How's the bike infrastructure where you ride?

[Jeremy McCreary]

When I commuted in the Big City, I had a bunch of routes I took that linked big shopping mall parking lots. If you keep to the outer edge near the stroad there is little traffic and good sight lines, and it is much safer than risking your life on the shoulder less, no sidewalk, bumper-to-bumper traffic on the four lane stroad. And you could link the lots for surprising distances if you were a little adventurous and brave.

Also, the spaces behind big box stores and the like often is a great place to ride in terms of relatively little traffic.

Yes, I painted parking lots with too broad a brush. I was thinking of those terrifying supermarket and big-box parking lots, but many good routes like these to be found if you poke around — which is if course fun in and of itself.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

Warsaw, Mazovia, The Capital City of Poland: 7/10

The map of bike paths in Warsaw and around.

Warsaw -- hard pressed by cyclists and the Critical Mass activists -- and with its progressive government -- has achieved a lot regarding the bike infrastructure in recent years. For instance, I can cycle for several km over minimal traffic roads to get onto bike paths that would take me almost anywhere in the city. Also, suburbs use the EU money to develop bike infrastructure in so many places!

However, I rate the system only at 7. It is because:

• The quality of the bike paths varies from excellent smooth and wide asphalt "freeways" through old school paving-block ones to sections of sidewalk only marked as "MUP"
• It is still not enough of bike paths; there are areas of Warsaw where you need to risk your life riding with traffic (most of drivers are respectful though)
• With the big number of cyclists on the large (warm season), riding the Warsaw bike paths can be dangerous! Too many cyclists, lack of one-way bike paths, and too many careless riders and pedestrians.

Suffice to say, I had two accidents on bike paths on busy weekends. Once, a careless pedestrian stepped right into the front of my e-bike, and I preferred to crash myself at zero speed than to ride into her; and once a road cyclist riding at mad speed clashed with me. Another issue are untethered dogs...

Still, I am fond of the bike infrastructure in my hometown! When I commuted on my road bike in 1990s, there was no bike infrastructure whatsoever in Warsaw! (Yes but the traffic was really sparse before the Polish could buy their cars en masse since the second half of the decade!)

 

[rajron]

On the surface it appears we have a good infrastructure of bike lanes, and it is getting better and better, but the reality of it is it is dangerous to ride on the streets here in the Valley of the Sun.
There are many reasons it is dangerous, the main reason I feel reluctant to ride the streets is because there are too many cars, fast cars. The way the valley is spread out cars make sense to most because of the distance people have to travel.
For perspective Peoria (about upper left); to Gilbert (about bottom right) is over 30 miles as the crow flies.
30 miles is an easy ride but the reality of it is it is over 100 miles to take that trip and the time is uncalculatable.
There is much talk about improvements and increasing bike lanes etc. but for now, it is tough. It will get better.

Map: https://www.phoenix.gov/streetssite/Pages/Bike-Map.aspx

 

[onlineaddy]

Coastal San Diego County, California: At least 8/10 overall from San Diego proper to Oceanside.

I would probably rate it lower to a 7, particularly in the Del Mar business area. Road isn't as wide, neither is the bike lane. Busy with plenty of traffic and motorists in a hurry and being generally inattentive and even aggressive (i.e. driving in the bike lane). My 37-mile ride this past Saturday was thoroughly enjoyable with the exception of that portion where I had to ride extremely defensively.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I would probably rate it lower to a 7, particularly in the Del Mar business area. Road isn't as wide, neither is the bike lane. Busy with plenty of traffic and motorists in a hurry and being generally inattentive and even aggressive (i.e. driving in the bike lane). My 37-mile ride this past Saturday was thoroughly enjoyable with the exception of that portion where I had to ride extremely defensively.

Agree, Del Mar is behind, say, Carlsbad.

 

[JRA]

There is no bike infrastructure where I live. Luckily there are miles of logging roads behind locked gates with no traffic to explore as well as trails that see very little human use and beaches to ride. However the Pacific Coast Bike route does have an option that goes right past my place.....

 

[Rider777]

There is no bike infrastructure where I live. Luckily there are miles of logging roads behind locked gates with no traffic to explore as well as trails that see very little human use and beaches to ride. However the Pacific Coast Bike route does have an option that goes right past my place.....

