mata2maui
Active Member
- Region
- USA
I wish we had a biking/walking path that hugged the coast, like the strand in Redondo for example. OC and the whole of SoCal would be a cycling paradise without the smog.
How's the bike infrastructure where you ride?
- Thread starter Jeremy McCreary
- Start date
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Usually no smog to speak of here in coastal San Diego County — especially north of La Jolla. The county's more populated inland valleys may be different but haven't spent much time there.
Physically, SoCal's a very diverse place. Media portrayals generally focus on the LA basin and large surrounding valleys. But SoCal's much bigger than that.
BigNerd
Well-Known Member
Yep... no smog on the coastal rides.
The ones we do the most is Lebard Park to either HB/Bolsa Chica or Newport/end of Balboa, Back Bay loop with Crystal Cover or Newport, San Juan Capo to San Clemente, Seal Beach/Long Beach (technically LA County) and occasionally Salt Creek to Dana Point.
The ones we do the most is Lebard Park to either HB/Bolsa Chica or Newport/end of Balboa, Back Bay loop with Crystal Cover or Newport, San Juan Capo to San Clemente, Seal Beach/Long Beach (technically LA County) and occasionally Salt Creek to Dana Point.
PedalUma
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Petaluma, CA
Richard Dana's sight was going bad as a candle light student at Harvard so he signed up as a seaman. The ship went to this weird Spanish place no one knew about called California? The goal was to get dried cattle hides from the missions and ranchos along the coast for two years and bring the loaded ship back to New England to make shoes. From Mission Viejo they had to toss the huge hides off the unnamed cliff. When hides caught wind and got stuck, he would have to rappel down to dislodge them. He wrote a book about the exotic place.
Our plan is to never talk about bike lanes or infrastructure publicly. We are taking the message DeSantis uses to bash queer folks and adopting it to our own needs. He says it is about 'Child Safety.' I do not agree with him but that's what we are going with: Beautiful, green, safe streets for kids and families. Child safety. Clean air. Streets for humans. Every grade in every class in every public school in town next year will incorporate environmental literacy. Math will involve green problems. We will get the kids themselves to write essays and come up with their own presentations and ideas for a sustainable future that is more verdant with better ways that they can safely and independently get to school, knowing that their ideas are valued by grownups, because it is their future. We won't need to say a thing about bike lanes. They will sell their parents and grand parents. It will be the natural result. It will give the elected officials the power base to make needed change happen.
Bike infrastructure??? On the rural backroads of South Carolina, where I live, you take your life in your own hands when you get on the roadway on a bike. Between the rednecks in their “squat” trucks, the logging and gravel trucks, the teenagers in their thumpboxes, the stoners, the drunks, and everyone else just flying along from point A to point B a poor slob alone on a bike just doesn’t stand a chance. All the helmets and protective gear and visibility is useless when folks just ain’t paying attention. We don’t ride around our area. Some roads don’t get a lot of traffic but what if does get is about 95% one of the above. It’s a shame too as it’s a very nice countryside with recently repaved roads.
BigNerd
Well-Known Member
That's the nice thing about most of our rides... dedicated paths for biking/walking and if next to a road... a blockade to separate vehicles from bikers.
The one near the LA beaches is great, stretches from Torrance Beach all the way up to Marina Del Rey (and farther) but some parts have a little bit of roadside.
The one near the LA beaches is great, stretches from Torrance Beach all the way up to Marina Del Rey (and farther) but some parts have a little bit of roadside.
Los Angeles, specifically Hollywood, CA 1/10-being generous here.
We have NO protected bike/mobility lanes in Hollywood. We have a couple random bike boxes, a few painted lanes either next to car parking without a door zone buffer so basically "door lanes" or next to sidewalk where 1/2 of the lane is unusable gutter space, "gutter lanes" and sharrows.
Downtown LA and a few other parts of LA have flexposts dotted along the length of "gutter lanes" that are routinely destroyed by car drivers.
Most of us survive by wigwagging thru residential streets but still at the mercy of car drivers not to kill us. Even simply installing divertors to stop cut thru car drivers but allow people on bikes to filter thru would be a huge improvement until a miracle happens and we get a network of connected protected bike lanes....
We have NO protected bike/mobility lanes in Hollywood. We have a couple random bike boxes, a few painted lanes either next to car parking without a door zone buffer so basically "door lanes" or next to sidewalk where 1/2 of the lane is unusable gutter space, "gutter lanes" and sharrows.
Downtown LA and a few other parts of LA have flexposts dotted along the length of "gutter lanes" that are routinely destroyed by car drivers.
