When I was young and thought myself invincible, I would depart for a ride with a full water bottle (or CamelBack, in my mountain biking days) and return home with--a full water bottle. And, no, I hadn't refilled it along the way. Sometimes people, including "tough guy" riding partners, either wondered how I didn't, or implored me to, take at least a few sips. In those days, I just didn't get thirsty very often and didn't realize that even when I wasn't, my body still needed water.
Once, on a ride in Pennsylvania, one of those riding buddies quipped, "This road could be blocked by a fountain and you wouldn't take a drink!"
Perhaps that was true. But what if the bike lane were blocked by a cafe--or a pub?
A few months into the pandemic, New York City allowed restaurant and bar owners to construct kiosks outside their establishments in order to limit crowding inside. Some of those kiosks block bike lanes which, ironically, were built not long before the kiosks. Sometimes I wonder whether those places are trying to drum up business with folks like me--or whether their owners and patrons simply hate us.
The bike lanes in question were all carved out of city streets. There are a few off-road lanes in the city's parks and other areas. A few offer snack, drink and lunch stands along the way but none, to my knowledge, feature a full-on restaurant, cafe, bar--or pub. On the other hand, in at least one part of England, the off-road bike lanes aren't immune to encroachment by eating and drinking establishments.
Roadcc reader "IanMK" encountered this during his Easter Sunday ride in Buckinghamshire. He grumbled but, in the end, he stopped for a pint. I mean, what else could he do, right?
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