Care to at least give us a hint to where you're riding so we know what the hell you're writing about?? Some sarcasm.....

 

[BEC111]

Bicycle infrastructure in Loudoun County Virginia is a mixed bag. The primary infrastructure is the Washington & Old Dominion rail trail (WOD). This is a 45 mile long paved trail going from Alexandria to Purcellville VA. I
the counties invest in trail maintenance and improvements. There is a 31 mile crushed stone trails adjoining much of the WOD, ostensibly for horses, but often used by cyclists and walkers too.

Sidewalks are generally considered MUPs as well. Many of the roads have wide shoulders and are, along with most drivers, bike friendly.

Most interesting is the many miles of gravel roads in for which Loudoun county is famous. These are lightly traveled farm roads through beautiful countryside, passing vineyards, horse and other farms.

I would rate the bike infrastructure as an 8 with aspirations to be a 9.

 

[JRA]

Care to at least give us a hint to where you're riding so we know what the hell you're writing about?? Some sarcasm.....

The road leading west from Tillamook and then north along the bay and then back south to Netarts and on to Pacific City is the alternate for the Pacific Coast Route that avoids the 101 traffic for a bit, I live a bit above Oceanside and the logging roads and trails are within the central green space, at least the ones closest to me.

There is a gated road along the east side of that spit that I ride to the tip and then ride the beach back down to Cape Meares with several trails that connect the two to ride on. Not a very populated area.......

 

[Rider777]

View attachment 153280

The road leading west from Tillamook and then north along the bay and then back south to Netarts and on to Pacific City is the alternate for the Pacific Coast Route that avoids the 101 traffic for a bit, I live a bit above Oceanside and the logging roads and trails are within the central green space, at least the ones closest to me.

There is a gated road along the east side of that spit that I ride to the tip and then ride the beach back down to Cape Meares with several trails that connect the two to ride on. Not a very populated area.......

WOW !!!! Now I'm real jealous !
Great...Great crabbing area you live in !!!!
And biking too

 

[steve mercier]

What is a 10 on the scale? In my fantasy world a 10 would be where all the cars and trucks would have speed limiters that only allow the maximum posted speed and were forced to traverse the margins of the roads, while active mobility vehicles have the lions share... sigh... dream on.

 

[Sparky731]

Winter riding in the Phoenix area is great. Yes, we must travel our bikes to most trails, but the local cities and counties have built many beautiful asphalt paths along the many canals and “washes.” They have also adorned the pathways with myriad desert plantings. Our favorites include, Indian Bend Wash, Arizona Canal, and Grand Canal. Tempe, Scottsdale, Queen Creek, Tucson, just to name a few. Easy to ride 20, 40, 60, or 100+ miles on wide, paved paths.

Summer riding in the Madison, WI area is equally great. We ride directly from our house. Nearly 100 miles of paved, scenic paths — some on paved converted railway — in and out of the city. Plus converted railways on crushed limestone extend far out of the city in every direction.

If anyone has heard of Crazy TV Lenny, his thousands of “give-away” bikes initiated bike path demand starting in the 1970’s and ‘80’s. Just a few of our paved beauties include the Capital City Trail, The Capital City Path, the Badger Trail, Lower Yahara River Trail, and Lake Farm County Park Trail. We feel very fortunate. We ride them a lot.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

What is a 10 on the scale? In my fantasy world a 10 would be where all the cars and trucks would have speed limiters that only allow the maximum posted speed and were forced to traverse the margins of the roads, while active mobility vehicles have the lions share... sigh... dream on.

To my mind, a 10 would be existing Amsterdam-level bike infrastructure. Compared to your fantasy, anything current would be a 1/10 at best.

 

[steve mercier]

To my mind, a 10 would be existing Amsterdam-level bike infrastructure. Compared to your fantasy, anything current would be a 1/10 at best.

That is right....we have it all upside down. The car is king when it should be the knave.

