Starting anything new can be intimidating. If you don’t know the culture, the layout or how things are done, getting up to speed in any activity is daunting, especially if everyone you see looks like an expert.
No matter how familiar you are with an area in a car, it is an entirely different place on a bike. The major auto routes become places to be avoided, and the side streets that frustrate in a car can reveal wonderful surprises on a bike. There is also a feeling of vulnerability, especially at first. I know some people who hesitate to ride a bike in a city out of nervousness about sharing the streets with cars and trucks. Most city streets don’t bother me, although I try to stay away from multi-lane arterials if there’s not space for a bike on the side. The feeling is, the faster traffic is going, the less likely they are to notice or make way for a cyclist.
I didn’t expect any of this to be an issue the other day when I wandered outside for a brief afternoon ride. I’d noticed a trail on the Seattle bike map paralleling the ship canal to the south, on the opposite side of the water from the Burke-Gilman, and decided to take a look. Continue reading…
