QUESTION: I’ve been riding trails for a while but am getting a little bored with the sameness of them. So I’m thinking of adding some road rides. But how do I know which roads are safe to ride without trying them out, only to find they are not safe for cycling? Some of the roads to the places I’d like to go seem to have a lot of traffic. —Ed W.
RBR’S STAN PURDUM REPLIES: “Safe to ride” is a relative statement, of course, as accidents can happen anywhere, but some roads are indeed safer than others for cycling.
The best road choices for cycling safety are low-traffic paved byways, which are often found in rural areas. On those, you can usually ride right in a traffic lane and the occasional motor vehicle can pass you simply by moving over.
But assuming the area where you want to ride does not offer the byways, it’s good to use four metrics to determine whether you should attempt to pedal a road you’ve not ridden before: traffic count, presence of a paved shoulder, traffic lane width and sight-line issues.
It’s possible to get traffic counts through the maps app in your smartphone, which can be helpful, but those counts may not be tuned to the time of day you want to ride. So personal observation and feedback from other riders may be your better line of information for traffic volume.
When I lived in New Jersey, there was a two-lane park road not far from my house that ran beside a canal, making for a scenic ride. The lanes of the road were wide enough to accommodate most motor vehicles, but with little room to spare. And there was no shoulder, paved or otherwise. But still, a lot of cyclists, including me, used that route often. We had learned from experience that the road was not safe for riding during the daily rush hours, when every street and road in the vicinity was packed with traffic. But we found that if we waited until about 9:30 a.m. to start riding and were off the road before about 4 p.m., the park road offered a good ride option. The occasion cars and trucks on that byway during our riding hours were able to pass us by moving into the oncoming lane.
The second feature that can make a road rideable for bikes is a continuous paved shoulder, I now live in southeast Ohio, very near the Ohio River. The highway immediately adjacent to the river is State Route 7, which for much of its length is a two-lane thoroughfare. The lanes are generously wide, but more importantly, there are continuous paved shoulders on both sides of the road that are comfortably wide enough to accommodate bicycles. Thus, although Rt. 7 sustains a lot of traffic, including 18-wheelers, riding on that highway is reasonably safe. And I use Rt. 7 often to reach other areas I want to ride.
In the absence of paved shoulders, roads with lane widths beyond the minimum needed for motor vehicles can be ridden if the traffic is not too heavy. With wider lanes, vehicles can pass riders without squeezing them off the road.
Sightline issues are another consideration. Even if a road has some traffic, narrow lanes and no paved shoulders, it might be rideable if it is a relatively straight passage and doesn’t have a lot of hills. That way, cars coming up behind you can see you and adjust their speed so as to pass when there is no oncoming traffic. But if the road has blind curves and hills where drivers can’t see over the top, they are likely to be upon before seeing you.
A good way to learn which roads in your area are safe to ride is to join a local bicycle club, if your community has one. On group rides, club members can both show you the best roads and model for you how to safely navigate road features like entrance and exit ramps, turn lanes, traffic lights, roundabouts and other structures that interrupt a straightforward ride down a highway. If there’s no club, but you do have a local bike shop, employees often have good suggestions on routes too.
One last method is right on your phone. Apps like Strava and MapMyRide will show you popular road routes near you, which are typically routes that many cyclists have ridden in the past and are usually reasonable for bike riding.
Stan Purdum has ridden several long-distance bike trips, including an across-America ride recounted in his book Roll Around Heaven All Day, and a trek on U.S. 62, from Niagara Falls, New York, to El Paso, Texas, the subject of his book Playing in Traffic. Stan, a freelance writer and editor, lives in Ohio. See more at www.StanPurdum.com.
Also, you can find a cycling “heat map” that will show you popular roads. One would hope that they’re popular because they are safe to ride on.
Don’t forget the rear-view mirror, especially on unfamiliar roads.
also have a helmet mirror and use it!
The way I evaluate whether a road is safe to ride involves four criteria: shoulder, surface, visibility, and traffic. By these I mean:
1) Shoulder — does the road have a shoulder that is wide enough for a bike and rider to ride safely without having to veer into, or otherwise occupy, the actual car lane?
2) Surface — is the road surface (and particularly the surface in the shoulder) smooth enough, and free of debris and obstacles, for safe riding?
3) Visibility — is the road wide enough and straight enough, without lots of vegetation, signs, and other structures or obstacles, for drivers of cars to see a cyclist riding on the road (especially in the shoulder)?
4) Traffic — is there a lot of motor vehicle traffic on the road? How fast does the traffic move? Are there lots of larger vehicles such as trucks? Are the vehicles likely to dip into the shoulder to bypass other vehicles that are turning left?
None are safe; glad I could definitively answer this very good question.
So, I plan to go from Bel Air to White Marsh this weekend. That’s 16 miles all along major (not interstate) highways. Rt. 40 has a shoulder that is at least as wide as a car lane. likewise rout24 for nearly 100% of it’s length. Then honeygo rd and white marsh BLVD
BUT
Those last two i will be on the median strip or the very nice greenway that is along it’s route
on my electric fat tire bike.
Bicycle ride guidebooks often contain great rides in rural areas, on quiet safe roads.
Look closely though at these and other public bike ride maps, especially ones from local tourism offices (maps like this are something my province of Quebec really excels at imo), sometimes they are excellent & safe rides created by the local cyclists/cycling clubs, but also sometimes by someone sitting at a desk who never rode a bike in their life.
Although bike paths are usually safe places to ride but can be a bit tame or boring or short so to make them more interesting and longer, I will combine bike paths with some of the quiet roads they cross. Loops or out-and-backs. Sometimes this requires exploring, carrying a map to see where they go, or just wondering “where does that road go?” Don’t be afraid to turn back if it arrives at a busy road or highway.
I made it my life goal (my quest lol) to find the quietest, safest, smoothest, most scenic roads to ride (I call them my ‘perfect bike rides’) and it took some effort but now I have a repertoire of great rides where I can relax and for the most part, avoid busy roads, highways, and entering/exiting towns.
Even on quiet roads I do a couple of things to make them safer: I move over and let trucks and farm equipment pass me on narrow roads or uphills,
The modern daylight-brightness taillight flasher warns cars of my presence from far away (especially on shady roads), I have had drivers 1) tell me I am invisible in the shady sections when I don’t have a light, and 2) tell me they could see me from a mile away (good!) when I use the light. Just shut them off when you’re back on the bike path, it’s good etiquette to not blind the cyclist behind you when away from cars like on a bike path.
Local knowledge: bike shops, bike groups, internet sites are all useful sources. Make friends with the riders you meet as you explore. While riding, I use a bright jersey, rear view mirror, and a garmin light/radar. Wide tires, continental gatorskins/tubeless, disc brakes all help to survive. If you have time, drive the route and note the hazards beforehand. Respect the drivers and use hand signals (not the middle finger!), they outweigh us and may be impaired. No need to get KOMs on the descents.
Another thing to watch out for when picking roads to ride on are rumble strips on the paved shoulders of some roads. Quite a few of the rural area roads around me have put these in to warn drivers they are going off the road, and they sometimes take up so much of a narrow shoulder that it becomes unrideable. Or if enough of the shoulder is still usable, it can still be hazardous to ride on it because something like a dead animal or branch may force a rider to veer across the rumble strip, which is no fun at most speeds. I don’t know how you can know which roads have these features without just riding on them or checking them out ahead of time, though.