Most of us survive by wigwagging thru residential streets but still at the mercy of car drivers not to kill us. Even simply installing divertors to stop cut thru car drivers but allow people on bikes to filter thru would be a huge improvement until a miracle happens and we get a network of connected protected bike lanes....
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Bike infrastructure on the Coast Highway in south Encinitas, CA got a major upgrade in May.
Coast Highway at Swami's Beach, looking south. Beach accesses are all to the right.
We now have 2 bike lanes (one each way) running between physical barriers on the ocean side of the highway. Pedestrians and runners now have their own dedicated path — which hopefully will keep at least some of them out of the bike lanes. So far, so good.
On my coast rides, people on foot are usually bigger threats than the cars and trucks. The drivers are pretty well-behaved by comparison.
Locals tell me that tourist season peaks in July and August here in North (San Diego) County. Hasn't been bad where I usually ride so far, but I fear that the pedestrian problem is about to get a lot worse.
Coast Highway at Swami's Beach, looking south. Beach accesses are all to the right.
We now have 2 bike lanes (one each way) running between physical barriers on the ocean side of the highway. Pedestrians and runners now have their own dedicated path — which hopefully will keep at least some of them out of the bike lanes. So far, so good.
On my coast rides, people on foot are usually bigger threats than the cars and trucks. The drivers are pretty well-behaved by comparison.
Locals tell me that tourist season peaks in July and August here in North (San Diego) County. Hasn't been bad where I usually ride so far, but I fear that the pedestrian problem is about to get a lot worse.
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Art Deco
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Selinsgrove Pennsylvania
Only vaguely related to this infrastructure thread but ...
www.peopleforbikes.org
2023’s Best Places to Bike | PeopleForBikes
Every year, PeopleForBikes releases the results of its City Ratings, a data-driven program that evaluates, identifies, and compares the best global cities and towns for bicycling. Using this data, we help city leaders pinpoint improvements to make biking better and safer for everyone in their...
www.peopleforbikes.org
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
Ratings like these are interesting and might even spur some towns to up their bike infrastructure game. But without more detail on the criteria behind these ratings, hard to know what they really mean.Only vaguely related to this infrastructure thread but ...
2023’s Best Places to Bike | PeopleForBikes
Every year, PeopleForBikes releases the results of its City Ratings, a data-driven program that evaluates, identifies, and compares the best global cities and towns for bicycling. Using this data, we help city leaders pinpoint improvements to make biking better and safer for everyone in their...
For starters, I'm extremely distrustful of any online list of the "est" of anything. Willing to give this longstanding public advocacy group more credit for data collection and analysis chops, but still left wondering if they really meant "safest" or "most comfortable" or "least terrifying" when they said "best". And are they talking just within city limits, or are easily reached suburban area included?
They mentioned car speed limits, bikeway network connectedness (especially to "common" destinations), and bikeway suitability for all ages — all of which go to utility and perception of safety. Any points for climate, scenery, or quality of bikeable destinations — all of which would figure into "best" in my book.
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
With all the yummy high-end ebikes on display around here — and all the posts mentioning the other 5 high-end ebikes the poster has — we could really use one of those.
Also a groan emoji, as ebikes seem to bring out bad puns.
JedidiahStolzfus
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Lancaster, PA
You should use one on the groundbreaking trike.
Art Deco
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Selinsgrove Pennsylvania
I'm Irish enough for a wake ... another round of Jamison please.Nor did I. However, when I was a kid, one of my favorite books was "The Best of Sick Jokes," and I think it affected me.
When I die, I hope my family celebrates with cake and ice cream and balloons.
Sparky731
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
You bring to mind the roads where my daughter used to live in North Carolina. Zero road shoulders. Narrow lanes to immediate deep ditches. Likewise in towns — very narrow streets with no room for bike lanes. There is no quick and easy way to make them bike-friendly towns.
However we did ride the Creeper Trail and the variously connected trail-to-rail paths. At least there were a few options.
Sparky731
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
Trikes now break ground? What, you hook up a plow? I am guessing only a single bottom. Must suck a lotta electrons.
Rexlion
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Tulsa metro
No reason to assume a plow; maybe it's just a drag (with the harrows set not too deep).
JK!
Jeremy McCreary
Bought it anyway
- Region
- USA
- City
- Carlsbad, CA
In my dreams! Have you ridden there? How's the compliance WRT cyclists and pedestrians staying in their respective lanes?
Here in coastal SoCal, I'd give the cyclists an 8/10 on compliance, with most of the incursions involving bikes on sidewalks. The pedestrians get a 5/10. Many of the interlopers are just oblivious to where they walk and how much they meander. But some are quite defiant — especially runners.
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