Bicycle Safety 101, Part 1 : "Pathway and Roadway Cycling."

BICYCLIST/MOTORIST ETIQUETTE REQUIRED ON SUN CITY AND OTHER PUBLIC ROADWAYS
By LES TURK

Please don't yell at me from your car window! I'm on a bike, balanced on two thin tires and the distraction can lead to an accident.

If I'm doing something wrong in Sun City call Securitas. They will be there and catch up with me in minutes. If outside of Sun City the sheriff will also respond quickly.

The usual "yell" is "single file" or "get on the bike path".

Let me explain why I am out in the lane. Sun City Blvd. has two lanes in each direction and no shoulder. If I ride close to the right edge I will have to turn into traffic if an obstacle is ahead of me. More important, a car passing in my lane is just too close. In Cycling 101 we're taught that the safe thing to do in this situation is "take the lane", that is ride in the inside 1/3 of the lane. The car must pass from the outside lane, just as you must do with golf carts.

By the way, state law and Sun City regulations allow bikes to ride two abreast. As a courtesy we usually ride single file. We ride double when in a large group so our line is half as long. I also ride double with my wife on Sun City Blvd. I think I'm protecting her and I admit that I just enjoy talking to her all the time.

Now about the bike path along Bluffton/Buckwalter Parkways. Well it's not really a bike path but a multi-purpose path. We share this path with mothers pushing baby carriages, people walking dogs, runners and walkers.

Again state law states we should use the path or road based on what we consider safer.

Some portions of the path are curved with limited forward visibility or covered with leaves and twigs. Portions of the path have crosswalks. Cars coming out of plantations have to go beyond the crosswalk to see oncoming traffic. They are not looking for bikes. In these situations it is safer for us on the road. When the road is straight and we can see it is clear far ahead we use the path.

So the cyclist who is riding double or on the road where a path is available is not breaking the law. Yelling out a car window at a cyclist is called harassment and is breaking the law and subject to a traffic citation.

We want to share the road. We try to be courteous and cause as little disruption as possible to car traffic but be safe on the ride.

Sun City

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