Back in the day I wrote a weekly outdoor column where readers took me on their favorite outdoor adventures.
A fella wrote me that he had the best bike commute in the land, riding into Eugene, OR from the countryside.
Most of the route was along the Territorial Highway, a popular ride for local roadies. I’d heard about it, but on my first drive on it I deemed it too sketchy for me to ride.
For the column’s sake I gave it a try. Of course, I had to leave at dawn to ride out to his place so we could ride in. The ride out wasn’t bad in the wee hours without much traffic, although I still couldn’t shake my willies.
We rode in and like so many riders, he planted his wheels just on the left of the white line staking claim to his territory. I’m on the other end of that spectrum, staying as close to the edge of pavement as possible.
Frankly, the ride scared the crap out of me. Especially the logging trucks, which create a wild wind as they pass.
I wrote about the ride from his perspective. What I told my wife was different:
I’ll never ride that road again. Someone’s gonna die out there.
A few weeks later Dr. Jane Higdon was hit and killed on that highway on a training ride.
Suffice to say I was shaken. Still new to Eugene, my wife and I were exploring bike routes. My wife found a cutoff past a nearby mall. The mall was surrounded by bike lanes. She suggested I check it out.
What I found was a circus of crazy shoppers driving like idiots. I came home and basically demanded — very out of character for me — that she never ride that again. Someone’s gonna get killed.
Sadly enough, my warning rang true within a week or so.
For all the wonderful feelings and emotions that flow on a bike ride, I’m always aware of the safety factors, and I listen to my gut. There are countless roads I will avoid where I see others happily rolling along.
This week’s question: Do you have roads you avoid based on your gut?
I have roads I avoid based on my gut, based on the width of the available shoulder to ride on, the speed limit on said road and various other factors. The older I get the more discerning I have been about this.
I’ll always try and map out routes away from major roads even if that means finding routes that include off-road sections and adjusting my bike choices accordingly.
Having said that, I do still think it’s important that cyclists maintain a presence on the roads in order to maintain the right to be there and to maintain some sense of being expected to be on the roads. I think we just need to be judicious about doing that.
Ultimately, road safety for cyclists revolves around driver attitudes to cyclists, infrastructure and appropriate legislation to support all of it. Right now, I think (broadly speaking) the scales are tipped against our favor. I will continue to advocate for a better situation in the future but will ride cautiously enough in the meantime to make sure I get to see that future.
Well said. We need to be seen on the roads to be taken seriously as road users.
There are spots I avoid mostly based on time of day. I do tend to ride the shoulder rather than left of white line.
I agree that showing up on the road matters and early spring rides can be the scariest.
I work for a large grocery chain in the northeast. There are three locations near where I live- 12 miles away, 7 miles away and 1.3 miles away. The first two I will ride my bike to as much as I can. A rail trail and good infrastructure gets me there safely. The commute to the closest one involves a long hill on a state highway. The road to my hometown store scares me so much that, when I work there, I drive my car.
Yeah, pretty much all of them. I spend my time riding trails, pirate or legit linking those via parking lots, bike lanes or greenways. There are no incentives for me to ride in traffic and with all of the losers staring at their phones vs actually piloting their vehicles in a responsible manner the risk vs reward is not worth it.