Street vs trail ?

[steve mercier]

Is it just me or does your area seem to have a traffic reversal too? The streets around here are wide open for safe biking now but the paths and trails are congested with people! I find myself choosing to ride down the middle of roads that used to be scary busy instead of cycling past the many potential virus hosts on the clogged trails and paths that used to be clear.

 

[City Commuter]

It's the same here, virus hosts clogging the bike paths.

 

[Ken.M]

Same here too! Good time to ride.

 

[AHicks]

They closed the local bike trails/paths here, out of concern that somebody may get hurt on a bike trail and need a hospital bed they'd rather have vacant for a virus patient. Really, that's what they said!

Myself, I fail to see the logic. Seems like a classic knee jerk over reaction by one of our wonderfull leaders that hasn't been on a bike, let alone the trails he/she closed.....

That said, I live in a gigantic subdivision/development with many miles of paved roads. I can keep myself entertained for quite a while.

 

[Over50]

Is it just me or does your area seem to have a traffic reversal too? The streets around here are wide open for safe biking now but the paths and trails are congested with people! I find myself chosing to ride down the middle of roads that used to be scary busy instead of cycling past the many potential virus hosts on the clogged trails and paths that used to be clear.

My experience of riding around my suburban streets during lockdown: folks are walking in the street. And sometimes right down the middle of our residential streets. There is almost no vehicular traffic so I guess folks are getting complacent. But I had to call out to a gentleman who was walking out into the street with his two dogs while talking on his phone. He never looked to see if traffic was coming. I dodged a trio of very young girls on bikes who rode off the sidewalk and right out into the roadway without ever looking for traffic. I encountered a father and son jogging and taking the entire roadway - one right in the center of my lane and one in the center of the oncoming lane facing traffic - but both with their backs to me - leaving me to thread the needle down the center stripe. Folks are trying to keep maximum distance from one another. I'm dodging pedestrians, joggers, dog walkers like its a video game. But on the bright side, folks seem to be friendlier lately.

 

[smorgasbord]

They closed the local bike trails/paths here, out of concern that somebody may get hurt on a bike trail and need a hospital bed they'd rather have vacant for a virus patient. Really, that's what they said!

While I do disagree with them closing the trails, I am worried about bicycling injuries these days, precisely because hospitals are not only getting overwhelmed by virus patients, but because going to the hospital may expose me to virus patients. Are hospitals able to space emergency room patients 6' or more apart and disinfect everything between patients?

This study from 2016 has 1 in 10 hospital patients getting sick FROM the hospital.

 

[Ken.M]

My experience of riding around my suburban streets during lockdown: folks are walking in the street. And sometimes right down the middle of our residential streets. There is almost no vehicular traffic so I guess folks are getting complacent. But I had to call out to a gentleman who was walking out into the street with his two dogs while talking on his phone. He never looked to see if traffic was coming. I dodged a trio of very young girls on bikes who rode off the sidewalk and right out into the roadway without ever looking for traffic. I encountered a father and son jogging and taking the entire roadway - one right in the center of my lane and one in the center of the oncoming lane facing traffic - but both with their backs to me - leaving me to thread the needle down the center stripe. Folks are trying to keep maximum distance from one another. I'm dodging pedestrians, joggers, dog walkers like its a video game. But on the bright side, folks seem to be friendlier lately.

That sounds just like my area. Their has always been people walking in the middle of the road here. I guess they have never been hit by a car. I have, so I stay to the side.
Keep looking up. Ken

 

[JRA]

Things are pretty quiet and getting quieter all the time here. The road I live on is a dead end, although it used to go through but some land slides closed it off at the Cape Meares Lighthouse entrance although it is still ridable and in fact a section of the Coast Bike Route. But they have now closed the road a mile from there even and so it is really easy to social distance in there....

 

[TMH]

I'm in a pretty rural area and I'm finding a lot more folks out walking or walking their dogs, which is fine except they are now tending to do so IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET!

Lot's of clueless folks around my area who seem to have a Western mentality of invulnerability, so they weren't able to accomplish social distancing on walking trails. So the County had to close a lot of them, along with local beach parking lots. Turns out we also had lots of folks who just figured they would pack the beaches, coming out from more inland areas. Not really the time to go vacationing, folks!

So generally in my area it just seems to be 'weekend crowded' even during the middle of the week now.

I haven't heard any dogs complaining - seems like they are getting lots of walks now.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

I could see a similar phenomenon as you @steve mercier in Warsaw on last Saturday, which was an exceptionally warm day. The bike paths were clogged and there was far less traffic on roads than usually (but the roads were by no means empty). Good incentive to ride my Vado which is not allowed on bike paths.

