while the US got google cycling maps today, us here in Toronto got Ride the City. At least it’s something.
The thing I find with these mapping programs though is they don’t route you through any streets where you may be biking the “wrong” way on a one-way street.
…So my question is: how often does your cycling route make you bike the “wrong” way on one way streets? Myself, it happens many many times a day and I feel safer doing that than biking on main arterial routes. I’d love to hear how other folks around the world view this issue.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Esther // Mar 12, 2010 at 2:21 pm
My route to work has a one-way in it. I prefer to ride on the street (here in SLC, it’s actually illegal to bike on the sidewalk), and because I make pretty good pace with the cars, it’s safer and faster for me to ride with the traffic, rather than against it (not to mention I can also legally take up the entire right lane). On my return home it’s usually dark out, so I ride with the traffic up a different road, because riding against traffic at night just doesn’t seem like a good idea.
However, when I’m in a hurry and get stopped at a light at a busy intersection, there are times when I hop onto the sidewalk and back on the wrong side of the road for a bit until it’s safe to cross back to the right.
In general, I would say that it’s safer to bike the right way on a one-way, but I think it’s subjective to where you’re riding, how late you’re running, and how comfortable you feel about it
2 Meg - Sydney // Mar 13, 2010 at 8:19 am
I’ve been known to ride the wrong direction up a way street. But only in the back streets, I wouldn’t do it in the city on busy roads, it would be way too dangerous.
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