[Ed. Note. This was published as a letter to the editor with an unfortunately inflammatory and misleading title that made me a bit distraught. I apologized to two good friends in the cycling community and have learned a valuable lesson – editorial license is a nasty reality. Now then, back to the safety of my blog…]

I am a huge fan of cycling as a form of exercise and welcome projects that bring more bike paths to our region. What we have accomplished with the Loveland Bike Trail and other area gems is truly amazing. Hopefully we will soon count Wasson Way and the Ohio River Way as further signs of progress. As much as I support the development of these resources, I honestly hope for the reversal of the trend for adding a potentially endless web of bike lanes through our city streets. In my opinion, bike lanes are a safety hazard, a gathering place for glass, cigarette butts and other debris. And call me crazy, but putting bikes (or horses, buggies, or little red wagons) on par with cars and buses as a mode of commuter transportation on major roadways makes no sense. They seem to have been developed by a well-intentioned, but misguided, benevolent bureaucracy convinced of their wisdom by an effective lobbying effort.

And some cyclists, like a few of my running friends, seem hell-bent on challenging common sense rules of the road regardless of time of day or road conditions. This winter I actually saw a man on his bike on Montgomery Road (no bike lanes, yet) in the pitch black around 7:15 AM. Rush hour and Moeller school are a hazardous combination to begin with, so why not add a dimly lit dim-wit to the mix?

The solution seems clear. Rather than expecting daily miracles, we should put an all-out press on developing a dedicated system of bike paths, with a minimal linkage of safe bike lanes, connecting all major points of interest. Proponents of the Ohio River Way and Wasson Way clearly have our best interests at heart, and I am fully supportive. We have several rail lines that have no useful purpose around this region. Organizing relatively affordable rails to trails projects should provide plenty of opportunity for the commuter biking community to safely access downtown, and give recreational cyclists another dedicated playground for the weekend or venue for a post-work ride. Keep bike lanes where you really need them, and make the development of separate paths the priority.