Yet, the Winter has returned here and people rather stay at home.

 

[Mike_V]

More Dogs are being walked everywhere and unknown if these are infected and shedding virus- no good data !
Unknown if carried by some parasite living in ticks or deer, mice, or mosquitos (zika)?

Everywhere on the rail trail crushed stone surface it seems each and every domestic and wild animal must place their nightly 'poop' monument.
It's a litter box.
The daily disinfectant spray and wash and wiping tires of brown, hopefully not too hazardous waste.
I'm not going to the 'scat' tracker , or 'smells like..' but it's a slalom course

Ed: I can say the Horses leave the biggest piles on our multi use trail and a popular road apple 'treat' for K-9s

 

[harryS]

In the suburbs, it's the street for us now, walking or bikes. Half the people on sidewalks and bike paths do not maintain isolation.

Kind of boring to me, but my wife likes to look at doors and plan what color to repaint our door.

 

[steve mercier]

Things are pretty quiet and getting quieter all the time here. The road I live on is a dead end, although it used to go through but some land slides closed it off at the Cape Meares Lighthouse entrance although it is still ridable and in fact a section of the Coast Bike Route. But they have now closed the road a mile from there even and so it is really easy to social distance in there....



View attachment 48778View attachment 48777

OH yes I recall visiting there. It is a beautiful dynamic location!

 

[GreatLakesWaterman]

I'm observing a larger than usual number of bike salmoners.

 

[ruffruff]

My wife and I went for ride down the walk/bike trail on Monday evening. It was packed! Dogs, kids, cell phone zombies wandering all over the trail with no regard to traffic flow, let alone social distancing!

My wife freaked after she nearly took out the kid on roller blades pushing a stroller!
She said no more! Last night we just rode the neighborhood streets, still a fair amount of people but lots more room.

My son drove by an offroad bike park yesterday, they are just starting to open, he said it was packed!

We have very popular trails around the metro lakes area. The Govenor is thinking about closing them down due to over crowding!

 

[Saratoga Dave]

I just mused on this in another thread, Steve, and then saw this one. I think it’s time to head out into the farm country over in Washington County next door. NOBODY is out there, and there’s great dirt roads all over the place, not unlike down there in Virginia.

 

[Deleted member 4210]

Rails-to-Trails calls on officials to open streets to biking and walking

WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is calling on the nation's mayors and local elected officials to close select streets to vehicle traffic to increase access to safe outdoor space for people walk or bike while maintaining social distance during the COVID-19 crisis.RTC has...

www.bicycleretailer.com

Rails To Trails has a great idea... closing off specific roads to autos, and making them bicycle and or walking only. To me it makes more sense to close off roads to autos, then closing trails to bikes, since nobody is supposed to be using their car, except for going to get food or medicine. And most roads should have no more than 10 to 20% of their typical pre Covid-19 daily traffic.

 

[TMH]

We live in a rural area - the 2 adjacent counties as of today have a total of less than 200 confirmed cases, of which only 3 of those patients are in the ICU.

Unfortunately we seem to be getting an influx of folks from larger metro areas coming out here, some for the purpose of a 'mini-vacation', and others to try and escape what has become the 'big petri dishes' of their home cities.

THIS DOES NOT HELP TO FLATTEN THE CURVE! It will only ultimately result in infection rates going up in the rural areas - which are generally less able to cope with large outbreaks. The best advice remains complying with the new mantra as so eloquently communicated through the following YouTube video (please don't listen to it if you are offended by off-color language):

 

[steve mercier]

ia.

I just mused on this in another thread, Steve, and then saw this one. I think it’s time to head out into the farm country over in Washington County next door. NOBODY is out there, and there’s great dirt roads all over the place, not unlike down there in Virginia.

Dave ... Papa says you need to practise your Steely Dan guitar solos before you can go out and play.

 

[WinterKill]

Rails-to-Trails calls on officials to open streets to biking and walking

WASHINGTON (BRAIN) — The Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is calling on the nation's mayors and local elected officials to close select streets to vehicle traffic to increase access to safe outdoor space for people walk or bike while maintaining social distance during the COVID-19 crisis.RTC has...

www.bicycleretailer.com

Rails To Trails has a great idea... closing off specific roads to autos, and making them bicycle and or walking only. To me it makes more sense to close off roads to autos, then closing trails to bikes, since nobody is supposed to be using their car, except for going to get food or medicine. And most roads should have no more than 10 to 20% of their typical pre Covid-19 daily traffic.

Minneapolis has started to this.

Minneapolis to close some parkways so runners, walkers can spread out