To law abiding pedestrians, cyclists can often seem to be a nuisance. They disregard stop signs, ride on the sidewalk and fly through intersections with reckless abandon. Along with buses and taxi cabs, cyclists are seen as yet another obstacle to safe street-crossing.

In over-congested urban areas like ours however, every bicycle should be considered a boon. By transporting themselves the old-fashioned way, cyclists minimize air pollution and decrease traffic. Intentionally or not, they provide a valuable and necessary service to the community.

While bike path initiatives are being considered throughout Hudson County, presently the area must be considered cyclist-unfriendly. Bike paths are hard to come by and, outside of some parks and bike lanes, don't exist.

George Choe, the owner of Urban Cycle in Union City, considers this dearth of bike lanes a serious problem.

"People want to ride, but they're afraid," he said. "They don't want to share the road with unwillng drivers. We need a bike path."

Unfortunately, Union City has no immediate plans for such a thing.

"We don't have any bike lanes or bike programs," explained Gale Kaufman, a spokesperson for Union City Mayor Rudy Garcia. "We have bike registration, but that's about it."

Bike lanes in North Bergen are also nonexistent at present.

"At this moment, we do not have a bike path," said North Bergen's Commissioner of Parks and Recreation, Peter Perez. "We do have plans for the future when the light rail comes which will be sometime in the next 12 months."

Bike paths are also being considered in Weehawken and West New York.

"In the upland areas it's tough because of the high traffic," explained Weehawken Mayor and West New York Town Administrator Richard Turner. "However, the waterfront for West New York and Weehawken is being developed and both towns are planning to build exclusive bike paths. But that's several years away."

Turner said that the town also plans to provide Pershing Road, Baldwin Avenue and 19th Street with bike lanes.

Hoboken has already begun their bike path initiative.

"We have the beginnings of a bike path on Pier A Park," said Tim Calligy, director of Environmental Services for the city. "Eventually the path will cover the entire length of the waterfront walkway."

Secaucus bike paths are also in the works. "We filed for a Department of Transportation pedestrian walkway/bike path grant last week," said Department of Public Works Director Mike Gonnelli. "We'll be putting the new paths along Meadowlands Parkway. It will connect to an exisitng pedestrian walkway, and run half a mile to the train station."

Unfortunately for today's bike lovers, most of these projects won't be finished any time soon. Until then, avid cyclists must continue to take to the streets, doing their best to avoid traffic, both vehicular and pedestrian.