How's the bike infrastructure where you ride?

[Rien]

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 north of San Diego proper — i.e., Del Mar 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.

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 north of San Diego proper — i.e., Del Mar 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.

Hi

 

[Rien]

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 north of San Diego proper — i.e., Del Mar 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.

Van morgen Ben ik wezen Fiets en beschrijf de infra van de betuwe.
Het is goed om hier te fietsen veel fietspaden en het overige verkeer gedraagt zich netjes .Veel polderwegen waar je in deze tijd bijna geen verkeer tegen komt.
Op de fietspaden in de kleine stadjes heb je altijd afgeschermde ruimte door witte strepen op het wegdek.Omdat ik door een cervicale nekstenose operatie
niet meer op een fiets met een normaal vlak stuur kan rijden en mijn nek beperkt kan draaien zoek de rustige gebieden op en ben dan toch gelukkig want fietsen was en is mijn leven
groet
Rien

 

[Tom@WashDC]

4" of snow last week. At 10:00 PM they were plowing miles and miles of paved trails. Next day they were all clear. Amazing.

 

[PedalUma]

A 150 year old tulip tree is in full bloom on my bike demo route. Look to the right.

Street View · Google Maps

Explore a place in a more immersive way in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[BEC111]

4" of snow last week. At 10:00 PM they were plowing miles and miles of paved trails. Next day they were all clear. Amazing.

Shame I missed it being too busy as riding weather has been scarce the past month or so.

 

[Tom@WashDC]

Shame I missed it being too busy as riding weather has been scarce the past month or so.

Yeah, this has been the worst ridig conditions since November. Unusually wet

 

[BEC111]

Yeah, this has been the worst ridig conditions since November. Unusually wet

And cold. Need the wet, so I can’t honestly complain. Cold is winter, but still unusual lately. I may ride today as it’s my birthday and it’s an occasionally observed tradition. I’ll watch my weather station to check actual local temps.

 

[6zfshdb]

I'm afraid my biking will have to wait a couple of months unless I get one of these:

 

[Tom@WashDC]

And cold. Need the wet, soca t honestly complain. Cold is winter, but still unusual lately. I may ride today as it’s my birthday and it’s an occasionally observed tradition. I’ll watch my weather station to check actual local temps.

We should get a ride in together this Spring or Summer.

 

[Chazmo]

Central Massachusetts: I don’t know, 1/10? Almost no infrastructure. A neighboring town (Holden) recently redid their Main Street and provided a bike lane, which is quite useful to me as a biker, but that is a huge exception to the rule. And, frankly, there’s very little courtesy from the drivers in rural Massachusetts, particularly on the more heavily-traveled roads.

The very lucky thing for me is that most local streets are not badly congested as they are in other parts of the state/country. And, the saving grace (for me) is that I have rail trail access a little over a mile from my house that is actually useful to me for both exercise (when not entirely iced over, that is) and for access to two of the neighboring towns that I need to go to frequently.

 

[spokewrench]

Central Massachusetts: I don’t know, 1/10? Almost no infrastructure. A neighboring town (Holden) recently redid their Main Street and provided a bike lane, which is quite useful to me as a biker, but that is a huge exception to the rule. And, frankly, there’s very little courtesy from the drivers in rural Massachusetts, particularly on the more heavily-traveled roads.

The very lucky thing for me is that most local streets are not badly congested as they are in other parts of the state/country. And, the saving grace (for me) is that I have rail trail access a little over a mile from my house that is actually useful to me for both exercise (when not entirely iced over, that is) and for access to two of the neighboring towns that I need to go to frequently.

I was in Holden on June 9, 1953 when I watched the tornado destroy my neighborhood 5 miles away. I'd just finished kindergarten. A little girl who lived near me was riding her bike on an errand. Her parents identified her mangled bike, but she was missing for three days. She'd been found up on a utility pole, impaled on a climbing step. She couldn't speak to identify herself until the swelling in her face went down. She came through fine. There were a lot of very resilient people in Worcester. Bicyclists didn't need infrastructure because if automobilists thought they owned the road, they didn't show it.

 

[Chazmo]

I was in Holden on June 9, 1953 when I watched the tornado destroy my neighborhood 5 miles away. I'd just finished kindergarten. A little girl who lived near me was riding her bike on an errand. Her parents identified her mangled bike, but she was missing for three days. She'd been found up on a utility pole, impaled on a climbing step. She couldn't speak to identify herself until the swelling in her face went down. She came through fine. There were a lot of very resilient people in Worcester. Bicyclists didn't need infrastructure because if automobilists thought they owned the road, they didn't show it.

Holy crap… That’s a wild story, spokewrench!

I imagine Holden 70 years ago was a different world.

