Advocacy & Safety - Bicycling Awesomeness

A&S is such a sad place. :( <---- See, there's even a frowny face. Anyone want to talk about how amazing their town is? Sure, we all have problems. There is no such thing as a cycling utopia, and likely never will be, but what improvements have you seen? What things have you seen elsewhere and would like to see implemented?

I really think culture is the #1 battle. We can debate bike lanes or stop lights or sidewalks or wrong way riders until we're blue in the face, but what I've seen that makes the biggest difference is the culture of the town.

I live in Fort Collins, CO. It's been up there on the list of best places to cycle in the U.S. We have a huge (relative) amount of cyclists in this town. DUI riders to pro athletes, we span the range. We also have New Belgium brewery, makers of Fat Tire beer. I bring that up because of their support of cycling. From my perspective, they've been hugely influential in bringing about a good culture. The more we, as cyclists, are out there, the more we can show that cycling is soooo much better than driving, not just in cost or health benefits, but just in smiling fun, the more we can break down the walls that divide those of us that despise us from us.

So, what do you guys have?

Klamath Falls, OR is a good town for cycling. The roads aren't bad, there's a good mup, a good bike shop, and the drivers on the whole are considerate. If only there were more cyclists...but then we are still in the midst of a typically long freezing winter.

Bend is just up the road, where the US road and cross nationals will be in fall. They get all the good press...

When I started riding, I thought the 45mph rural roads around where I live were horrible - now, I find them much more fun than untrafficked residential roads with no scenery and monotonous houses.

Drivers are also generally very good (around Cincinnati) - I've only been buzzed once to date. That's way fewer than the several times my cage has shuddered significantly in the left turn lane when some guy blows by the left side of the left lane at 55+ mph.

College town (CSU) = more cyclist (at least until they graduate, get a job and buy cars)

Are you allowed to ride on downtown Main Street yet?

Fort Collins, CO is a very nice place to ride, but like most places, it has a ways to go. Especially the NO cycling on Main Street.

I have posted this before, but the best improvements for cyclist here in Honolulu, were not even intended for cyclist.

1. HI state was forced by the EPA to street sweep the sides of our highways, resulting from Clean Water Act violations. My flats have gone from 10-20 a year, down to about 2-3.

2. Potholes on the roads got so bad that it was causing serious suspension damage to cars and trucks. I was riding a full suspension mountain bike to reduce the repeated destruction of my rims. Motorist political pressure before the election 4 years ago caused both the mayor and governor to declare a "War on Potholes". Most of the roads have been repaved. So even if the repaving was for motorist, it has significantly benefited cyclist. But there is still one main highway near my home that still needs done.

The state still needs to revoke the mandatory bike lane law and pass a no distracted driver law.

The city needs to never steal bike registration funds from cyclist again; and rework Young Street, as approved and funded 4 years ago but cancelled by the current mayor.

Fort Collins bump. Graduated college, bought more bikes, not a car.

I'll plug Baltimore and our Mayor that does group rides almost every Friday, that really seems to be a genesis of change here.

greater Seattle has pretty progressive cycling policies and infrastructure, but nothing approaching the networks/numbers of bicyclists in San Francisco or Portland - two cities I've also ridden fairly extensively.

Provincial 'our roads' motorist backlash, voiced by one newspaper editorialist (lame), and some well intentioned but misled cyclist criticism from the predictable 'every lane is a bikelane' crowd..

Last week I took a decent ride (30 miles round trip)from my home in Costa Mesa CA to Orange. Traffic was heavy in car-centric So. Cal. Went through Santa Ana's finest barrios on major streets.

No close calls. No yelling. Cars stopped for me when they should have, yielded at crosswalks, generally behaved completely lawfully & politely. Took the lane at Orange's traffic circle- no problem. It was a ride that reminds one of why they ride a bike.

I went to UC Davis 25 years ago. Most California campuses have a pretty good non-car infrastructure. At Davis it extended throughout the city. The bike infrastructure then was amazing. I'm not sure if it's gotten better, but if it didn't get any worse it was easier to leave your car at home and take buses/ride everywhere.

Louisville Kentucky is fun. Sure, there are idiot drivers sometimes, but they are everywhere.

If it wasn't fun to ride here, I wouldn't do it. :)

There are some cycling-friendly dining and drinking opportunities (we took advantage of several of them on this (http://rivercitycyclingsociety.com/2009/02/27/belated-recap-of-the-brew2-ride/) ride).

Roads near the city center are pretty good for cycling. Lots of one-way streets, many lanes, a few bike lanes, make for easy getting around, and painless to take the lane.

As you get further out, it's less easy, but sometimes you find a new route. If you get out to the rural roads, there are beautiful low-traffic areas with rolling hills.

I like it here. :)

Central Pennsylvania is head and shoulders above what I have been used to elsewhere. I almost never get yelled at, cars almost always pass with a reasonable amount of clearance. I am actually more concerned that some of the people that pass me are going to get into a head-on collision with oncoming traffic.

unterhausen, it's the same here in Bedford county, PA. Drivers almost always follow me as long as necessary to find a safe place to pass. They never honk. They never try to run me off the road. I've lived and/or biked in the West, Midwest, and East. There is no place like central PA for great biking and great drivers. It's really amazing.

