I was shocked on my commute to work last week when a couple blocks worth of bike lane had broken glass strewn about.
I just can’t stop wondering if it was on purpose you know? Normally cars are parked or pedestrians are walking in the bike lane so it seems counter intuitive if it was on purpose.
I mean all winter people were shovelling snow directly into the bike lanes so I’m pretty pessimistic at this point.
I love commuting by bike! I just wish it felt safer.
People are assholes, people in the states only care about themselfs and not the environment, so they will throw shit on the ground or out their car no matter how dangerous it is.
Unfortunately it’s the same anywhere I lived. The bigger the city, the worse it is. now I live in a small town - about 600 people only - and it’s huge difference.
In some places there is a lot of hate towards cyclists, so it’s very possible. But it could also be smashed car windows. (Although I believe that should be “security glass” and should not be extremely sharp… I might be wrong)
Unfortunately though, there are many examples I’ve seen and lived through myself. Glass, nails, metal wires across the bike path … I’ve seen it all.
I used to live in Cork (Ireland) and the hostility from drivers towards cyclists is next to deadly. I’ve been purposefully cut off many times in that city. And on Friday morning, after a so called “students night” the streets are littered with broken glass. Fun times.
Honestly my tires were alright so it probably was security glass.
It’s a main/busy street with lots of bars and the wealth/housing gap is becoming unbearable so someone breaking car windows makes sense.
As you said though I’ve seen lots of hate first hand toward cyclists so when I see something like glass in the bike lane I just feel sad.
I visited Cork years ago and it was not exactly walkable so I love that you were out there biking but I’m sorry you had bad experiences there.
It feels like that sometimes.
broken glass strewn about.
If it looks like broken bottles, then it’s likely intentional (i.e. targeting cyclists). But as others have pointed it, it could also be smashed window glass, which will look considerably different to broken bottles.
Either way, it’s honestly a shame that criminals have to ruin it for everyone else.
Not that it’s going to prevent every puncture, but I’d consider getting some beefy, puncture resistant tires for your bike.
If there is street parking there too, it sounds like someone was smash and grabbing from the cars.
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh that makes sense! Thank you for that perspective. Maybe it wasn’t malicious towards the bike lane…
on my commuting route broken glass is permanent at some locations. one particularly is pavement near bar that sells beer to local drunkards who occupies a few benches there all day long. those places are generators of broken glass over and over and over.
Did it look like car window glass? Could it be that someone parked their car on the bike lane and someone else broke the glass in order to steal?
Just go around, as a cyclist you have to learn to face many obsticles and find ways to evade them. Do a bunny hop over it, or maybe if the road is clear, go around on the road, or go around on the sidewalk not disturbing people or just quickly dismount.
