XPost: or.general, or.politics   
   From: dhomuth1@comcast.net   
      
   On Wed, 16 Aug 2006 14:12:53 -0700, "Paulapalooooozaa"   
    wrote:   
      
   >   
   >"Don Homuth"  wrote in message   
   >news:7517e2tdejpkidsrcoao1ikcfr93b4dkm4@4ax.com...   
   >> On Wed, 16 Aug 2006 12:30:41 -0700, "Paulapalooooozaa"   
   >>  wrote:   
   >>   
   >>>   
   >>>"Don Homuth"  wrote in message   
   >>>news:e6q6e2de5foj19m4m41h51eurisk35anjh@4ax.com...   
   >>   
   >>>> Look more closely at the bike lanes.  They tend to have a lot of   
   >>>> gravel, broken glass and other detritus in them.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> The area closest to the traffic lanes is clearer.   
   >>>   
   >>>I've never seen that this is the norm.   
   >>   
   >> Ask a regular bike rider.   
   >   
   >I was looking for that when I posted, so far no one has answered.   
      
   Bike riders tend not to spend a lot of time on the amUsenet.   
      
   >By your account debris somehow stays within the boundaries of the bike lane   
   >while bicyclists do not.   
      
   No -- by my account, road debris tends to migrate more to the outsides   
   of the roads, which is where the bike lanes tend to be.  That's a   
   commonly known phenomenon on streets and roads and even racetracks, if   
   you have any observational data.   
      
   When street cleaning budgets are cut, the bike lanes tend to get short   
   shrift, because the debris is not on the main portion of the road, but   
   off to the side where it won't affect the numbers that it might in   
   auto traffic.   
      
   So bike riders tend to ride to the inside of the bike lanes, and when   
   those are completely clogged with debris will tend to stray outside of   
   them.  OTOH, when/if the bike lanes are swept, they tend to be quite   
   happy to stay well inside of them.   
      
   >However, I have not seen any evidence that this is more than just a baseless   
   >assertion. I will keep an eye out when I drive and answer it for myself   
   >anyway.   
      
   Talk with a regular bike rider.  I know several who do a bike commute   
   from Monmouth and Independence into Salem daily, in addition to   
   several others who are avid weekend cyclists.  We have discussed this   
   matter several times wrt contacting the appropriate party -- city,   
   county or state -- to handle the sweeping problem when it becomes   
   critical.   
      
   >I guess this leads to the question of why bother putting that stripe there   
   >in the first place if the cyclist won't stay within the lane.   
      
   Cyclists also have a right to ride On the roadway as well, unless   
   otherwise specifically posted.   
      
   You probably weren't aware of that either.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)