John Pucher: High-speed cyclists a hazard

There is an official 10-mph speed limit for all greenways in Raleigh, yet the police do not enforce that speed limit at all.

I have often experienced high-speed cyclists racing by me at 25 to 30 mph, sometimes in tightly grouped packs of cyclists called pelotons. Virtually never do they have bike bells to warn of their coming, nor do most of them even have the courtesy of announcing “on your left” as they whiz by.

The 200-mile system of greenways here in Raleigh was never intended to serve as raceways for high-speed cyclists training for bike races. Yet that is exactly what the Neuse River Trail has become. High-speed cycling on the Raleigh’s greenways is dangerous, inconsiderate and illegal.

As a longtime cycling researcher, having published dozens of professional journal articles and books on cycling, I am a fervent advocate of cycling. Yet I have been appalled by the use of Raleigh’s greenways as racetracks by many high-speed cyclists.

Plain-clothes police should be put on bikes to enforce the existing speed limit of 10 mph. Racing cyclists are a grave danger to pedestrians, runners, leisurely cyclists and all other users of Raleigh’s greenways.

This story was originally published July 16, 2015 at 5:56 PM with the headline "John Pucher: High-speed cyclists a hazard."