Originally Posted by dijos
Tampa, sarasota, St. Pete. \
Huge distances, every road is a 6 lane, 45 mph (read 65 mph), 5 minute lights, HOOOOTTTTT, SUVs everwhere, all the time.
St. Pete's not as bad as the other 2, but there are so many fatalities.
Are you kidding me!? I vacationed over there and there were bike trails EVERYWHERE. Let me go point by point.
St. Pete/Palm Harbor/etc is a ISLAND. The place is totally small. There's not much open space around the entire area either, unless you're going city-to-city. I mean, its not NYC, but its nothing like Texas or Kansas. Plus, the city-to-city typically has roads with bike lanes, which is practically unheard of elsewhere.
Every road is wide, which is *better*. They all have bike lanes too (at least the major ones).
Heat is better than snow for biking.
I agree the SUVs are a problem. I'm 100% on that one with you.
Just compare the bridge to Clearwater beach with the bridge to SPI:
Clearwater beach: Dedicated bike lane with concrete barriers between the cars and the lane on BOTH sides
South Padre Island: No bike lane, no shoulder, two lanes, 60 mph