I biked on a highway yesterday

[mstone]

@KLizotte 60743 wrote:

I thought it was illegal to ride on roads with mph of 45+ (or was it 35+)…

At 35MPH you need a light at night rather than just a reflector. Not a problem for most forum participants, who look like deranged christmas trees.

[fuzzy]

I’ve done a group ride with Bicycle Space before, it was the ‘nice & easy’ ride. The group leader abided by traffic laws. There was no craziness involved.

There were no waivers. We showed up and waited for a few moments for more people to arrive. We greeted each other and rolled out. It was nice.

[nikki_d]

@fuzzy 60760 wrote:

I’ve done a group ride with Bicycle Space before, it was the ‘nice & easy’ ride.

We greeted each other and rolled out. It was nice.

Don’t leave us hanging… was it easy??

[MattAune]

@Subby 60718 wrote:

This is kind of related – but a friend of mine often encourages early morning jaunts down the GW parkway from McLean. Early being 6am (and on the weekends). A little Googling shows that the NPS does not allow bikes on the Parkway, but I just wanted to check and see if I missed something and it is acceptable practice during “off-hours”.

This has been a fairly recent change. GWP (south of old town) and Clara barton pkwy used you be great roads for weekend cycling until a couple of years ago NPS decided to ban bikes. There is talk about getting CB opened for bikes on weekend mornings (mostly for the 7 and 10am rides) because the alternative is to have hundreds of cyclists on MacArthur, which sucks.

As far as I know there are no times when it would be acceptable to ride your bike on the GW parkway.

[creadinger]

@KLizotte 60746 wrote:

You’re right. In VA there are no prohibitions based on vehicular speed.

http://www.virginiadot.org/programs/bk-laws.asp

I think in the southwest there are places where the only connecting roads are interstates, so cross-country cyclists have to ride the shoulder of 65+mph highways for short stretches. The big difference is that there is a shoulder though.

When I was touring in Nova Scotia there are places again, where there just are no other roads and you have to follow the little white line of a 100KPH highway for several miles. The shoulder is maybe 12inches. Nova Scotia was terrible about having shoulders on roads.

Sometimes, highways are the only alternative but choosing one when a good alternative (like MLK) exists seems kind of silly.

[TwoWheelsDC]

@creadinger 60774 wrote:

I think in the southwest there are places where the only connecting roads are interstates, so cross-country cyclists have to ride the shoulder of 65+mph highways for short stretches. The big difference is that there is a shoulder though.

In California, they’re considerate enough to paint a bike lane on it…

[fuzzy]

@nikki_d 60765 wrote:

Don’t leave us hanging… was it easy??

Oh yeah, it was nice & easy. My first ride, with exception of the WABA safety class I took.

I was paying attention to the leader and noticed that almost any speed he went he kept the same rpms.

The guy, can’t remember his name, seemed to have a laid back, calm, attitude about himself.

Some time ago I asked about getting from SW to Blue Plaines as mapping a bike route kept taking me along South Capitol street. I never rode that route and opted to drive. Glad I did, I think I would have bailed if that group ride started heading down South Cap.

[Drewdane]

@rcannon100 60716 wrote:

YIKES!!

Remember, by signing those waivers (I assume there was a waiver)…. you are saying to yourself “I am fully responsible and if I think its unsafe, I am bugging out.” One of the reasons I dont like those waivers is that it creates a culture by the organizers (in any context) of being callous to safety. “It’s not my responsibility – everyone has signed a waiver.” I have seen some bad things in this context; worst was organizer leadership off in a corner drinking coffee while absolutely all hell is breaking out somewhere else.*

Anyway, point is -> Waiver = you must make your own decisions about safety.

*And to any non-profits / organizers who might be listening, you really want to mitigate your liability? Get the waivers signed and take safety seriously. Act as if your liability is on the line (because with a good lawyer and a bad accident, it still might be if you act callously to safety).

IANAL, but friends of mine who are have always told me waivers aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on when it comes to legal action.

[Brendan von Buckingham]

This link lists states that allow bikes on Interstates, presumably because they’re the only roads in the area. http://www.bicyclinginfo.org/faqs/answer.cfm?id=9

[ShawnoftheDread]

However, even in these states, there are exceptions to this rule where bicyclists are permitted to use a particular bridge that is part of the interstate system (e.g. I-66 in Virginia, I-70 in Kansas).

Which bridge for I-66?

[Drewdane]

@ShawnoftheDread 60870 wrote:

Which bridge for I-66?

Teddy Roosevelt, I imagine – although it has a walkway, so I don’t suppose it really counts for the purposes of this discussion.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@Drewdane 60881 wrote:

Teddy Roosevelt, I imagine – although it has a walkway, so I don’t suppose it really counts for the purposes of this discussion.

Exactly, which is why I think it must refer to another bridge. Also, it’s mostly in DC.

[americancyclo]

@ShawnoftheDread 60883 wrote:

I think it must be another bridge.

I don’t think that’s a thing.

[ShawnoftheDread]

@americancyclo 60890 wrote:

I don’t think that’s a thing.

?

[thucydides]

Speaking of biking on highways and the consequent dangers. Here’s an awesome anecdote about a semi, a pickup, and a biker.

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