A buddy of mine complains of the marked cycling lanes here, says that the lanes are in poor locations, drop off without warning, blah blah blah. He's not what I would refer to as a dedicated cyclist. He also whines about his comfy 28c tires being too squirrely on our mups which are very well taken care of and 99% hard pack with little gravel.

My main commuting route has no cycling lanes at all, I dodge potholes, and get buzzed nearly every day on a road marked for 35mph (which means many are approaching the upper 40s). Sometimes it scares the schite out of me...however, I would say that this is one of the best places for cyclocommuting in which I have lived thus far. This small-ish Midwestern city rivals Orange County, CA and Denver CO as far as ease of access to paths and overall driver friendliness. Even the aforementioned places have potholes and jerkoffs.

It's what you make of it. If you're convinced that you need a painted lane and your town has none, then you'll spend all of your time in the saddle wishing your experience was better. If you just get on your bike and ride, you'll have a much more fun commute.

You should read through your local bike laws - where I live there is an exception written for cyclists which allows one to go through a red light if the wait is "unreasonably long."

I believe there is, and I do whether the law exists or not. The problem is that it's a 5 lane highway with cars and semis traveling at 45 mph or faster. Hard to get across without the light; heck, hard enough to get across with the light.
It's the unsafest part of my ride, and the only way around it is to ride along the frontage road of the interstate that has most of the traffic that will turn onto the highway (i.e., even less safe).
I used to be able to jump offroad and ride along the left side of the highway to get up to the frontage road/highway intersection, but a recent lane expansion (to the 5 lanes) pushed the highway up against a ditch on that side with no shoulder (not that riding on a shoulder into traffic would be a good idea).
It's a fun intersection no matter how I ride through it. Not much traffic coming out where I do, but lots of semis turning right onto the highway across from me.
Short story - safest course of action is sit at the light as long as it takes, go straight across, wait for all the semis to turn right, and then continue on my way. Luckily, the highway traffic behind me gets held up by a left turn light and usually gives me plenty of time to travel the 1/4 mile I need to go, and there is a shoulder (or sidewalk when traffic is really bad).
Then I get onto the aforementioned frontage road...

No bike lanes at all here, but I still rate it pretty good. I have no problems at all cycling here. The driver attitude makes it pleasant.

IMO that's what it comes down to. You can build all the infrastructure you want, bad drivers can still make it unpleasant and dangerous. But good drivers can make it nice and safe even with no infrastructure.

I see....that is quite a putoff. Not trying to be a smartass but is there another route you can plan? You might have to reorder your entire commute and possibly add bit to it. I take the long way around an intersection which has 4 through lanes + 2 turn lanes in each direction, with 35 and 45mph speed limits going each way. It adds about 15% to my commute in terms of time, albeit it is still a relatively short ride. Perhaps this isn't an option for you...just though I'd ask.

No other options that are any safer. The best next option takes me another 3-4 miles along a two-lane county road with no shoulders or even lane markers for much of its length.

Welcome to Texas.

L.A. is a big "town" so the answer varies by area.

I live in Brentwood and work in Santa Monica and both are very bike friendly.

Of course, it only takes one butthead in an Audi or a BMW...

I will give my town a -1. This place is geared to moving cars and trucks. Cyclists and pedestrians not wanted. We have a few bike paths but loose dogs on them make it unsafe. I usually ride around the neighborhood and bring my bike with us when we go to Ottawa.

This isn't my town, but... BREAKING: Cyclist reportedly struck by truck - Oil City

How bike-friendly is your town?
 

Gothenburg, Sweden population 500,000
You can get more or less from anywhere to anywhere on a wide variety of protected bike paths. Lanes painted in the road are extinct.
The city is continually modernising bike infrastructure.

Car drivers are very aware about crossing bike paths when turning across them for example.

I would always prefer being on bike lanes than sharing the road (which I do on tour of course), though it does take a different skillset and situational awareness - a fun way to ride, imo, lots of things going on.

Cities in Europe are really getting there. This winter I rode through Barcelona and Paris from one side to the other. Easy as cake. It's not just Copenhagen and Amsterdam...

I live in Chino Hills California. Bike lanes everywhere on virtually all major roads.. We also have Chino Hills State Park for mountain biking. I know the state park is not part of the city but it is right there in my back yard.

