So I am back in Bay Area for the summer. What a difference in commuting. Example trying to merge left on two lane road in SoCal I am taking life in to my own hands. Cars will not let me merge, speed up, ignore hand signals, swerve in to next lane (dangerously). Not to mention honking and "safety" lectures that I shouldn't be riding on the streets. NorCal I can safely merge in to the left turning lane on a four lane expressway....

I was born and raised in LA, lived for 13 years in Monterey and the last 16 in "Bike Heaven" Portland Or.
The farther from LA I get the better it gets.

I was camping in Marin County a month ago and was amazed how differently cyclists were treated up there. (I live mid way between Santa Barbara and Malibu on the coast). Almost seemed like cagers believed sharing the road with cyclists was the right thing to do.

Interesting,I take the lane often here in SoCal and don't have the problems the OP describes.

Ya know you guys are funny - I mean I have friends who are from both areas (So Cal and No Cal) and they smatter each other with who dun it's and who's better. But then it's rather like my city - you're from the Eastside (the "good" peeps) or the <dun dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnn> Westsiders <SHRIEK!!!!!>

hehe - other side o the tracks!!!

Was funny when my one girlfriend started going out with someone - secretively and then finally brought him "OUT" to the group of friends I was hanging with and of course someone asked - where So-And-So was from and he said it and ... No snit ... silence.

A West sider MmmmMmmmMmmmMMmmmMm Oh Noes!!!

hehe. In the end - Crazy and "most likely is an ex-con for ... something" Westsider lasted thru his future wife's sometimes friends brutal scrutiny and ignored them (YAY!) and married my friend and that was 20 years ago and that fugly ole Westsider is still married to one of my best friends!

I lived most of my life in SF Bay Area, but have lived in Orange County for the past 8 years. It's quite a stretch to generalize and say "all" of northern cal has better bike riding conditions than "all" of southern cal (or vice versa). I have pedaled extensively in both areas, and each has it's local good and not so good. For example, the central and southern part of Orange County where I live are "generally" very good for bike riding. Lots of wide bike lanes along most through streets, and you can get almost anywhere you want to go in fairly safe riding conditions. Compared to almost anywhere in the US, this is wonderful. I am a daily bike commuter and bike errand person, so I am on the streets daily. Now if we are talking about LA city or much of LA county, it's a different story. Bike lanes and safe on street bike routes are few and far between compared to the OC.

Bay Area has it's good and not so good. I lived in the East Bay for many decades, and on street routes there were a mixed bag. Some good, others marginal. The older areas generally had narrow or non-existant shoulders, so had to find routes where traffic was OK. Walnut Creek-Concord area had good conditions, but there are lots of traffic choke points and not a lot of alternative ways across town.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news: Santa Cruz and San Francisco aren't in Northern California. They're in Central California.

Northern California begins in Marin County.

Oh God don't start with that again.

Ok, Ok, I guess I should have been more specific: Irvine, CA VS San Jose, CA

Yeah, it's a ribbing we surfers give each other in California.

The "NORCAL" guys think they're hardcore. The only thing more hardcore about them is the amount of hair under their girlfriends' arms.


It's the SO-Cal surfers who consistently raised the bar throughout history, from wining world championships (Tom Curren) to Pipe Masters (Machado, Buran), to pioneering the North Shore (La Jolla Crew).


It's all in fun.

Nobody should get upset about it, as long as they understand that the SoCal guys rule.

I've never really had any major problems here in L.A.

Difference between SoCal and NorCal?

Surenos and Nortenos

And yes, they kill each other!

Well, it's nice to know that at least they don't discriminate against cyclists.

I don't know about that. California built it's first two state teacher's colleges, one for the northern part and one for the southern part of the state, in Chico and Sacramento. So for some people, not only would San Jose and San Francisco be in Southern California, but so would Marin County. The Colusa Meridian should be the dividing line.

Well to be accurate, it begins in Humboldt County. Anything south of San Francisco is really Mexico, check the original land maps.




Steven

Oh, I like riding up here better then when I was riding in San Diego.

LA drivers are rude to everyone including cyclists. There are so many cyclists in San Diego county , they sort of have to begrudingly accept us.

I dunno if we're "accepted" or not. We've already had one death this year.

Why is it the more I hear about California the more it sounds exactly like hell?

I live in Long Beach and the drivers here are very friendly. I haven't had a single problem * knocks on wood *

I was riding through Santa Monica on 6th street last week and I had taken the lane because its pretty narrow. This impatient guy in a BMW goes to pass me but hangs out in the other lane parallel to me and rolls his window down to ask me "Are you ********?!". To which I reply, "Maybe, but I am not the one driving on the wrong side of the road."

He angrily sped off.

Personally I love riding around in LA.

dang, there are so many things i miss about SoCal (was in SD and La Jolla), but the brain-dead drivers trying to run me over---whether i was on bicycle or motorcycle---i will never miss. but everything else, yeah, life was good there... fresh avocados, baja-mex food, karl strauss; the list goes on. i don't have much love for SJ, even though my grandma lived there until recently; but SF is fun.

on the other hand, the deadly freeze not withstanding, ithaca is such a bicycle-friendly town. i really like that aspect. we're moving to Oregon soon (Eugene); and from what i've read, my cycling life will only get better. Halelujah!

So what part of the state is Redding in?

Funny thing is, to the rest of the country, you all seem exactly alike.

Drivers in Los Angels are no better or worse than drivers in the rest of the country. I ran into just as many jerks while riding in the cycling Nirvana of Seattle as I do here in Los Angeles.

Temperature/ palm trees/ Redwoods/ a couple inches of rain.

As a LA person, I do feel that if you feel like "taking the lane" anywhere where there's traffic in LA during most commute/rush hours, you'll get a LOT of pissed off drivers, most of whom expect to have right of way. Unfortunately, our bike lanes on the Westside seem to "vanish" abruptly, then reappear, which gives cagers no idea of how much space to give us. I actually think that if the bike lanes are going to vanish every 4-5 blocks for large stretches, they should just remove them entirely - with a clearly labeled (but vanishing) bike lane, cars assume they can run me off the road or honk me out of the lane even if I'm in a "Bike Route" labeled road (with no bike lane.)

I definitely think parts of NorCal are alot better. Not sure about SF proper, but for sure, the Bay Area Palo Alto/stanford area is incredible for cycling and bike commuting. On any given decent Sat afternoon, you will see COUNTLESS cyclists on Alpine rd - where you'll see only a handful even on gorgeous San Vicente in LA.