I hate this town!!!
 

So Ive lived in this town with factorys all over the place and a lot of ******** on the road. Much more then I have ever had to deal with. But go figure I found a decent job here. But there isnt much for bike lane or even safe roads. But where I use to live I had zero problems and the bike lane went for more the 10 miles across town. So here is the thing ive been wanting to relocate to a different city with that was like the town I use to live in in wisconsin. I have a problem with some moron every frickin day it seems like and I find myself getting mad. I want to beable to bike in peace and not have to look over my shoulder every ten sec to see if im going to get hit by someone. I dont trust any driver. They are all morons for all I know. So should I move or suck it up??

I don't if I could handle that! I know when I find myself on a narrow not so great road with traffic I pull the novice biker trick. When I hear a car coming I wobble and weave a little. I find they give me lots of room when passing and I feel more comfortable. That wouldn't work well for heavy traffic.

I'd give up the bike. Whoever coined the term, "joy ride" wasn't riding a bike.

As soon as I read factories and crap roads I knew you were in Indiana. :p I thought MI roads were bad till I had to drive through Indiana.

Every city has suburbs. Practically, every suburb has some mass transit line into or near a major city hub.

If cycling brings you happiness and is a significant part of your life, then move to a suburb. Ride your bike towards the major city hub. When you get to a bus or train line that can deliver you closest to your place of employment, stop and take the train or bus. Next, cycle the last leg into work.

Sounds feasible, but may not be applicable in your particular situation.

PS.

On the weekends, just cycle in the suburbs and rural areas.

I feel your pain. I only ride for pleasure, but sometimes it sure doesn't feel like it. Due to the rampant corruption and misappropriation of funds here in IL, the roads are oftentimes horrible, and when they do fix them they take 2 weeks to fill in a small pothole. And don't get me started on the drivers. I lived in southern IL for some time, and the people were great, but up here, they are truly awful. It's like every a-hole's goal to get as close to you as possible.

I've been thinking about getting a Delta Airzound bike air horn. 105db I believe. I've heard some great stories of these things saving people and making for an overall safer ride.
http://www.amazon.com/Delta-Airzound...=15H5OABL3NL9T

call local law enforcement in the towns you commute through, explain you are now bike commuting, ans them to show their presence to help make the route safe. and add strobes. I have 2 one on my rear rack and another on my left drop bar. I found a strobe helps and having a second on my left drop bar helped even more

The morons are there if you drive or ride your bike whereever you are. The way you said look over your shoulder I kinda wonder if you have a mirror, I think a mirror made me feel safer than any other purchase. I have been riding for years, I would not ride without one. No matter where you ride dont trust anyone, ever, even if you are in a bike lane. I dont know which little town you live in or where you could move to, but Indy is getting to be pretty bike friendly.

What town in Indiana are you in? Here in Kokomo, the City is starting to take biking serious. They have added a lot of trails now, and with the Nickle Plate being expanded it is going to make riding a lot safer.

I am fortunate enough to say that I haven't had to realize any of the economic downturn in my personal life so it would be easy for me to say that I wouldn't live in such a place but my life revolves around Eco-recreation so it is still likely I wouldn't live in such a place. Good luck mister.

Can you take another route that is not as dangerous? I've added a couple miles to my daily commute by avoiding a dangerous stretch of road. Makes the ride more enjoyable. Besides, I'm on my bike longer, how can that be bad?

we have a steady supply of morons of our own, and then we import 10's of thousands of more to work and study at the university. Just remember they live in a hell of their own making, and ignore them if you can.

That came to my mind as well.

I also used to think that every motorist was out to get me, but that was until I bought a couple of video cams and learned that was not so. I learned that I had positioned myself in the roadway to let motorists pass me closely.

Yes, I was thinking that the other day. I have changed my riding style a lot and minor things can change how motorist react to you. For a minor example last summer when it was real hot my calfs crampled up when I stopped for a while at a stop light. So I pulled over closer to the curb so I would not have to extend so far and just flat foot it on the curb. Suddenly I started getting right hooked all the time, I mean a couple of times a week instead of monthly or less. Soon as I quit doing that I quit getting right hooked. To the drivers I think it looks to them like I aint going anywhere so they can turn in front of me or something. Little things cause big differences in how much you enjoy commuting by bicycle.

Know how you feel -- Try going into Fred mode (if you haven't already).
 

Used to do the Indiana commuting as well. Now in NC and don't have as many problems but do get some heckling from time to time. My solution to the problem was to stop wearing colorful lycra. I dress like a Fred now with mismatched clothing and reflectors everywhere. It's worked wonderfully. I guess everyone figures I'm mentally handicapped now and feels sorry for me. Another guy at work also switched to Fred mode and he's seen a big difference too.

Yup, I'll second the notion that little things can make a big difference.

I have two big mirrors mounted right at the end of my handlebars. You might wonder if two is absolutely necessary? Maybe not, but there are places where the one on the right gives you a bit more view than just the one on the left. Yes, it gives my handlebars a horribly wide profile and those who think freds are nerds probably think that I'm the king of nerds. I don't care; being able to see just what those motorists are up to as they approach me is immensely valuable.

I dress in bright colors -plenty of red seems to work well- and wear a reflective vest. I'm even considering using the strobes front and rear in the daytime. Motorists really do show respect for this sort of stuff. On average, that is. There's a few jerks who just don't care. But they really are only a few.

