www.rgbstock.com

That narrow lane between the road and the sidewalk, the one with a picture of a  bicycle on it, that’s a bike path. Definition: a path or part of a road marked off or separated for the use of bicyclists.

A bike path is not:

A shoulder: the strip of unpaved land that borders a road, often used for pulling over and stopping and texting your girlfriend. I will forgive you if you’re changing a tire or setting off flares.

A right-turn lane: lane used to provide space for deceleration and storage of turning vehicles.  Maybe you’ve noticed:  you don’t fit!

A taxi bay: an area intended for taxis to line up and wait for fares.

An extension of the side walk: a hard-surfaced path for pedestrians alongside and a little higher than a road.  No, it’s not a good idea to just step off the curb into my special bicycle area without looking, to get around a bottleneck in your special pedestrian area.

A loading zone: a stop where carriers can be loaded and unloaded and where you wait for your hubby to come back with your Tim Horton’s order.

A parking lot: a cleared area that is intended for parking vehicles – where you temporarily abandon your two ton waste of space because you have to leave it somewhere while you shop, until scientists design one that will fold up and fit into your knapsack.