I'd give the town I'm in a -1. It'd be a -2 or -3 but they at least have a MUP. That being said the MUP is just a loop that exists for the sake of receational use and exercise. Many people here seem to be irresponsible drivers, in conjunction with that, pretty much zero cycling friendly infrastructure, 40+ mph speed limits, and the fact that the drivers here probably haven't seen more than two cyclists on the road in their lives amd therefore probably don't even know how to handle driving around cyclists and you get a pretty unsafe place to ride. I actually felt completely unsafe on the roads because of the way people drive here. I just gave up riding in town because I figured it was either that or end up in a hospital. Oh I forgot to even mention that the one time the town had funding to add infrastructure for biking and even had a plan laid out the spent all the money on land surveying and who knows whatever else. The town might as well be actively anti-bike.

Edit: No I'm not talking about Louisville KY even though that's where it says I'm located. Anyone who lives there probably knows that they've actually made progress towards good bike infrastructure. I currently live in a small town called Lawton in Oklahoma. I actually live on the military base the town is attached to though. It's shockingly different riding on the base and riding in the town.

Quiet One, I lived in Oshkosh for over 5 years. I biked a lot during the spring, summer and fall. The only thing you forgot to mention when NOT to bike in Oshkosh is that one time span at the end of July when EAA is going on. All those people driving around and looking up in the air at all the action makes for some terrifying bike rides. If you're crazy enough to even go out then! It's still a great city for biking though, but I do like Madison better for getting around in the city. Actually, I bike from Land O Lakes to Prairie Du Chein every year; there isn't a bad town for biking that we go throuh.

Where I am,
there's some thing that Floridans & Ohioans can't comprehend in keeping the correct distance gap between their cars & my bike.
This is too frequent as to accept is as non-intentional.
Like their wanting to claim that those 2 states have never seen of bicycles.
Those 2 states are consistently so hazardous.
Maybe its my more healthy, less heavy body profile/size. That it takes up lesser space. Just like a bike is slimmer than a car.

I commute in the second-largest city in New England (Worcester, MA) and it's not great. The fact that we have literally the worst drivers according this report might have something to do with it: https://www.allstate.com/resources/A...eport-2014.pdf.

On the other hand, I was stunned to see a dedicated bike lane show up on part of Southbridge St (unfortunately, not the part I commute on), and I've seen a few sharrows here and there. Also, some of the traffic lights actually detect cyclists. Though considering the cycling-related history of the city, including being the home of Major Taylor for most of his career, it could be a lot better.

7/10. Montreal is known to be a bike friendly city. We have lots of (high-rated) bike lanes and MUPs, a very successful public bike sharing system (bixi), and LOTS of cyclists. I think just the volume of cyclists helps to create a certain degree of acceptance from motorists. My grievances so far, being a new rider, are with other cyclists not playing by the "rules," pedestrians wandering onto the bike lanes and cabbies passing too close. As a new rider I ride defensively and obey all the traffic laws and even when I have the right of way etc. I don't assume that drivers will respect my rights. I'd rather be safe than fast or first. I'm finding a little bit of courtesy goes a long way in keeping myself safe. That being said I have no problem yelling out at people who do stupid stuff - like the cyclist today who unexpectedly decided to exit the unprotected bike lane left without any sort of signal as I attempted to speed up and pass him because he saw something that interested him, or the kid who decided to RACE me as I attempted to pass him while there were cyclists coming from the other direction. :notamused:

Austin, Texas in my mind is a 10.
Almost anywhere you travel you can find major roads with ample bike lanes or side streets with little traffic. Many roads have well marked 'share' lanes and the population is on the most part cyclist friendly.
Also, several communal bike repair shops that will help you wrench out your problems and share components. And the LBS range from national chains to mom and pop and hipster staffed shops that are mostly very helpful.
Austin is a true paradise...course, I was born and raised here and have never lived anywhere else for 65 years so I may be just a tiny bias:)....HOOK'EM

Roanoke, VA gets a gold star from me. Drivers are patient and polite, for the most part. Beautiful Greeenways, lots of bike paths, including mountain bike trails, and one of the nicest bike shops ever (The Right Gear). All this and a climate that lets me bike maybe 350 days out of the year.

