Toronto is fairly bike friendly -- bike lanes, free bike maps, a bike month encouraging cycling, local and federal politicians who regularly bike to the office, loads of people using the bike lanes, and riding in the streets. And I keep hearing there are plenty more bike lanes coming soon, so that'll be handy.

The oddest "get on the sidewalk!" came from some goof in a suv while I was riding in the bike lane (an actual solid white line with signage bike lane) a few months ago. I guess some people haven't heard that bikes are legal on the roads.

As far as no go areas are concerned, that's more like where do I feel safe riding, whether it's busy traffic area or if the area is kind of dodgy. I rode today on a bike lane that runs from a fairly touristy area to a real run down and down and out neighbourhood, to a neighbourhood with one of the highest incomes in the country. I'm cautious riding through it during the day, but wouldn't think about riding it in the dark. There are plenty of busy busy busy cars racing at maximum speed streets that I avoid like the plague since I definitely can't keep up, or feel safe riding. Luckily there are plenty of alternatives.

Most people are positive about cyclists. It's the cyclists who openly mock the rules of the road who inspire the most angry comments I've heard. I've seen plenty of cyclists who are mindful of stop signs, signaling turns, but a few rush through stop signs and practically race around pedestrians at intersections. Typically, those are the ones people remember the most.

My area (east valley in Phoenix-metro area) is pretty bicycle friendly. There are tons of cyclists on the roads. Many do it "Amsterdam style," meaning they will ride anywhere with anything or anyone on their bikes. There are many bike lanes and MUP's, although the system is imperfect, especially when it comes to the lanes which sometimes suddenly end for no particular reason. The laws allow for riding on street, bike lane, sidewalk, etc., and no one yells to "get on the sidewalk." I have never been attacked or had anything thrown at me. I had never even thought about that type of trouble until I started reading on this forum.

I read somewhere that Mesa and Tempe were listed as some of the most bicycle-friendly areas in the country, and Scottsdale has signs at the border declaring themselves a bicycle-friendly city. So it must be true, right? ;)

The main concern is inobservant drivers, which exist everywhere. I always assume that folks aren't paying attention and wait for them to prove me wrong. Most of the time, they do. :)

...The worst horror stories I've seen on this forum (outside of Critical Mass episodes) came from Texas. As previous posters pointed out, that may be region/county-specific.

I don't think it's whole geographic areas as much as it is demographics of drivers. I've done bike rides in rural Kentucky, and every driver I encountered looked at me like I was from Mars, but was polite and did their best not to kill me. In the Ballard neighborhood in Seattle, which is ostensibly a bike-friendly area, I've had drivers buzz me and/or throw things at me just because I was on the same road as them. In general, I'd say the vast majority of motorists I've encountered have been quite decent, but I have encountered occasional hostility from the following groups of drivers:

1. Elderly drivers
2. Drivers of BMWs
3. College students (not most, but those who are hostile go out of their way to be so)
4. Recent immigrants to the US (especially from China & India)
5. Suburban white kids who think they're gangstas (oddly enough, the real gang-type kids are fairly respectful toward bicyclists in my experience)
6. Metro bus drivers (the most terrifying drivers of all, due to the combination of size, poor driving skills, and latent hostility)

Fort Worth, Texas, seems to be ....mmmmm... okay I guess, but getting better. Local civic and industry officials are very open to initiatives that aid bicycle travel and commuting. One of the biggest local employers, Lockheed Martin, opened up shower areas to employees who bicycle in and are working to improve bike trail access to their main plant. Fort Worth and other communities in the area are open to designating official bike routes. People? Well, there are jerks everywhere, and I've encountered one or two. But mostly people are pretty accommodating. I try to be a friendly cyclist; maybe that helps.

Spain
 

Hi,

Spain is not very bike friendly, though some cities like Barcelona and Seville are making hard efforts to become bike cities.

There is a 70 km loop around the city of Madrid (http://www.munimadrid.es/UnidadWeb/U...deCiclista.pdf) and also a fantastic bike lane with concrete wall that keeps you from motorists and that allows you to reach the mountains safely. But when riding inside the city is the matter, you enter into the wild west. No lanes or bike parkings and a poor consideration from cars and alikes. Both sides of the coin.

Regards.

This pretty much describes Columbus, Ohio as well. There are a lot of weird areas where there is literally no option for cyclists or pedestrians (lots of areas don't have sidewalks, either). Example: I live less than a 1/2 mile from my girlfriends house, but it's a 6.5 mile ride by bicycle. There's a highway between my house and hers, and no direct way to cross it without taking a pretty major detour. Another example: I live 5 miles from work, but I can't bike there, because the only road between my apartment & my job is a death trap (narrow 2 lane road, no shoulder, no traffic lights, no street lights, LOTS of 50+ MPH traffic during the morning rush hour).

There are a few bike paths in the metro area, but only one of them goes anywhere useful for a commuter (downtown), and only a couple of them are long enough for recreation cyclists to get any use out of.

There are some nice rural areas to rec-ride outside of town, but they're mostly narrow country roads w/o shoulders, plagued by the typical inattentive "country" driver. I've been buzzed more times than I can count, by people who probably never even noticed me.

-DR

What a stupidly ignorant statement.

Wow, you and I must ride in different parts of town, as I have been yelled at, had things thrown at me, and been run off the roads enough times that I stopped riding when there.

