ChiWhoBike #42
I like that there are a lot of bike lanes in Chicago, and there’s a big bike culture in the city. I’ve been to a lot of different cities where it’s not nearly as bike friendly as here, however, there’s always room for improvement. And I like that we have a lake path that connects a lot of the neighborhoods to downtown and the Southside, so you can literally take it like it’s like an expressway for bicycles. So I really appreciate that.
I have multiple bikes. The one that I ride for speed is a Cannondale Road bike. I have the bike that I ride with my kids. I have a touring bike that, especially back in the day, I used to take on cross country road trips. And I have a beater that I just ride around for, you know, if I have to go somewhere and I don’t have to worry about it getting stolen.
The infrastructure could definitely be better, with more bike lanes and better designed bike lanes. Because some of them, it’s great to have them, but I’ve noticed, in certain spots they go in and out of traffic lanes for cars. And so it makes it very dangerous for the cyclists to follow that, because the drivers, for the most part, they don’t care and they don’t look where the biker is. So if there were more protected bike lanes, where the bike lane is totally separated from the driving lane, I think that would be better. And for example, right down the street here on Broadway, they made this new bike lane that only goes for about two blocks. It starts at Foster and Broadway and then it follows the sidewalk for half a block and then it zigzags back to the street and then you go over the curb where the pedestrians are waiting. So it’s an interesting design, but I feel it’s a bit confusing ‘cause I see pedestrians waiting to cross in that thing. They’re not necessarily expecting a biker, and so, sometimes it can be a little bit dicey there.
