georgeupstairs

A very scenic commute. A veritable cycling Elysium. I've been taking pics of my commute but so far it hasn't stayed dry and sunny enough for long enough to get reasonable pictures of everything!!

nathank

yes, Europe is general is not so helmet-conscious like the US. most of the Mountain Bikers wear helmets and on the trail almost everyone has a helmet, but maybe half of the road racers were helmets (they usually were the cycling caps or a bandana) and almost none of the recreational riders were helmets: riding through the park or to the beer garden to a short distance to work...

and it's not just with cyclibg: i also wear a helmet for snowboarding, downhill skiing and inline skating and in Europe you see very few - from my experience in the US ski areas you now see almost 50% with helmets and Europe is more like 5%...

nathank

yes, the route along the river i have to ride a little more slowly with curves and other riders and the occaisonal pedestrain who doesn't stay off of the bike path... but here i could take a faster route, but i like to ride along the river... although i get to bypass ALL of the traffic lights and stop signs so it might not be that much slower overall.

but yes, for the latter part of my commute i ride MUCH faster as there are fewer people and the then i ride on the street.

nathank

yes, as i have posted before on this forum i am not a fan of the Munich bike path style. on the one hand it is good becuase the average person (5 year old kid riding to school or 45 year old going to work or 70 year old lady riding to visit her grandkids) can safely and confortably ride anywhere and is somewhat protected from cars...

but the bike paths are pretty unsafe above 20km/h (13mph) because a) the car drivers are not expecting faster riders and b) you ride so close to pedestrains who are also not expecting fast riders.

about 1 month ago i had a crash when a 10 year old suddenly darted in front of her mother (who had been holding her back) and RIGHT into my path and i locked the brakes and went over the bars...

i quite often take the the streets even when it technically not legal (the BLUE bike signs that you see in the photo mean it is an OFFICIAL bike path which means you MUST ride there instead of the strret) if i feel the bike path is unsafe at 30km/h or whatever.

but, yes, along the river i just ride a little slower for the 2km and enjoy the scenery. it's also either on the end of tmy ride or the beginngin (warm-up or cool-down) so that's ok.

and yes, i see hundreds of cyclists every day. on my 25-30 minute morning commute i probably see 20 cyclists in the winter in the snow and 200 ni the summer in good weather... if i ride to the city center to go shopping in the evening there are hundreds of bikes everywehere. but the bike traffic is usually no problem - it's just when there are lots of pedestrains that it can be a problem.

nathank

yes, Holland and Amsterdam in particular still has WAY more bikes than Munich - i was there in 2000 and amazed. i actually did take a photo of one spot where about 5 thousand bikes were parked.

but yes, European cities are much easier to go car free b/c of many reasons:
1) higher density and smaller distances: munich has about 1.5 million people and the radius of the city is less than 10km (6 miles). 6 miles from the center of Austin TX or Portland OR and you're barely even outside of the cnetral city!
2) great public transit in the city AND great long-distance train service (it is quite often faster, cheaper and easier to take the train than to drive even IF you have a car)
3) support for cycling: bike paths, but most importantly AUTO drivers who are TRAINED to watch for cyclists (in germany eevry right turner first looks for a cyclist to prevent the right-hook! b/c they EXPECT a cyclist! i've never seen an American do that!)

i think less than half of my friends have cars and most of those who do don't drive them in the city or to work, but either bike or take the subway to work b/c its just too impractical to drive to work (traffifc, parking, etc)

msparks

That would suck if you were on a Road/Race Bike!!

hotch

Very nice pictures, would be nice to ride to work everyday, sure must seem nice to pass the traffic jams. Beautiful country!

Inkwolf

I was in Germany for a month in the 80's on a student trip. München was by far my favorite city! The people were so friendly--you couldn't stand on a street corner and open a map without people stopping to try to help you find your way.

That was in January, though. Thanks for showing me Munich the way it ought to be seen--in spring, and from the saddle of a bike!

Phatman

That park looks like it would be great for some midnight trials expeditions...eh? what you you say, there nathank? All those railings, and retaining walls...

Tom_The_Bikeman

OK. The gauntlet has been thrown!

I guess I've gotta take my digicam out on a jaunt tommorrow and take some pics of my Swiss commute...looks like you have a nice scenic ride up there!

no rain on the commute in this morning...what a joy!

Tom

Anders K

Wow, you´ve got it all from beautifull parks, meadows, to city traffic. A really mixed commute. Good pictures.

Anders