Richard,
Your comments are way too common sense oriented :>)
As for the politics and approaches being presented here. I think Bill
Hauda's recent one has merit.
Brian Mink
Monona, WI
Richard Schifreen wrote:
Here are my certain to be unpopular observations and suggestions on our current
situation and how we might shift gears to accomplish some important objectives.
These are entirely my own, please be merciful with your comments.
First off, I'm a 60+ year old who has been cycling to both get to work and for
fun for about 40 years. I've lived in Madison for the last 16 years. I'm a
fair weather commuter as long as there isn't ice on the road and temperature is
over about 25 degrees. My commute is from the far west side to campus about
8.5 miles each way - 90% on the road with a short run on a bike trail.
Recreationally, I do mostly road riding but my wife and I have taken an
increasing interest in exploring the gravel trails around Wisconsin. My wife
and I own and use two automobiles. We pay an obscene amount of taxes. We buy
State trail passes every year.
As a visible bicycle commuter I seem to be a magnet for comments of my
colleagues at work. The most frequent negative comments are complaints that one
or more cyclists ride in the middle of the road and are insensitive or
oblivious to the drivers that are backed up behind them. I've seen this both as
a driver and cyclist too many times. We are a minority and the rude jerks among
us are antagonizing those in the majority that might otherwise support us. I
appreciate there is no bicycling czar to enforce bicycling etiquette - but we
need to realize that every driver/voter that we antagonize makes it less likely
for us to advance our agenda.
Most of my riding is on the road. The roads, including designated bike lanes and routes, are in horrible condition. I mean horrible and dangerous. This is also true of the rural roads we enjoy for recreational riding. The potholes, ruts, cracks, debris, etc. are dangerous for cyclists and merely inconvenient for drivers. I do my best to call, report and ask for these problems to be repaired. Sometimes I can get a positive response, sometimes not. While I support new bike paths I see the infrastructure I depend on for cycling deteriorating with no improvements in site. We are falling behind, not even close to maintaining the status quo. My point - we as cyclists are hurt by the deterioration of our roads far more than drivers. I am in favor of road maintenance/improvement and I wish the bicycling "powers that be" would support me. So far, I have yet to hear our Bike Fed or any other bicycling organization focusing on road maintenance. I brought it up once and was told
it
simply isn't a priority.
Maybe we could generate more support lobbying for infrastructure maintenance
that benefits both cyclists and drivers. We need good roads as much, or more,
than the drivers.
Let the bombs fly!!
Richard Schifreen
[email protected]
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