What the heck is a sharrow anyway? It is that weird arrow that you see in the road with a bike next to it. The intention is to have bikes ride in traffic with cars. The bikes are supposed to follow the rules of the road and the cars are supposed to not run over the bikers. When I first learned about sharrows I assumed that it was a very dangerous idea. I saw images of Portlandites riding their bikes all in the road with cars and I was completely terrified. Here is a link to a blog post about sharrows.
Now that I am getting more comfortable riding my bike on the road with cars, I totally see the need for an organized way to share the road. I will admit that I sometimes bend the rules so that I don't fall over or have to stop completely and take the shoes out of the clips, but if there was a reasonable expectation that I would be making full stops and that I wouldn't get run over when people are double parked on Pacific Coast Highway on beach days, I would fully comply, and I think it's a fair deal. I have a feeling that the reason bikers are considered disrespectful and rule breakers is that your average driver doesn't know how to anticipate what a road biker is going to do. It's almost the same as with motorcycles, except we can't go as fast.
Encinitas has proposed the sharrows and a few other items to keep bikers safe and to encourage bike riding around town. There is a lot of controversy as to what should be done. I don't know the answer, but maybe some intelligent and informed dialog would work. Have you seen a sharrow in your area, have you ridden a bike in a sharrow zone, and do you like them?
On a personal note, I have been away since summer due to the passing of my mother, the passing of my dog, quitting my day job, and getting engaged. Now I am in the wedding planning phase, working from home, exercising regularly (thank goodness), brushing the dogs as needed, and preparing for a 15k trail run. Whoopee!!!