The general perception (including by LAB) is that Ft Worth is not very bike friendly. This is true on the surface, but if you want to get around by bike, it's not that bad. Transportation cyclists who got their bikes at Wal-Mart can travel along most thoroughfares on the sidewalk, acting as pedestrians. Taking the lane will allow for faster travel and there are a lot of routes that are lightly traveled that can be used as alternatives to busy highways. I can get from my house to downtown, a 10 mile ride, using pretty much all neighborhood streets, side streets, or larger streets that just don't have a lot of traffic. I guess the point is that if you're determined you can get around.

The central city is more bike friendly with an increasing number of bike lanes and coming soon, a Complete Streets re-do of south Main Street. Ft Worth also started bike share a little over a year ago so there are more bikes on the roads.

My commute (when I do ride to work, which is rare) takes me through the more suburban edges of town. Mostly I just cut through neighborhoods. It took a while to find the best commute route. I started out on busier roads before I realized that if I was willing to cut back and forth, a few blocks out of my way, I could ride through neighborhoods instead. I have to cross two interstates, a major rail yard and a river to get to work. When I first started it was hard to see how to make that work but eventually I found a few wormholes in the city's infrastructure that get me there.

OKC has a long-term project that will connect pretty much all of the metro (1,000,000 + people) with bike lanes but the problem is that you pretty much have to travel to a "trail head" to get on the bike lanes.

Bicycling for fun and fitness, things may not rate too poorly. We have a 10-mile loop that goes around a lake right in the city limits.

Bicycling for commuting and/or general transportation, it sucks. Very few of the suburban subdivisions have any kind of access to the bike path system. You pretty much have to ride on 4-lane streets with 40-45mph speed limits and no provisions for bikes.

DC did not make the cut on Wired's list, but made this website's list of top US cities:
The 8 most bike friendly cities in America - Matador Network

My neighborhood in Northern Virginia (across the Potomac from DC proper) is not particularly bike-friendly, as I have to bike on the street to get to our bike trails from my house, and a lot of motorists like to drive fast here. Being able to bike on sidewalks helps. Still, we have a nice network of bike trails/mixed-use trails in this region, from which cars are excluded. :thumb:

I like how that article mentions the Tour De Fat in SF, but not the one in DC, which just happened this past weekend.

I'm not surprised European cities leave American ones in the dust. But, I'd like to visit Minneapolis someday since it's the sole US representative on that list.

I've already been to several European cities on that list, but that was before I learned how to ride a bike. I'd love to visit again as a cyclist.

From infra point of view I think 8+ is fair.

-Garth

I live outside Minneapolis and it is great to bike in and around Minneapolis. My adult daughter lives car free in the city, and she's in good company too! I've been biking Minneapolis since the mid-80s, and this city has become MUCH more bike friendly over the years. I love the winter biking community in the city, it shocks people to know how many people bike through winter with deep snow and sub-zero (F) temps. I love the first cold day when my Facebook news feed is filled with friends posting "frost beard" selfies. The bike community in Minneapolis is very inclusive, supportive, and politically/community active.

However, Minneapolis is still the in the US, and the car is king. I've biked a few smaller cities and towns in France, that was a different experience all together. In Tours, we were climbing a narrow road with a no bike lane. My wife was tired and climbing slowly, and we had a large delivery truck behind us. I was worried about an aggressive driver, since he couldn't pass; however, the driver was very respectful and patient. Once the road widened, we moved right and the driver calmly passed. You are hard-pressed to find that level of respect in the US. (Last week, riding with my wife, I had the exact opposite experience near our house)

I'd like to say that the difference is that everybody in a city like Tours rides a bike, so they understand and respect the person using a bike. However, here in the US, almost everyone has a bike. However, most people in the US drive their bike to a quiet trail to ride. I was part of this problem over the weekend, we drove our bikes less than 4 miles to get to a trail (there is major construction cutting off the normal bike route). As we drove this short distance, I was blown away by the number of vehicles with bikes loaded on them. Many 'cyclists' in the US have no respect for people using bikes on the road. We will never be able to build protected bike routes on every road, therefore, we need to get respect for people using bikes on the roads. We are making progress, but there's a long way to go.