I also have surrendered my right to use main arteries as much as possible. I'll admit that I resent the necessity, but this is my life we're talking about. Until the roads become more civil I'm just gonna have to eat it. When available, I turn off onto 25 mph residential roads. I'll also get off the main highway and go through strip mall parking lots. At one point on my commute I turn off a go a fairly long way out of my way to avoid a frantic and dangerous intersection. Though it bothers me that I have to do this, the ride is so much less nerve-wracking.

There are still a few bottlenecks; places where there's no alternative and I must ride the main road for a few stretches. In those places I go through as seriously as I can, trying to show by my body language that I'm moving and trying not to hold up the cars. Sometimes there'll still be a pack of cars passing me, one after the other, just too close. At those times I get off the road and stop and wait for a break in traffic that I can jump into and get on through. It doesn't really take all that long.

And it doesn't make my commute so much more difficult physically or length-wise. The principle of having to abandon the road for these selfish creeps does bother me. But if I forced my way back in, then I'd be putting myself at too much risk of death or maiming. As it is, my commute is more relaxed. Under the circumstances, that'll have to do.

Don't look like a guy who's out there on a borrowed, 30 yr old ten speed because he has no choice and is hating every minute of it. Such a situation gives a window on humanity's dark side; the motorists treat such people as if they deserve to be run over.

Instead, look like a guy who chooses to be there, knows what he's doing and dresses for the situation. A large 'most' of the cars treat such people with a bit of respect anyway.

+1, on Moving.. :thumb:

+1 on the mirror. It makes you look super Freddy, but if you're riding on a fast, crazy road without a shoulder, it can help your situational awareness.

Amen brother. I share my commute with these knuckleheads.

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/p.../IMGP4843b.jpg

No offense, but 98% of American isn't constructed like this. You're describing major urban centers that have well-developed public transit systems.

Sorry, but most Americans live in and around major urban centers....

About 58% of Americans live in urban areas of more than 200,000 people. (Census) However, far fewer than half live in what most folks would consider a "major urban center" or large city. Of those that do, fewer still live in the type of urban environment that you describe, with an efficient transit system that serves the burbs'. I'm guessing based on your location in Northern California that you live near the bay area? If so, that certainly fits (along with places like Boston, DC etc) but even those places are far from bike-friendly in most suburbs.

So you must not think that 200,000 people are a large enough population to be considered as "major"...

By itself? Not even close. If you had a minimum of 5 cities that large all sharing borders, then maybe you would get to "major."

Where I live, the center city has a population of 150,000, but that at least doubles if you include all the contiguous surrounding towns. Each of the surrounding towns is reached by one or two bus lines that generally don't run more than once every half hour, some once every hour. It's better in the center city, depending on where you live. It's my understanding that our bus system is actually pretty good for an area/population of this size. We just don't have the population density to support more than that.

According to the US Census Bureau, a population density of 1,000/Sq.mi, with at least a total population of 50,000, is classified as an Urban Area. Less than that, it's an Urban Cluster.

So, I guess it would all depend upon your city's population, divided by the city's area in square miles.

Hmmm...interesting. Especially when considering the possible inaccesibility of mass transit accommodations.

Is that a typo? New York City comes in at only 27000 to 28000 per sq mile.

Yes! Thanks!

There are essentially, two types of urban areas:

An urbanized area = 1,000+/sq. mi (at least 50,000).... An urban cluster is less than 50,000.

I've never lived somewhere with 200,000 people and had it considered major.

Heck, I live in an MSA of 1.3 million and it's only considered major by the locals. Dallas people laugh at us.

That makes sense. Where I live is definitely an urban area, I'm not arguing that. I'm just saying it takes a certain size and density to make extensive public transit possible, especially public transit that serves people beyond the core city of a smaller urban area. I actually ride the bus a lot when I'm not biking, but I work 3 blocks from the bus station downtown (where most of the routes converge), and I actually studied the bus routes before choosing to buy my house. I'm right on a "spoke" and work near the "hub," so it works well for me, but it doesn't work well for a lot of people. I've lived in/near three mid-sized cities (Buffalo, Syracuse, NY, and Springfield, MA) and that's how it worked in all three. Buffalo was the only one that had a train, and it is (or was at the time) a single line that ended at the city limits.

I hope we haven't strayed too far from the OP's question. He/she didn't provide a lot of information about the city, but for me it brought to mind the small to medium bluecollar "mill town" type cities that are prevalent in the east and midwest. I could certainly be wrong about that.

Interesting discussion. I live in a suburb (Whittier) of a major metro area (Los Angeles) and I do use the Metro train in addition to my bicycle routes. I live 6.5 mi. from the Metro station, and while we do have our share of morons, the vast majority of my commute is on major streets without bike lanes (not that morons respect bike lanes either).

That said and with my morning commute in the dark (pretty much) all year long (at work by 6:30AM) I am treated fairly well by both the normal morons and the moron-elite. Yes, I have lots of flashing lights and reflective bits on the bike and helmet, plus I wear a neon yellow/green vest with reflective stripes . . . but all that wouldn't faze a moron-elite.

I don't use a mirror, essentially because I ride a folding bike and the mirror restricts the fold, but haven't found that a problem. Maybe I should try a helmet mounted type? Anyway, thanks to everyone for all their input on this thread. Just another reason I try to check in on the commuting forum fairly often.

Rick / OCRR