Regarding riding on the sidewalk, it is illegal for anyone over the age of 13 where I live in Northern California (also not SF). That said, there is a busy stretch of my commute where two left turn lanes turns into another busy road. Although I feel highly self-conscious about it, I have often ridden up to the traffic light, taken the crosswalk and rode on the sidewalk the two block stretch to next “safe” road. It’s MUCH safer than crossing two lanes of morning traffic to stand in and then travel with traffic in one of the two left turn lanes.
As for walking as a safer pursuit, yesterday evening my wife and I were walking our dogs when were almost run over by a Tesla silently rolling through a neighborhood stop sign at about 25-30 mph. We actually had to yank the dogs back on to the corner. Dangers are everywhere but I refuse to fear death so much that I cease living (paraphrasing Jimmy Buffet? Really!?). I love riding a bicycle (and walking our dogs) and refuse to stop doing it out of fear. To reiterate what others said, I’ll continue to ride defensively, use lights and reflective bits and avoid risky situations whenever possible. But, as long as I still enjoy it, I’m still going to do it. Good luck with your decision and, if you do give the bike, I hope you find another joyous pursuit that you enjoy as much or more than we all enjoy riding our Rivs. John Niles, CA -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/d54b15ae-e607-468d-b0fd-19331aa0ba8e%40googlegroups.com.
