Frank Gray article

Published: May 18, 2010 3:00 a.m.
Ignorance of bicyclists nears critical mass
Frank Gray

A few months ago the city painted nice bicycle lanes on some of the streets downtown.

The lanes are marked with bright white lines with drawings of bicycles every so often. You can’t miss them.

Or can you? I haven’t seen that many people on bicycles using them. Most of the cyclists I’ve seen use Main Street or Broadway, and once in a while I see people riding the wrong way on Ewing Street, which irritates me. People on bikes need to obey the rules, too.

What I have noticed is that cars driving down Wayne Street, which has one of the bike lanes, don’t seem to notice the lanes. They drive right down the middle of them.

One could ask, “What difference does it make?” There weren’t any bicycles there, so no harm done.

The Rest of the story HERE

I do appreciate that Mr. Gray wrote the article.
So much so that here is the email that I sent him.

Mr. Gray,
I would like to thank you for bringing light to some of the positive and also some negatives of the bicycling effort.
I too get annoyed when cyclists don't ride with traffic, don't use hand signals, and fail to stop at stop signs or red lights.
I myself am a bicycle commuter. I have ridden to work every day since February of 2008 (yes, even in the winter). I agree with you that Fort Wayne is not one of the most bicycle friendly cities but I believe that the situation is improving. I think that the education portion of the City's Bike Fort Wayne plan is one of its most important aspects. Recently some like minded individuals and I decided to organize Critical Manners/Courteous Mass. We ride downtown and around the core of the city while following all traffic laws in an effort to educate the riders on the way that we need to ride in order to garner the respect of people driving cars. We have had three rides and are numbers are still growing but hopefully this small step can help the cause.
Kindest Regards,

P.J. Thuringer
Fort Wayne

fwbikecommuter@gmail.com
www.fwbikecommuter.blogspot.com