Originally Posted by
shipwreck
Its funny, when I leave the ozarks to ride in Nebraska or Kansas, it takes a day or so to get used to not coasting every five minutes. All the little rollers do add up, but there are no good long climbs other than Mount Magazine, or Petit Jean(and before you make fun, they are little things, but we love them). there are several roads that are double yellow for over five miles at a stretch, long enough for most people to get pretty enraged. The shear number of little blind hills are what keeps some drivers from passing, though most still do regardless of safety. Sorry for the Flatlands remark, I thought I read Ohio on your info. I was in Bowling Green for a few days and got numb riding over the same overpass again and again...
No worries. Most of my extended family live in Iowa. I think my commute has more total elevation change than you can find in all of Iowa.
I'm thinking driving is just different around here? On an average trip up the canyons around here you'd probably pass 20 or more bikers depending on the day. No one waits for passing lanes. Traffic is about 35mph and you just slip over enough to go bye and and the drivers going the other way make enough room for you. Much like passing a tractors on rural roads. It's dangerous when people try to double up because it then squeezes the other shoulder and riders on the other side, and it annoys the drivers. If we want more bike lanes, it really helps to have the general public like cyclists.
Also Salt Lake City has the second highest Auto-Pedestrian death rate per capita in the nation. I don't recall who was first. Something like 29% of auto related fatalities are pedestrians. If you ride in the road thinking you're going to slow down traffic and make it safer, there's a good chance you'll end up as a speed bump.