I commuted!

[wickedwords]

Today was the first day that I cycled into my new office building. If I take the short way, it's about five miles, and encounters more cross-town traffic; the long way is about six, as there's an extra mile of trail you ride on which cuts down on the cross-town traffic. Including stoplights, it took me about 35 minutes to cycle in, even with the 1/3-1/2 mile of hill at the end of the trip. (It's a bowl shaped ride. I go down my hill and across town to the trail, up the river valley to 124th, then exit the trail for city streets and climb up into Kirkland.)

The Kirkland city streets are really busy, so I opted for the sidewalks this time. I may just do that on a permanant basis.

The only thing I'm concerned about for biking home is that the entrance to the trail off of 124th is closed. I'm going to have to keep on the busy streets down to 116th and get on the trail there, and I just hate cycling in rush hour traffic. It should be fine, though, as I'll use the pedestrian crosswalk to make my left turn across Willows. And once I'm on the trail, I just have to worry about people and other cyclists, not huge, scary cars.

Comments

[zoerayne]

Is it legal to bicycle on sidewalks here? I know it's not in Colorado.

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Yes, it is. You have to yield the right-of-way to pedestrians when you're on the sidewalk or in the crosswalk:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=46.61.261

And here's the city of seattle part of it:
Section 11.44.120 RIDING ON A SIDEWALK OR PUBLIC PATH. Every person operating a bicycle upon any sidewalk or public path shall operate the same in a careful and prudent manner and a rate of speed no greater than is reasonable and proper under the conditions existing at the point of operation, taking into account the amount and character of pedestrian traffic, grade and width of sidewalk or public path, and condition of surface, and shall obey all traffic control devices. Every person operating a bicycle upon a sidewalk or public path shall yield the right-of-way to any pedestrian thereon, and shall give an audible signal before overtaking and passing any pedestrian.

Basically, if you're riding on the road, ride on the shoulder or in the bike lane, but if for safety reasons you're on the sidewalk (no shoulder, bad traffic, etc), be safe and reasonable and give pedestrians the right of way.

[zoerayne]

Thanks for the info and links. I'm going to pass them on to the girls, because they're the ones who bike here.

Oh, and I meant to mention before, but I'm a total idiot: Let L know that the banana bread was wonderful, thank you. I spaced it until after you were gone, but we ate it all pretty quickly once I remembered it was there. *g*

[wickedwords.livejournal.com]

Oh, good! He'll like knowing that you enjoyed it.