Re: 10/07/05: Do we belong on bike paths?

--- Mary Arneson <marneson47@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> skrev:

> 
> On Oct 8, 2005, at 4:27 PM, Sheldon Brown wrote:
> >
> > I've ridden my GT3 on rail trails and found no
> problem.  The width
> > issue is deceptive.
> >
> > Your 18" figure is atypical.  Most mountain bikes
> have handlebars 22"
> > wide or more.  Also, a bicycle needs more space
> because it must move
> > from side to side and also lean to balance.
> >
> > A trike, on the other hand, can be ridden
> perfectly straight, even at
> > very slow speeds.
> >
> 
> A bike with a trailer is also wider than many
> trikes, and less stable.  
> I think we'd all agree that a trailer full of kids
> has a place on the 
> path, and bike / multi-use paths need to be built
> with them in mind.  
> If they are, there will be plenty of room for the
> rest of us -- trikes, 
> handcycles, utility trailers, and velomobiles.

This is generally a problem here, that bike paths
aren't consistent in any way. They could be narrow,
wide, and with obstacles that makes it impossible to
anticipate if the path is possible to use or not. The
bicycle organisations here in Sweden seem reluctant to
work with these issues other than from a turist point
of view, which I find extremely dissappointing. The
National Road Administration also think that biking is
mainly for the southern part of Sweden because of
weather and such things (I wonder if they have been
outside their cars and corridors ever), this is also
very dissappointing and shows of very low interest and
knowledge in biking. From a biking point of view, this
is true stone-age!

/Bruno 
Sweden
Velomobiel.nl Mango
Steintrike Mk2 and Mk3
DBS MTB


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