So today I was riding my bike from the School of Public Health to downtown Ann Arbor. Stupidly, I used Google Maps to plot out my route, without consulting the Ann Arbor bicycle map. I chose to ride on Huron St., which as it turns out is the only east/west street that is NOT a recommended bike route, and is also under construction.
I am riding in the traffic lane, which I am very much allowed to do as a cyclist. I am following the "as close as is practicable" to the curb standard, and as far as I can tell, there is enough room for a car to safely pass me. In fact, at least two cars passed me in the construction zone. Then a car pulls up behind me, and I hear yelling. They repeatedly curse at me and call me a whore, yell at me that there is no bike lane and scream that I should be riding on the sidewalk. I figure there's no way someone is intimidating me off the road, but they keep at it for six or seven blocks. Finally, when I see a safe curb cut at an intersection, I ride up onto the sidewalk. They call me a whore again and speed past.
It bears noting that I am a VERY experienced bicyclist, and not easily intimidated. I have ridden thousands of miles, been cat called, been buzzed by trucks and SUVs at high speed, ridden on the FREEWAY, and had things thrown at me. None of them have ever left me as rattled as this encounter did. I was honestly afraid they might try to harm me if I didn't get off the road.
As it turns out, Michigan doesn't actually have a safe passing law for a car overtaking a bicyclist. Arizona's three foot law and the high visibility of cycling seems to have created an atmosphere where everyone implicitly knows that bicycles belong on the road. Here in Ann Arbor, the city actually occasionally reroutes bicycle traffic onto sidewalks. I think sidewalk riding is SO dangerous for both pedestrians and cyclists, that I have entirely ignored those signs. The sidewalks they are routed onto are cracked, have dangerous grades, and apparently are not maintained in winter. This is what passes for a bike path here?
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2 comments:
I'm very sorry to hear about your bike troubles. Having some douche yell at me for blocks would get me rattled too. Unlike you though, I probably would have wrecked and been killed considering I've never really ridden a bike. I hope you get all the safe paths figured out so you can avoid shit like that in the future. Good luck!
Well, you probably wouldn't have been riding on the street in a construction zone. It's just disheartening to see that Ann Arbor seems to want to perpetuate the myth that bicycles belong on sidewalks.
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