 

[Art Deco]

Reviving this zombie thread since it was what I could find on infrastructure.
I love this quote :
"
“Imagine if a team of scientists devised a drug which massively reduced people’s chances of developing cancer or heart disease, cutting their overall likelihood of dying early by 40%. This would be front page news worldwide, a Nobel prize as good as in the post. That drug is already here, albeit administered in a slightly different way: it’s called cycling to work.”

But it won't work if it's obviously unsafe to ride ...

 

[BlackHand]

Reviving this zombie thread since it was what I could find on infrastructure.
I love this quote :
"
“Imagine if a team of scientists devised a drug which massively reduced people’s chances of developing cancer or heart disease, cutting their overall likelihood of dying early by 40%. This would be front page news worldwide, a Nobel prize as good as in the post. That drug is already here, albeit administered in a slightly different way: it’s called cycling to work.”

But it won't work if it's obviously unsafe to ride ...

Great quote! 40% was probably taken (rounded down) from this Scottish study.
Personally, I'll live with doubling my chances of being hospitalized for a traffic accident.

This is the first study to provide direct evidence of the association between active and non-active commuting and health outcomes over a long period for Scotland. The study identified clear and consistently lower risks of adverse health outcomes among active commuters, especially cyclists. Compared with non-active commuters, cyclists had 47% lower risk of death from any cause, 10% lower risk of any hospitalisation, 24% lower risk of CVD hospitalisation and 30% lower risk of receiving a CVD related prescription, 24% lower risk of cancer hospitalisation and 51% lower risk of cancer death, and a 20% lower risk of receiving a mental health related prescription.

 

[Art Deco]

Great quote! 40% was probably taken (rounded down) from this Scottish study.
Personally, I'll live with doubling my chances of being hospitalized for a traffic accident.
View attachment 197238
This is the first study to provide direct evidence of the association between active and non-active commuting and health outcomes over a long period for Scotland. The study identified clear and consistently lower risks of adverse health outcomes among active commuters, especially cyclists. Compared with non-active commuters, cyclists had 47% lower risk of death from any cause, 10% lower risk of any hospitalisation, 24% lower risk of CVD hospitalisation and 30% lower risk of receiving a CVD related prescription, 24% lower risk of cancer hospitalisation and 51% lower risk of cancer death, and a 20% lower risk of receiving a mental health related prescription.

Absolutely correct. But
1. Traffic is scary in an immediate way that stops most people from even trying bikes.
2. We shouldn't have to choose between having a heart attack and a becoming a hood ornament on a pickup, IMHO.

 

[Chargeride]

I will admit to pavement/sidewalk riding, on a lot of my exploring rides I need to use a main country road to get to the next village, they are 60mph roads and because we put sidewalks everywhere, they are perfect to ride on as no one actually walks on them, they literally go through miles of farmers fields.
So I use them, and its a win win for everyone, I dont hold up miles of traffic and Im not getting run over by truck drivers on their phones.

 

[6zfshdb]

Reviving this zombie thread since it was what I could find on infrastructure.
I love this quote :
"
“Imagine if a team of scientists devised a drug which massively reduced people’s chances of developing cancer or heart disease, cutting their overall likelihood of dying early by 40%. This would be front page news worldwide, a Nobel prize as good as in the post. That drug is already here, albeit administered in a slightly different way: it’s called cycling to work.”

But it won't work if it's obviously unsafe to ride ...

Of course this assumes you don't get run over by a drunk or distracted driver in the process.

 

[stompandgo]

I worked for an internet startup for 5 years or so and was able to ride the 10 miles each way to work. There's nothing like starting in the dark and seeing the sunrise every day. I'd ride in riding clothes and bring loaded panniers with fresh work clothes on the way in and dirty clothes on the way out. I was riding a Redline CX bike with a rack and touring panniers, set up only for commuting.

We are fortunate here on Cape Cod to have several rail trails, but they are not connected. A lot of the main "back roads" have wide (6ft.-8ft.) sidewalks where the cops are OK with cyclists on them. The main trail is undergoing a westward expansion that's supposed to be ready next year. When that opens up, I should have an option to ride to work.

 

[Art Deco]

I will admit to pavement/sidewalk riding, on a lot of my exploring rides I need to use a main country road to get to the next village, they are 60mph roads and because we put sidewalks everywhere, they are perfect to ride on as no one actually walks on them, they literally go through miles of farmers fields.
So I use them, and its a win win for everyone, I dont hold up miles of traffic and Im not getting run over by truck drivers on their phones.

Apparently here in Pennsylvania you can legally ride on the sidewalk if (and only if ) if there is no bike lane available.

 

[Marcela]

You get what you put your attention on. Just the universe trying to help a guy out.