A longtime, and now retired, Westporter writes:
I ride my early 1980s-vintage mountain bike for an average of 2 hours every day – year round.
But I never ride on any local roads. It’s always Sherwood Island State Park (the perimeter route).
Why? There are no cars.
Perfect path for bicyclists. (Photo/Pat S. Weist)
Still, I always wear a helmet. I have all the other recommended safety gear too: lights, bell, side mirror, etc.
I have a rear bike carrier mounted in a trailer hitch. It transports the bike wherever we’re going: Sherwood Island, to visit our son in Michigan, or Florida for the winter.
Click here for Michigan’s bike safety rules and guidelines. They have signs on numerous roads with graphics and words enforcing the 3-foot distance required by car drivers to yield when passing a bicyclist.
The signs on Cross Highway make no sense. I encourage signs like those used in Michigan.
I especially like the suggestion that drivers use the “Dutch reach” when going to open the driver’s-side door. Using the right hand instead of the left almost guarantees that the driver looks left to see if anyone is approaching on a bike, prior to opening their door.
If you open your door in the Netherlands and strike a passing bicyclist, you are given a traffic ticket with a rather steep fine. It is the most bike-friendly country I know.
(If it’s got wheels — cars, bikes, school buses, golf carts — “06880” covers it. And everything else in Westport too. If you appreciate our work, please support us by clicking here. Thank you!)
