A school for bicycles

To the Editor,

I wonder if anyone besides me has had a problem just walking on any sidewalk in Swarthmore? I take daily walks at all times of the day and find that there are many more people using bikes than there used to be.

It’s wonderful that we can use the great outdoors to break up the days spent in the house.

But often the bikers come in swarms. Near the falls at Yale Avenue, the sidewalk narrows as I cross on the bridge, and — even though the road has a designated bike lane — cyclists (mostly young people) come past me single file at top speed on the sidewalk. It is very scary, and they are not kind about it. This also happens on sidewalks that have the standard width.

In the 1970s and ’80s, our kids had the opportunity for a training session with our wonderful policemen. They learned the rules of the road and cycled through obstacle courses. Once they completed their course, even the youngest people received a diploma of sorts, and a sticker was affixed to their bike so that it could be identified by the police if it were stolen. This really was great for the kids’ morale and their relationship with the police. I think the annual training session was held near July 4th.

I believe that adults riding with kids need some training too. After their cycling training course, my kids taught me about the rules of the road.

Lee Greenwood
Swarthmore