on the topic of riding in the road
 

Is there a speed limit at which you are uncomfortable riding in the road? I feel unsafe around cars going faster than 40ish. Do you have a limit? Local ordinances in my area don't say anything about safe speeds, just that cyclists share the road with motorists. Does anybody live somewhere that there are more detailed rules regarding what kinds of roads, and at what speed it is considered safe to ride?

I have a hard time keeping up, but I often ride on roads with a speed limit of 65. It depends more on the road conditions really.

+1 if there's a good place to be riding I'm fine on 50+mph roads, which is handy cause in my rural area its almost all of them.

No.

FWIW, divided highways can be safer the slower roads because car traffic headed only in your direction of travel precludes left hooks, there are fewer places for cars to turn right in front of you, and the shoulders are often wider because they don't need to leave room for adjacent buildings.

Where the speed limits are under 50 are the urban areas with all the cars. The areas with speed limits over 50 are rural areas with few cars. Just stay off of the thruways and highways and you'll be fine.

What bothers me is heavy traffic, not the speed limit. The areas I ride where the speed limit is over 50 there are hardly any cars.

I did a cycling tour in Montana back in the '90s when Montana's speed limit was "whatever you consider to be safe" (or some legalese to that effect). Let me tell you, the first time a car passes you doing 100+ mph, it's an eye opening experience. The roads didn't exactly have shoulders either.

That said, there is NOBODY outside of the "cities" in Montana; we'd see maybe one car every 30, 40 minutes. We never had a problem (i.e., cars would go clear into the other lane) except with logging truckers. We became convinced that logging truckers received some sort of bonus based on how many people they kill.

I've logged my fair share of miles on roads with high speed limits. To me, it's not the speed limit, it's the volume of traffic. Occasional cars doing 60+ is no big deal, constant flow of traffic doing 30 is far scarier to me. I have no idea how people ride in cities.

I don't like to take the lane if the speed limit is >30mph. Around here where the speed limit is 25mph there is enough traffic, lights, etc... that I don't have a problem keeping up. I don't mind riding the shoulder on roads w/ 40mph limit (where people mostly go 50). When I have ridden on the freeway the shoulders have been even wider, and actually cleaner than the ones in town w/ 40mph limits, so didn't find that a huge obstacle. Still, there is no reaction time that can save you from a 65mph swerve.

Like everything in life: it depends. Many of the county roads I ride on are in fact highways, and the speed limit is 55. Cars usually go somewhat faster than that but the more important factors include road conditions, sightlines, pavement conditions, time of day, heaviness of traffic, and the type of driver on that road.

yeah 40 is my limit

My answer too. I've done some rides on the Blewett Pass Highway (US 97) which has a speed limit of 65, which means it's customary to do 80+ mph. Two lanes going up toward the pass. Big shoulder. I think everybody, every single driver, got into the passing lane to go by me while I rode in the shoulder with 20+ feet separating me from traffic. Was bliss.

There's a city street about a mile and a half from me with a limit of 35, I ride up a big hill or through a series of parking lots to avoid it.

There are a few major arterials in the Seattle area that I've ridden onto and immediately regretted, not because of speed per se, but speed combined with traffic volume. SR99 and 104 in Edmonds spring to mind.

Anything under 4 lanes and 35ish is fine by me.

Is there a speed at which I feel uncomfortable riding?

I'm not overly thrilled at anything over about 50-55 km/h. But fortunately I only hit those speeds going down decent hills.


Is there a speed at which motor vehicles travel around which I feel uncomfortable riding?

No.

My favourite roads are quiet country roads with a posted speed limit of about 60-80 km/h.

My second favourte roads are multilane highways with wide shoulders and a posted speed limit in excess of 100 km/h.

Sometimes it's also about the time of day. I've found the roads near a church to be especially frightening between 1130 and noon on Sunday mornings.

Slow moving cars that make sudden left turns (opposite side of the road here) are the most dangerous thing I come across. It seems like some drivers think one click of the blinker a half second before they turn is safe.

I was quite comfortable on a road with 60kmph speed limit, the highest limit I can find outside of an expressway, but some truckers do like to give cyclist a nice a squeeze to side of the road.

our rural roads are mostly 80km/h with a smattering of 90 km/h. they're fine.

The local roads where I ride (outside the town) are 90Km/h & a few are 70Km/h and it's 50Km/h in the towns so I guess the answer to your questions is no, I don't have a problem with the speed of the car traffic around me. There are cycle ways but the only time I use them is when it's obligatory otherwise I'm part of the local traffic. :)

This is an interesting point that I had not considered. Thanks for your input!

I don't have a choice. Any of the decent biking roads around here in Montana (see above post) have fast speed limits now. I often ride on roads that have 65 MPH speed limits and no shoulders. With that said, I only get passed once every 5 minutes or so, and generally the car goes all of the way into the other lane. It doesn't really bother me though. Just made me want to get a helmet mirror.

Wait, you feel unsafe if the cars are going over 40 or if you the rider are going over 40?

If you are in a large, congested city area like center city Philadelphia, that is a rarity. Where it does happen there is often a bike lane or the street is wide enough that it's not a problem. Also, more and more people are realizing that it makes no sense to speed up to the next red light. And you don't really have the problem of people flying past you and then turning into the strip mall or gas station right in front of you like you do when you ride somewhere like in developed S. Jersey. Riding in some big cities can be comfortable once you get the hang of it.

BTW...I have toured a fair amount in MT. The first year I rode there ('99) they had recently adopted speed limits again. Was just there again last year. I found the vast majority of drivers to be very courteous. And yes, outside of the cities and exurban sprawl (e.g., the Bitteroot Valley SE of Missoula) there ain't much traffic.

Did you know that every inch of Interstate Highway in MT is open to cyclists? Sometimes it's the only way to get between two points. I rode short stretches of I-90 a couple of times during a '11 tour there. It's wasn't as bad as you might imagine.

Where in MT are you? I love riding there. Just did another loop tour out of Missoula last year.

I pay no attention to speed limits. It is certain roads that I tend to avoid. I am not fond of narrow road with lots of curves that have no shoulder. Those types of roads tend to cause more issues. Also, roads in our town where cars back out of parking spots tend to be a little more dicey. I tend to ride in more rural areas though and they seem to be great. Light traffic and respectable shoulder areas, are great roads.

And Florida doesn't have to worry about potholes as much as other places. Sinkholes are probably a bigger issue than potholes. :)

GH

It depends on the road, not the speed.