Germany is the Balm
[QUOTE=slim_77;5676795]wow stumps, that was a bit of a circus! Congrats anyway!
In Germany the state is much better than we are about equal enforcement of traffic laws. Peds will be ticketed for crossing against their signal, cyclists for violating all traffic laws, cars for the doing the same. They have the autobahn and far fewer cyclists killed on their highways (as a proportion) than we do.
Yeah I know,
I used to live in Geilenkirchen, about 50 miles west of stadt Aachen. I use to hear cycling noises every Samstag morning. But as usual I was too drunk and hungover from drinking German beer in Germany, to make it off the couch. One weekend I finally didn't party, and I looked out and saw row after row of cyclists on a Volksmarch, though they were cycling. I saved up some money and purchased a Peugeot 12 speed and joined them the next Samstag. Only they had been riding all their lives and I learned quickly what being out of shape causes. After a few weeks of sobriety (had to take back my key from the bar owner: the bar (I lived right across the road) (less than 200 feet and it would take me an hour to get home--especially being poured into the house) I finally got really caught up in cycling.
It is something to get a flat, walk into a bike shop that resembles a drive-through store, pay a few marks and pick up your changed tire and bike on the way out. There, cycling is actually a form of transportation so it serves to reason that they are stricter on them road law wise. On the other hand they also make motorist more responsible for how they treat cyclist. You hit a cyclist over there and your butt is hanging out in the wind. In the center of town or centrum, one is not allowed in many places to drive, so cycling is the preferred mode of travel. I loved it over there. Great food, great hospitality, clean, modern and yet classical. Outstanding people. Outstanding cycling.