Terrible, but getting better. I live in a bigger town, and we have a few painted in bike lanes where the roads were a little wider already, and a few indicators for bikes to ride on the outside of the car lane. A few years ago, they added a pedestrian bridge to the highway overpass (this is the getting better part). Cars still nearly take me out with their side-view mirrors like once every other trip lmao. I think my presence even encourages people to run stop signs, even when I'm in the car parking lane to let people go by. What I'd give for even a painted bike lane through town.
this post was submitted on 13 Jun 2023
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I'm glad things are improving, but even in areas that appear bike friendly, I still see terrible infrastructure being built... including "bike lanes" that are right in a door zone. I'm glad there are more of us being loud enough to get councils and governments to do anything at all, but the fact is that it's usually grudging and half-assed.
I’m in the burbs, so it’s not great. The only thing we have going for is a few mixed use trails (Colorado). I plan on getting an e-bike once my baby is old enough to ride either on back and I’m going to be on the wide sidewalks playing a game called “don’t die”. I’m in a conservative part of the state and I’m afraid of the drivers while on a motorcycle, let alone a bike.
Riding in the suburbs for me is actually a bit worse than riding amongst farmland and woods. I don't mind so much on roads that are quiet, but once I get between someone living in a suburban wasteland and that one main entrance to the high-speed road that their housing estate connects to... some people go a little bit crazy.
As for e-bikes? Go for it! I still have yet to try one, but there may come a time that I take the dive. Even if I don't in the near future, I'll be old someday and undoubtedly still want to go out biking.
Horrible. The roads are chip and oil and degraded. Mt. Bike is a must. Even then the people drive like assholes...for instance we had a DUI checkpoint around the corner at 8am mid week. So ya. Even driving a car I been ran off the road 2 or 2 times.
It's very hilly so it's good for exercise but If your biking to actually get somewhere, kinda sucks and everything is super far apart.
Ouch. I do pick up enough beer cans (and liquor/wine bottles) along the side of my commute route to be worried about the state of the drivers on the road. I usually commute in to work around 04:00 and come home around 14:30, so thankfully I don't encounter too many people swerving or driving erratically.
The worst I've gotten is people being angry that I'm "in the way," and it also doesn't help that some people associate bicycling with being poor or losing one's driver's license... meaning that sympathy from those people is very limited.
Yea people hate bikes around here lol. "Where tf are you even going?" 😒
We don't have a lot of infrastructure but roads are not so congested so we can ride safely here. Living in a remote part of a big city.
A remote part of a big city sounds like it would be a good balance. I'm much, much more inclined to live out in the countryside (preferably the woods), but living in the big city would be incredibly convenient and really, really reduce my need for a car.
I am a student so I need to be in the big city and I don't own a car but hopefully public transport is fairly good here
I wish everywhere had decent public transit. It makes things so much easier and simpler. I don't have anything near good public transit near where I live, unfortunately... even the bus service that exists in the next mid-size city over is... meh.
Bad, but definitely could be worse. Almost no bike lanes, but everything is so close together, it's really unfortunate. Traffic is also a bitch.
That sounds like the sort of situation that requires lots of political will but would benefit plenty of people if protected lanes/paths were installed.
Does it seem like a feasible thing for your city/town to accomplish if they set their minds to it?
Yeah, theyre already kind of leaning in that direction. The city is getting more dense so if they don't do something about it, it's going to be hell getting around.
The main roadblock in public transit and good bike infrastructure are these braindead suburbanites. They're scared of "people" from urban areas having an easier time getting around because of "crime".
"people" from urban areas
"crime"
I hear these excuses a lot from people near where I live. It sounds a lot like a really, really high-pitched whistling noise... like I've got ringing in my ears. I'm sorry that you deal with the same prejudices where you are. >.<
Yeah, here in Northern New Mexico it's well known that you're taking your life in your hands to ride a roadie. And don't worry, every effort will be made to clear the drivers of fault for any accidents they cause, so there will be no effect on their behavior.
I recommend trading that road bike in for a gravel bike, or sticking to MTBs...
Yeah. I can't remember when, but someone pointed out to me how every time someone in the U.S. runs down a bicyclist with their Canyonero, every single news outlet describes it as a "bicycle accident."
That's something I can't un-see.