Definitely room for improvement, but I enjoy cycling in Austin, TX. Many trails to ride on, streets are (usually) well maintained, and drivers don't really hassle cyclists. I've only had one driver shout at me and it was a teenager in a jacked up truck (pretty easy to ignore because he still gave me a wide berth).

love riding in memphis, tn and the burbs. Once I over came my fear of being hit There's so much to see by riding around midtown or downtown memphis, and its much easier to get around on a bike and not have to pay $5 and up to park downtown. Not to mention being able to have a few beers and just ride home slowly without the worry of dui, not that I just get tanked and drive home or anything. Also if ya want just some open roads, head 5 miles outside memphis in any direction and you can get in some good hard training miles

I live in Fort Collins, CO. It's been up there on the list of best places to cycle in the U.S. We have a huge (relative) amount of cyclists in this town.

Tell us more about the cycling infrastructure of Ft Collins. I posted a recent thread about how disconnected subdivisions are in the suburbs, but I have noticed from looking at the Denver suburbs (although I'm not sure that Ft Collins really qualifies as a suburb of Denver) on Google maps that even though there are cul-de-sacs and terminating streets, all subdivisions actually connect to each other by way of at least one residential street. It also appears that the bike lanes are well away from the curb, which would seem to prevent debris from accumulating while also giving a space for parked cars. Most non-grid suburbs aren't very bike friendly, but the Colorado ones look pretty good.

I'm interested in potentially moving to the Denver area. I like Portland -- it is a great cycling town. However, I'm really ready for some sunshine -- dry winters and summers sound great.

Boston drivers, in spite of their reputation, are actually used to dealing with cyclists and don't usually try to kill us.

In S. Maine (Boston suburb), there's a lot of 35-45mph double lane rural roads with little or no shoulders. Last year when I started bike commuting, I was pleasantly surprised by how courteous most drivers are. Especially the ones in pickup trucks. Also, ME just passed a series of cyclist-related laws last year, like 3-ft passing margin, cars allowed over double yellow to pass, clarified lane positioning for things like left turns at lights, etc. One of the biggest drawbacks are the roads in Spring, with all the frost heaves and resulting potholes.

But of course we visited Amsterdam a couple years ago, and compared to the cycling infrastructure over there, the US just flat out sucks.

Tell us more about the cycling infrastructure of Ft Collins. I posted a recent thread about how disconnected subdivisions are in the suburbs, but I have noticed from looking at the Denver suburbs (although I'm not sure that Ft Collins really qualifies as a suburb of Denver) on Google maps that even though there are cul-de-sacs and terminating streets, all subdivisions actually connect to each other by way of at least one residential street. It also appears that the bike lanes are well away from the curb, which would seem to prevent debris from accumulating while also giving a space for parked cars. Most non-grid suburbs aren't very bike friendly, but the Colorado ones look pretty good.

I'm interested in potentially moving to the Denver area. I like Portland -- it is a great cycling town. However, I'm really ready for some sunshine -- dry winters and summers sound great.

Fort Collins is not a Denver suburb. We have our own town up here, lots of things to do, atmosphere, and the 60+ mile commute (closer to 75 if you're heading to the Tech center) means that it's not ideal for commuting to Denver.

It's a good town in terms of infrastructure. I wouldn't call it great. There are still a few pick and choose routes. Either you're taking the lane on major streets or finding some round about way to get where you're heading, but overall, it's not bad. We currently have four MUPs that link together and provide some pretty damn efficient ways to get places. We've installed a couple of bike stop light sensors in some of the more heavily bike-trafficed intersections, and most streets are wide enough to accommodate a center lane, two car lanes, two bike lanes, and two parking lanes. There's a lot of room to maneuver.

If you're serious about the Denver area, look into Boulder. It's closer and has some of the best cycling infrastructure I've ridden. It's a great town. :)

unterhausen, it's the same here in Bedford county, PA. Drivers almost always follow me as long as necessary to find a safe place to pass. They never honk. They never try to run me off the road. I've lived and/or biked in the West, Midwest, and East. There is no place like central PA for great biking and great drivers. It's really amazing.


Gabba gabba hey! I was wondering if my great cycling experiences in Penn were just me, or the real way the folks there treat cyclists. I have had great cycling experiences all over the state...from the brutal hills north of Bloomsburg to the national parks in the Alleghenies; even on rt 6, which I sometimes enjoyed because the shoulder is so great. Lots of roadside rest areas which are wooded enough that ya can tuck yourself out of sight and camp for free. I'd rather spend the money the next day having a nice cuppa in the morning.

In western mass where I live the roads, drivers, climbs, shoulders, and scenery are awesome.

roughstuff

I go to school in Corvallis. It's pretty nice here, and has a "gold" cyclist-friendly rating. There's the occasional close call and my fiancee got bumped once (I wanted to punch the cop for threatening to cite her for riding on a sidewalk when the city lists it as a multi-use path -- the driver was looking the opposite direction he was turning), but I like the infrastructure and most people are pretty courteous.

There's five bike shops in a three-block stretch downtown, there's a fully-equipped DIY bike shop on campus, there's a bike shop co-op that's just starting out, and nice areas for doing long-distance rides. The only problem I encountered on my first century was potholes in Eugene (how they got a silver rating, I'll never know). The university cycling club also has weekly rides . . . I'm thinking of participating one of these weekends.

I'd like to give Portland a try one of these days to see if it lives up to its platinum rating, and there's a good chance I'll be moving to the Bay Area after I get my degree in June -- that's suppose to be a good spot for cycling.

Huntsville, AL. Not all that great around here. The local bike group put together a "bike map" with bike routes. By bike routes, they mean the most bikable roads, not bike lanes. However, I am able to get almost anywhere by bike.