- Read Peter Furth,’s “Bicycle Infrastructure for All,” in Cycling for Sustainable Cities.
2. Find a 2-3 mile route that you are comfortable riding by bike. It would be ideal if it is a route that has some practical significance to you. (Route from home to school, to shopping….). Make sure you are familiar with the route and the traffic on it. Ride this route, taking all necessary safety precautions. While you are riding focus on the road and the vehicles around you. When you get finished write 500 words about your experience. Did you feel safe? What things made you feel safe? Were there things that made you feel unsafe? Was it enjoyable? What things made it enjoyable or not enjoyable? How did your route fit into Furth’s typology of different bicycle routes? How did you experience your environment? (If you have the ability, you might want to drive the same route and compare the experience of driving and biking.).
I don’t want you to do anything you are not comfortable doing. Here is a bike map of Raleigh showing greenways and bike lanes. If you aren’t comfortable riding on roads, you can choose a route that is exclusively on greenways. Also if you don’t have a bike, you can use the Cardinal bike share app.
Safety Tips:
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When you are bicycling, you should always wear a helmet and have rear light on your bicycle. Here are the NCSU transportation office’s safety guidelines on riding a bike in and around campus.
While greenways keep you away from cars, they have their own risks.
–Wooden planking can be slippery after the rain
–watch out for other bikes and pedestrians. Pass on the left and give an audible signal.
–on greenways be careful when you are going through tunnels. Call out “biker coming through” (Sometimes there might be a biker coming in the other direction)
–if you go east of Dorthea Dix park, I would advise you to go with another person
As an example of a route that would be (almost) all on greenways, you could rent a bike at the Cardinal bikeshare docking station at Hillsborough St. and Horne, then cross Hillsborough St. and go through the NCSU campus to get on the Rocky Branch bike path, then go on the Gorman St bike connector, to the House Creek Trail by Meredith College and then after the tunnel, turn right to go up to Whole Foods. Here is a link to that basic route on Google Maps.
Alternative Assignment
If you are uncomfortable riding a bike, here is an alternate way to do this assignment.
Be prepared to discuss your findings in class on September 23. Submit through Moodle.