Axios readers share more safe cycling tips

Monica Eng

street with a speed bump — The Aldine Greenway features traffic calming elements like this speed hump to keep cars moving slowly. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios

After our recent story about using greenways for safer cycling in Chicago, we asked Axios readers for their own safety tips, and they came through as always. Here are some of the best:

🛣️ "The city recently painted new bike lanes along Wellington by Damen to allow for bike lanes going both ways along Wellington. It’s a bit narrow at times, but a great new option to have so that you can avoid Diversey and Belmont." — Mike R.

⚾️ Roscoe/Aldine Greenways is great except: "First, when Cubs games are either about to begin or have just let out, Roscoe carries a LOT of traffic, a nontrivial fraction of which regularly ignore the bike lane lines."

"Second, quite a few drivers, particularly delivery drivers, seem to view the bike lane as a temporary parking slot."
"Third, large numbers of cyclists and scooter users routinely travel the wrong direction, particularly on Roscoe Street." — Gary R.

🗺️ "I use Google Maps to route my bike trips and it seems they often use greenways."— MJ. Garnier

🍎 "I often use Apple Maps when biking, and of course it offers bike-friendly alternates off busy roads — many that are actual greenways rather than just bike lanes." —Bruce T.

🚗 "I give cars all the leeway I can. ... Never put yourself in a situation where you have to trust the driver to do something (braking, not turning) for you to be safe."

"I always wear a safety vest in the suburbs. I feel a lot less visible in the burbs with so much less bike and pedestrian traffic. I never wear headphones and I wear a helmet of course." — Jerome M.

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