Bike summit needed to save lives, livelihood of trails
Editor, The Times:
Friday was Bike to Work Day. [Bike to work with care: key danger zones,” page one, May 21.]
Last Friday as I was doing just that, I saw my life flash in front of me. I was on the Burke-Gilman Trail just past the bumpy part (in Lake Forest Park) when I spied a huddle of spandex on bikes heading toward me.
As I got closer, the spandex decided to pass another rider. Suddenly, I was faced with three bicyclists riding abreast; the choice of a head-on collision or the ditch to my right was all I had.
I closed my eyes. I made it, but spent the rest of my ride muttering to myself about why we couldn’t be more like the Europeans, who do not mix training for the Tour de France with commuting to work.
I love the Burke-Gilman Trail. It’s a gem in our community and I appreciate that it is multipurpose. But everyone who has ridden it has a story of seeing some older couple leap off the trail as a snaking line of racers zooms by or hearing the sometimes aggressive, “on your right” directed at a young child trying to learn to ride.
I don’t know what the solution is — we don’t want bike cops or big regulatory signs. Education seems to be preaching to the choir. There aren’t enough trails around.
Somehow we need to figure out how to coexist on our bike trails. We need a bike summit with smart people representing different interests all at the table.
— Barbara McGrath, Kirkland