This summer, I was in Moscow for a few hours, walking through the city while waiting for my train. My attention, among other things, draws to the fake (dummy) bicycle lane on prospekt Vernadskogo, near the "University" metro station. This "bicycle path" is actually one metre wide green band drawn on the pavement. The problem is that people do not regard it as a road for bicyles - instead, all pedestrians treat this piece of asphalt simply as part of pavement, and behave accordingly. Everyone who will try to move on this path on bicycle with a speed more than 15-20 km/h, will inevitably bump into someone else (pedestrian) during the first minute of trip. So this "bicycle lane" is absolutely useless, this is essentially just a mock-up. Even more, it is not only useless, but harmful for all cyclists. This is because if anyone wants to cycle with reasonable speed here, right solution would be to move in traffic area of this prospekt, in the first traffic lane, near the border. But Russian road laws states that cyclists should move through the special "bicycle lane", if there is one. So if any cyclist would bump into another object (car, bus, or pedestrian), while moving on traffic area of this prospekt, one could say that this happens because of he/she do not abide this particular rule of road laws. Shame on those who were responsible for this fake "bicycle lane".
Showing posts with label bicycle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bicycle. Show all posts
Friday, August 10, 2012
Dummy bicycle lanes in Moscow
This summer, I was in Moscow for a few hours, walking through the city while waiting for my train. My attention, among other things, draws to the fake (dummy) bicycle lane on prospekt Vernadskogo, near the "University" metro station. This "bicycle path" is actually one metre wide green band drawn on the pavement. The problem is that people do not regard it as a road for bicyles - instead, all pedestrians treat this piece of asphalt simply as part of pavement, and behave accordingly. Everyone who will try to move on this path on bicycle with a speed more than 15-20 km/h, will inevitably bump into someone else (pedestrian) during the first minute of trip. So this "bicycle lane" is absolutely useless, this is essentially just a mock-up. Even more, it is not only useless, but harmful for all cyclists. This is because if anyone wants to cycle with reasonable speed here, right solution would be to move in traffic area of this prospekt, in the first traffic lane, near the border. But Russian road laws states that cyclists should move through the special "bicycle lane", if there is one. So if any cyclist would bump into another object (car, bus, or pedestrian), while moving on traffic area of this prospekt, one could say that this happens because of he/she do not abide this particular rule of road laws. Shame on those who were responsible for this fake "bicycle lane".
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Bicycle off-city trips
A week ago, I had joined a bicycle club, and took part in two off-city trips, during weekend, -- about 100 km distance each, with 20-25 km/hour (up to 30) average speed. These were not competitions, but nevertheless they gave some physical load, and after them, sleep is deep. I plan to continue such trips. I hope that such physical exercises will increase my overall productivity and feeling, and give some energy. Aside from this goal, Saint-Petersburg's suburbs are very beautiful in nature, and have strong historical meaning and trace.
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