Which areas are the least bike-friendly
 

I keep hearing about how cagers are yelling at cyclists, throwing stuff, etc... It seems like a regular event. I've been riding the roads for a year and a half now, and only once has someone yelled "get on the sidewalk!!!" and even then it was some dumb college kid with a pretty girl in the car who he was probably trying to impress.
I've never had anyone buzz me, swerve at me, throw anything, or honk in anger (people sometimes honk, but it's the light tap on the horn just to let me know they are there...).

I live in a suburb of New Haven CT so perhaps people are just laid back cuz it's the burbs? It's also a college town, but these aren't cool college kids. they are stuck up jerks who are greatly less considerate than the townies.

So where do you find you have all these trouble with drivers? Cities? Country? Burbs? North? South? East cost? West coast?

Before Ike hit, Galveston, Tx was one of the least bike-friendly places I have ever ridden. Strange that, since much of the area's economy was based on tourists.

i hate to say this, but its pretty much as simple as "blue" and "red" on an election map.

and i mean a by county map, not a by state map. hence why austin, TX is alright, but bakersfield, CA probably leaves something to be desired.

I travel from Chicago, where I live, to the suburbs and I find the suburbs much more friendly than the city. The city has higher congestion and greater road rage in general. Schaumburg, where I work, is very bike friendly.

Michael

Miami, FL.....

-no bike lanes
-no shoulder on most roads
-40+ mph traffic (minimum) everywhere
-elderly drivers
-a lot of people driving under the influence because of the nightlife

I don't like to generalize but I participate in a non-bike forum that is vaguely , but not explicitly political. On said forum there was a thread concerning bicyclists. It was interesting so see where people came from vis-a-vis their pro/con stance on sharing the road.

It more or less corresponded with what Bbnet3000 describes. The words "damn hippies" were invoked often to describe bicyclists who were, in all likelihood, nothing of the sort.

bf

New York City is not all that bike friendly, though they are trying to change this.

This'll be the most accurate answer no matter how many pages this thread reaches.

You live in New England. I'm not surprised you haven't had many problems.

[QUOTE=BBnet3000;7606403and i mean a by county map, not a by state map. hence why austin, TX is alright, but bakersfield, CA probably leaves something to be desired.[/QUOTE]

Bakersfield CA? I lived there for 8 years commuted to work and rode into the mountains into Sequoia National Forest (yes I know the bike path doesn't go up there, but I would take the path to it's end then make my way to Breckenridge, 178 was too dangerous), then once a year I went the opposite way onto 119 to 33 to Ojai then 150 to Carpinteria onto the 101 to Jameson then into Santa Barbara. The riding variety and all year round riding weather was fantastic...although the heat of the summer between July and August made it almost unbearable to ride. But I found Bakersfield to be one of the better places to ride, next to Santa Barbara and most of the So Cal coastal region this was one of favorite places. I miss riding in the Bakersfield area, if my position didn't ask me to leave I would have stayed, I could have stayed but the sacrifice of a comfortable retirement later would have been too great.

What was it about Bakersfield you didn't like?

i know nothing of it, i literally just pulled a red county in a blue state out of my ass as an example.

as i was doing it i was thinking it was probably a bad idea. california in general has pretty new and modern roads. still, this thread was more about the attitudes of people, which you didnt mention in your post.

Most places around here are bike friendly. The exception I've found is up in Monroe, WA. This photo (linked due to NSFW hand gesture by cyclist posing in pic) is of a sign tacked to a utility pole along the Tour de Cure route (also used for the Flying Wheels Summer Century, and a couple other century rides starting from Redmond, WA.) A few of the mouthbreathers living along that road don't take kindly to cyclists. During the FWSC we were actually buzzed a couple of times by the same driver, until somebody hucked a water bottle into his open window.

Click here to see the picture.

I'm thinking you pretty much described most of Florida, except for Gainesville. I live in a fairly small county in Florida and it's pretty dangerous. I've been hit twice. One serious and one minor. I've been buzzed, threatened, cut off, harassed, had stuff thrown at me, you name it. We have a combination of antiquated infrastructure, elderly drivers, and rednecks. Quite a challenge.

I find I-95 is not bike friendly.

I know smart ass right.

That is so BS. Just like the Belief by many that cyclist must be liberals. Hawaii is a blue state where every county is blue by a huge margin. Hawaii has some of the rudest drivers towards cyclist.

I even had a co-worker (a manager to boot) who is true blue as can be; intentionally buzz me in the company truck, just for fun.

Sounds like you and Uke make a good pair, just pull things out of your ass and claim them to be fact.

Hawaii is not really U.S. :p

The pan handle seemed friendly.

I know, Canadians think we are part of Canada. You should see how many Canadian school teachers we have here.:p
And the politics match up pretty close as well.

Maybe it is our preception. I have had people yell at me, honk and generally act stupid. It has been ignorant rednecks, fat women in minivans, little skinny guys in a lexus or acura with a necktie I coulda...nevermind. I dont really see a connection. There are ignorant DA's everywhere. The longer I ride the less often I notice the sillyness. I try to focus on the 1000's who pass me uneventfully everday.

I find urban areas are better here than "suburbs". I got a lot more road rage riding a few miles outside of our downtown, than I did right in the heart.

In years of reading cycling forums, blogs and touring journals, the only place that strikes me as bike-unfriendly is Florida. Surprising because I'd expect a flat state with no winter to do good.

There is no "area", imo. It is perception, and who you meet. I am sure that plenty of cyclist do rude stuff to drivers as well. The red state blue state sounds like a weak observation.

I agree. Orlando has recently made an attempt to become more bike friendly my making roads with wide shoulders or bike lanes, but the attitude of people hasn't changed at all. Even when I'm on the shoulder more than a foot to the right of the white line, I still have people yell or throw something at me at least once a trip. I've had cars pass me recklessly on left hand turns while i was taking the lane. I've even been almost hit by a driver taking a right hand turn that had a "Watch for Bikers" sticker on his car. I guess bikers only refers to people on motorcycles :rolleyes:

I beg to differ. Lafayette, La is quite conservative, yet is also trying to be bike friendly. I am seldom buzzed and have never had anything thrown at me around here.

Effective Cycling is taught in the public schools & the Metro Planning Organization has a bike planning committe composed of actualy cyclists.

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.