In contrast, I have never even been so much as honked at in Louisville, KY.

Hmmm, sorry to hear that. At the risk of jacking the thread, I wonder if it is due to riding style, speed, or appearance? I ride mostly downtown, south & east of there.

Northeastern NJ, from Newark up through Bergen/Passaic is pretty bad. It's the most highway/mall-heavy part of the state.

I agree with the premise of this thread. When I first started commuting, I started reading this site, and the threads here got me really worried at times. I figured I'd get honked at, squeezed, things thrown at, etc daily.

I've been riding daily for nearly 4 years now, and it's been over a year since I was even honked at. I probably haven't been honked at more than 4 times in 4 years and > 15000 miles. And one of those was my fault, I was at a 4 way and didn't see a car to the right that had the right of way, I was more worried about the left-turner in front of me.

I'm sure it's highly dependent on where you ride. However, after seeing some of the helmet cam video some posters have pointed to, I think it does depend a lot on your riding style as well; if I rode like some of these guys do, I'd have people honking at me constantly, and honestly I'd probably have gotten multiple tickets by now; I see cops fairly regularly, and they DO pull over cyclists occasionally.

Campus and to the North and West.

+ lots of immigrant drivers that bought their license off the back of a crackerjack box...
+ texting/makeup applying/eating while driving...

Not the Atlantic City area.
there are bike paths and bike lanes but they are strictly for dog walkers and strollers.

Philadelphia is pretty bike-friendly. Lots of bike lanes, and they're making more. Tons and tons of hipsters with SS/Fixies in the heart of the city, darting in and out of traffic, not obeying any traffic laws (no helmets, either). I think the cagers are used to it. I've only been yelled at once ("get on the f***g sidewalk!").

Here in WNY, Buffalo is pretty easy to ride around, not necessarily bike friendly but navigational. The Burbs where I live and head out from isn't bad either, it's where the two meet, something about Suburban drivers when they hit the city line they are nuts but hten mellow out after a couple miles (and thin out too)

Let me guess... another red stater got his feelings hurt?

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In my mind, "bike friendly" is about a lot more than whether a person throws something at you. That's just a measure of *******s in your area, not bike friendliness.

Road building, city planning, bike racks, etc. all have much more to do with bike friendliness for me.

Chicago is pretty bike-friendly. Sure, I've had some incidents here and there, but you're going to get that anywhere you go - stupid people are everywhere.

It's always an interesting read on a topic like this. I grew up in SoCal and even when I was a kid, there were bike lanes, bike racks and I was never once honked at. Apparently, a lot has changed since then.

Here in the ATL, there are precious few bike lanes in suburban areas (excluding the Decatur area), the roads are narrower, twistier at times and kids aren't "allowed" or whatever to walk, skate or cycle to school in my county. Most of the cyclists I see on my commute routes are riding on the sidewalks or the grass - many times against traffic. Half of them don't have helmets or lights even at 6:30 in the winter. It just reinforces the misunderstanding that bikes aren't allowed on the roadways. Where you ride is your choice, but trying to cover 20 miles in 1:15 twice a day, four days a week isn't going to happen on the sidewalks with my road bike, thank you very much.

I would describe my area and state as very bike unfriendly. I've only met one non-cyclist who didn't ask me about the safety of riding on the road or just come right out and say I'm crazy for riding in the road - my wife included.

My opinion is that it's a mixture if infrastructure and public perception. 90% of the people here are courteous and conscientious. The other 10% are mis-informed, angry, beat their wives and children or worse.

It amazes me how often I get harrassed even though I'm large and fit and on a really bad day I have enough pent-up anger to rip the mirrors off someones' car. Actually, one time some local cyclist did exactly that and it was all over the newspaper. My Mother-in-law even asked if it was me! Of course, to be fair, the day I had my accident, I made the morning TV news. Seeing a white bike laying tango-uniform in the middle of an intersection with 2 fire engines, an ambulance, 3 cop cars and a large crowd makes for really good television!

I'd have to say that riding legally and predictably with on over-indulgence of visibility aids has helped, but who knows. I'm sure I annoy plenty of people with my very presence.

Where I live, a suburb of Minneapolis, I'd say it's about quite bike friendly. Bike friendly in the sense that drivers are quite laid back and in typical Minnesota fashion, not eager to piss off their neighbors. You can tell they've tried to make the roads safer by putting in shoulders and they are now trying to pass a North-South bicycle artery through the city.

Other suburbs, however, are not so friendly. It's sad to say but these are suburbs where the average income is not as high, hence a lessened push for alternative transportation. No shoulders and for some reason more aggressive neighbors. Again, sadly, these are the neighborhoods which could benefit from more public and alternative transportation initiatives.

The only addendum I would add to the above is this:

A "red" driver who feels outnumbered in a blue area will be the worst.

Pinko Hippy jim

For what it is worth, I am a liberal in a red state and found the original statement borderline ignorant.

And I am a milia member in a true Blue area of a blue purple state.

Philadelphians are pretty friendly to bikers at least that is how I experience it.

For what it is worth, many conservatives see improvement of bicycling infrastructure as a socialist plot snuck in by closet 'reds' on their city councils. These improvements use up scads of tax dollars and only benefit tax-skirting hippies on their hippie cycles or lycra-clad Obama voters who want to take our guns, doggone it!

bf

Let's not go there, I sometimes carry my gun on my bike (CCW holder).