re: #64 Quoth the raven, Covfefe.

Question for you (and any other runners): If your town had a perfectly good sidewalk, for what reason(s) would you ignore it and run in the road instead? Pretty much everybody I see running through town on my way into work in the mornings runs on the road instead of on the sidewalk. It drives me a little crazy (and is a little dangerous when they come around a parked car!), and I never understood why.

As others have said, sidewalks are often uneven. They have tree roots growing under them, and they have curb cuts that aren’t always easily seen. In San Mateo, we have rolled curbs on many streets, and the sidewalk slopes toward it - which means your feet are not landing on a flat surface, but rather a slope. Not ideal.

Another thing is that asphalt is not as hard as concrete. Less shock, less damaging to your joints.

And then there’s all the vegetation that hangs over sidewalks, and the fact that people walk on them, often taking up the entire sidewalk. This, BTW, is why you don’t ride a bike on the sidewalk, either.

People who don’t run, or ride, often are not aware of these issues and just wonder why runners and cyclists can’t just go someplace else. Drivers want cyclists to ride in the gutter pan, which is full of parked cars, leaves, broken glass, etc. Or they want you to take the ‘bike path’, which is a misnomer, because it’s usually full of dawdling families out for a stroll, novice rollerbladers trying not to land on their asses, and people who run or walk with ear buds and don’t hear you shouting

On your left!

On your left!!

On your left!!

HEY ASSHOLE!! ON YOUR GODDAM LEFT!!!!”