 

[mschwett]

What is a 10 on the scale? In my fantasy world a 10 would be where all the cars and trucks would have speed limiters that only allow the maximum posted speed and were forced to traverse the margins of the roads, while active mobility vehicles have the lions share... sigh... dream on.

yeah, a 10/10 would require near-zero risk and universal access to every place with said near-zero risk. amsterdam and a few other flat western european cities probably come close. 0/10 would be no dedicated infrastructure, entirely at the whim of driver behavior and/or legally prohibited from using most of the road network. some american cities probably come close

a lot of people are very generous with their assessment here, which is great that they’re satisfied, but i think we’re seeing a pretty small subset of the population who cycles mostly for pleasure and as such is happy to specifically use the limited infrastructure. a big difference between that and using a bike to go where you NEED to go - work, school, child care or drop off, shopping, at which point you’d quickly realize the facilities are incomplete or poorly designed in virtually every north american city.

 

[mata2maui]

2/10 on the island of Maui. There are no dedicated bike paths on Maui other than a small stretch between Baldwin Beach Park and Kanaha Beach Park, but it puts you out on a busy highway for most of the ride. There is a small section in the Olowalu and Laniapoko areas. In Kihei, Kahului and Lahaina there are bike lanes on the side of some roads, but no physical separation from traffic. Maui is a road bikers paradise but most rides you're on the shoulder without a bike lane. Sadly, many deaths have occurred as a result. The shining exception is the Makawao Forest Preserve area where MTB's share with hikers, but many nice single-track runs can be found there. There are beach side walking paths in front of the hotels in Wailea, Kaanapali, and Kihei, but bikes are discouraged.

 

[steve mercier]

PROBLEM : "Suburban sprawl that was first and foremost designed to keep cars moving rather than people safe. Parkinson's law states that "The demand upon a resource tends to expand to match the supply of the resource". SOLUTION : Stop building stuff for cars.

 

[Bicyclista]

Q: On a scale of 0 to 10, how would you rate the bike infrastructure where you usually ride?

Please share the area being rated and give us some idea of the reasons for your rating. If you have a helpful comparison, please share that, too. I'll start....

Coastal San Diego County, California: At least 8/10 overall from San Diego proper to Oceanside.

Wide, well-marked bike lanes on all major and many lesser roads, some with physical barriers; many well-marked shared bike/car lanes where necessary; many MUPs; some totally separated bike paths. Bikes everywhere.

Drivers here are generally used to the bikeways and respect them. Pedestrians and runners are often the biggest threats — especially in touristy areas. Runners seem determined to take over some of the dedicated bike paths — even when they have dedicated pedestrian paths to run on.

Of course, the infrastructure here's not as impressive as Amsterdam's, but top-notch by US standards. In contrast, almost NO bike infrastructure where I am at the moment — Concord, CA, at the NE corner of the San Francisco Bay Area. Decided NOT to a rent a bike here for that very reason. Very few bikes on the streets.

Jeremy, thank you for starting this thread. With all due respect, however, as a resident of San Diego since 1975 I have to disagree with your optimistic assessment of our bicycle infrastructure. I would give it no higher than 5/10. Yes, there are separated bike paths along the San Diego River and around both San Diego Bay and Mission Bay. And there are more and more bike lanes on city streets. But there are large swaths of the city which are hostile to bikes. It is difficult to cross Mission Valley, for example, and you are constantly among car traffic. Similarly, in the Clairemont and Miramar areas, and in the eastern neighborhoods. Most of my friends don't bike because they feel unsafe. Separate bike paths are not totally continuous, forcing bicyclists into vehicular traffic for several blocks. I ride between Encinitas and Hillcrest, and between Hillcrest and the border, and it involves several miles where there is no bicycle infrastructure. We have a long way to go.

 

[AHicks]

PROBLEM : "Suburban sprawl that was first and foremost designed to keep cars moving rather than people safe. Parkinson's law states that "The demand upon a resource tends to expand to match the supply of the resource". SOLUTION : Stop building stuff for cars.

This was tongue in cheek, right? Otherwise, the way I see it anyway, if they totally stopped building stuff for cars tomorrow, that's not going to make it one bit safer for bikes the day after. You would STILL need vast changes made with safer biking in mind... And I'm not talking painted white lines.....

 

[Mr. Coffee]

This was tongue in cheek, right? Otherwise, the way I see it anyway, if they totally stopped building stuff for cars tomorrow, that's not going to make it one bit safer for bikes the day after. You would STILL need vast changes made with safer biking in mind... And I'm not talking painted white lines.....

By the same logic, you shouldn't commit to a healthy lifestyle because it isn't going to make any difference tomorrow. Even long journeys begin with one step.

Ref: necessary versus sufficient conditions.