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Most bicycle riders must travel on regular roads, competing with cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, and, in some places, animal-pulled carts. This makes bicycle travel somewhat challenging, but it is not a new problem. Even before the days of motorized vehicles, cyclists found the roads problematic. Lack of paving, or paving with large cobblestones, made riding difficult. Other road users disliked the bicycles, which were a threat to pedestrians and tended to frighten the horses. It wasn’t long, therefore, before movements arose to separate cyclists from the other traffic. Different types of specially created paths were developed, some on or near the main roads, and others separate from the roads.

Some off-road tracks or paths, called cycleways or bikeways, are completely separate from the roads. Following their own routes within cities or more commonly across the countryside, they have often been created from abandoned roads, railbeds, and canal towpaths. Most are intended for recreation, although in some countries—the Netherlands and Britain, for example—they form part of a transportation network linking cities. Another type of off-road track runs directly alongside, though it is separated from, the roadway. This is sometimes called a sidepath. By contrast, cycling lanes are actually on the road, although reserved for bicycle use.

These separate bicycle paths began to develop shortly after the bicycle came into use. Before the end of the 19th century, examples of cycling paths had been built in the Netherlands, in Germany, and in Brooklyn, New York. In the 1920s, Germany began a large-scale program of building tracks. The intent now, however, was to get the bicycles out of the way of cars on the roads. This program intensified during the Nazi era, when the authorities tried to ban cyclists from the roads altogether. Postwar German governments were not much friendlier to cyclists, and by the 1960s bicycle use had dropped drastically in that country. As a result, many German cities began to rip out their cycling tracks.

Their timing was poor. The climb in oil prices in the early 1970s brought a revival of bicycle use. The Scandinavian countries developed urban-planning guidelines that called for separate cycling paths. Even the United States began to develop separate cycling facilities, especially in California. In 1990 the Netherlands, which had always been more sympathetic to the needs of cyclists than other countries, produced a Bicycle Master Plan. Besides creating more bike lanes and trails in all its cities and extending the national network of trails, the Dutch system also often gives cyclists the advantage over motorists in right-of-way and at traffic signals. In addition, it has provided bicycle-specific traffic lights as well as tunnels and bridges. Roadside cycling paths are on both sides of the road and are one-way. The cycling infrastructure provides extensive parking facilities, notably at rail stations, allowing cyclists to connect to public transit. The detailed Dutch plan has become a model for many other countries and jurisdictions.

The concept of providing separate tracks and lanes has its critics. One major problem is that except where there are bicycle tunnels and bridges, cyclists on their roadside paths or in their lanes must enter the main roadway at intersections. This is the greatest source of danger for cyclists. Critics further argue that separating bicycles from other traffic breeds a false sense of security and leads to greater carelessness.

With all the different types of bicycles, and different ways to ride them, there is one thing all riders should think of: safety. Bicycles are the most vulnerable vehicles on the road, and cyclists require special equipment and need to pay special attention to what’s around them.