How's the bike infrastructure where you ride?

[BEC111]

I always feel lucky because my region of Northern Virginia has a very good system of dedicated bike paths. I live about seven miles west of Mount Vernon, and if I go not more than a quarter mile from my home riding through a suburban neighborhood, I will find myself on beautifully paved bike path which connects to the Mount Vernon Trail which is another well-paved bike path along the Potomac River. That goes for fifteen miles before connecting to another paved trail which leads to the C&O towpath, which after one-hundred and eighty-five miles connects to the GAP trail in Cumberland, Maryland, which goes to Pittsburg. Although I have never yet done it, I could go from my home to Pittsburg, almost four-hundred miles away, without traveling more than a half a mile on anything but an off-road, mostly well-surfaced, bike path.

Northern Virginia is really good for biking. I’m in Ashburn and am less than a mile from the W&OD which riding 25 miles or so southeast indirectly connects to the Mt Vernon trail. a very cycling friendly region. And the local govs are working to improve it.

 

[6zfshdb]

Northern Virginia is really good for biking. I’m in Ashburn and am less than a mile from the W&OD which riding 25 miles or so southeast indirectly connects to the Mt Vernon trail. a very cycling friendly region. And the local govs are working to improve it.

Are e-bikes allowed on the Mt Vernon trail now? I tried to ride there 2 years ago and was asked to leave by the park police.

 

[BEC111]

Are e-bikes allowed on the Mt Vernon trail now? I tried to ride there 2 years ago and was asked to leave by the park police.

 

[BEC111]

I not aware of any regulatory issues but I’ve ridden the trail both alone and with the E-Bike Lovers of Washington DC group several times in the past few years without incident

 

[Art Deco]

This article seems like it fits in with your infrastructure thread. This is serous stuff, both the good and the bad builds are permanently installed and rarely changed afterwards.

Toronto has too many Ghost Bikes

The construction industry kills another cyclist and I attend another ride and installation.

open.substack.com

 

[Kayakguy]

Bellingham recently closed one (of three) lanes on Holly St. (main drag) to put in a dedicated bike lane, which is separated from traffic by auto parking. Only hazard I can see is a passenger opening up their (right side) door at an awkward time. So we still have to stay alert. Also, street revisions are happening in my neighborhood that are supposed to improve biking safety. Remains to be seen. Not all "improvements" actually improve anything.

A few intersections have the green "bike box" that allows you to jump ahead of autos, but sometimes I feel awkward about shoving ahead of a car to occupy that space. Last time I encountered one of those, a car had already stopped well into a portion of the bike box, and I debated challenging them about it, but thought better of it.

 

[S.Sage]

I live in central Alabama. Jacksonville is a University town, so there are some bicycle friendly areas locally. But, we don't have a local bike shop anymore, go figure.

I live near the Chief Ladiga rail trail and it connects with the Silver Comet trail in Georgia. Lots of rural roads to ride here. I can ride over to the rail trail north of Jacksonville, AL and take it over to the Cedar Town, GA area for a 60 mile round trip. Its mostly scenic woods, a few mild but long grades. The rail trail has shade and there are some campgrounds and motels that are bicycle forward. A number of trail systems in the area along rivers and we have the Tallagega National Forest near and a few State Parks with bike trails. So, plenty of places to ride, but most require a vehicle ride to a trail head.

I like the Little River Canyon area for low traffic pavement riding and all the forestry roads are nice if you like gravel roads. I use the rail trails to avoid the usual hostile truck traffic, too many reckless drivers for my liking. I stay to the bike trails most of the time. I wish the local roads were safer so I could just ride a bicycle from home, but I don't do that often. Lots of people drive down the middle of the roads here, even around blind curves. So I would say my area of Alabama is a 5 at best. But we do have good single track mountain bike trails here, just not much support you can ride up to. Bring lots of water though, its really hot and humid here!

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

I don't ride in Paris, but the infrastructure there seems to be improving at a rapid rate. Some main arteries were also given over to bikes for the Olympics.

Not sure how effective these new bike lanes will be in practice. On my last visit to Paris in 2019, cars and trucks typically went down the big boulevards in swarms, totally ignoring lane markings. Driving on sidewalks was apparently fair game. And a lot of the driving was done with one hand on the horn and the other shaking a fist out the driver's window.

And these drivers are going to honor bike lanes??

 

[kevinmccune]

virtually nonexistent. had to give up on the piney mtn eastern trail road,trail bikes have basically destroyed it.