mph
Distance: 5.37 miles
Bicycle This Week: 5.37 miles
Bicycle This Month: 201.73 miles

11/19 Transportation Donut

It's Monday.

Time for a doughnut.

This week I replaced 79 miles of driving a single occupant vehicle with riding a bicycle.

100 Miles This Week

It's been a bit of a long time since I've ridden 100 miles in a week. Good to get out today and meet my goal.

Finished Bicycle: Nov 25, 2012, 4:56:36 PM
Average: 16.16 mph
Distance: 18.84 miles
Bicycle This Week: 108.82 miles
Bicycle This Month: 196.36 miles

My Black Friday Dilemna...

...I chose the black one for my pretty cold Black Friday Ride. Today I spent $4.69 for a black coffee and a burrito so I feel like I contributed.

Finished Bicycle: Nov 23, 2012, 4:45:42 PM
Average: 16.30 mph
Distance: 8.87 miles
Bicycle This Week: 89.98 miles
Bicycle This Month: 177.52 miles

http://www.cyclemeter.com