How's the bike infrastructure where you ride?

[Jeremy McCreary]

I don't know, maybe you two should show a little respect (or even some class) the man just got killed and you find this funny?

You're right, it was in poor taste. Didn't find his death funny.

 

[Rexlion]

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.

 

[mata2maui]

I apologize for making the accusation fellas. It hit home because the local news identified him, and I have seen this guy on the road before when I ride from time to time, although I did not know him. Aloha.

 

[mschwett]

Maui man dies in e-bike collision on Lahaina Bypass​

This bypass is one of the more recent road projects completed on Maui and it lacks even painted bike lanes. There are a disproportionate amount of vehicle v. cyclist 'accidents on this island. It most likely was not a safe place to cross the road but you sometimes find yourself in unsafe situations due to the lack of infrastructure here. RIP.

i’m surprised the bypass actually got built. when I used to spend a lot of time with my dad (he lived up the hill off punakea) it seemed mired in debate forever. that said, it doesn’t seem like a good place for a bike lane. I’m not surprised the project didn’t include one.

 

[mata2maui]

i’m surprised the bypass actually got built. when I used to spend a lot of time with my dad (he lived up the hill off punakea) it seemed mired in debate forever. that said, it doesn’t seem like a good place for a bike lane. I’m not surprised the project didn’t include one.

The Bypass is part of the famed west Maui loop and we get regular and world class cyclists doing this loop daily. Honoapiilani Hwy feeds right into the bypass.

 

[mschwett]

The Bypass is part of the famed west Maui loop and we get regular and world class cyclists doing this loop daily. Honoapiilani Hwy feeds right into the bypass.

why wouldn’t you stay on honoapiilani, as the loops always was? the bypass was intended to be a high speed bypass around the congestion in Lahaina… and it goes up, over, and then down rather than staying flat, right?

 

[mata2maui]

why wouldn’t you stay on honoapiilani, as the loops always was? the bypass was intended to be a high speed bypass around the congestion in Lahaina… and it goes up, over, and then down rather than staying flat, right?

Most likely so they don't have to cross the bypass road to go down to Honoapiilani at Laniapoko (where this cyclist was killed while crossing), and also to avoid the congestion around the Front Street area of the Hwy. Almost everyone doing the loop uses the bypass shoulder.

 

[BigNerd]

Orange County, CA - 9/10

There are quite a few dedicated paved trails for biking in the OC. Some connect several cities and others go along almost the entire coastline.

My group probably has 20 different rides we can get to within half an hour and can range from beach to valley to urban. Many are loops and range from 15 to 25 miles.

We prefer to say off any roads but some have a bit of roadside riding. The best part, we can pretty much ride all year long as we don't get tons of rain (anymore) and we can always go early to beat the heat or just dress warmly to battle the cold.

We still want to do a mega ride from San Juan Capistrano down to Carlsbad but our Camp Pendleton base passes expired.

 

[mata2maui]

Orange County, CA - 9/10

There are quite a few dedicated paved trails for biking in the OC. Some connect several cities and others go along almost the entire coastline.

My group probably has 20 different rides we can get to within half an hour and can range from beach to valley to urban. Many are loops and range from 15 to 25 miles.

We prefer to say off any roads but some have a bit of roadside riding. The best part, we can pretty much ride all year long as we don't get tons of rain (anymore) and we can always go early to beat the heat or just dress warmly to battle the cold.

We still want to do a mega ride from San Juan Capistrano down to Carlsbad but our Camp Pendleton base passes expired.

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.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

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.

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]

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.

 

[PedalUma]

Dana Point.

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.

 

[richamor]

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]

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.

 

[freckles]

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....

 

[Bicyclista]

People for Bikes just published their 2023 ratings for best cities for bicycling in the U.S. and around the world.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

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.

 

[Art Deco]

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...

www.peopleforbikes.org

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

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...

www.peopleforbikes.org

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.

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.

 

[Art Deco]

Since I have a absolutely no bike infrastructure around me ... like a 20 mile drive to a 10 mile trail at best ... I really can't comment.
Is there an envy icon?