Madrid is not that good for riding to commute even though ‘We are Europeans’ here.
The level of impatience I observed among drivers in Spain was pretty amazing. Europe is a diverse place.
Bicyclist pisses everyone off by ‘legally’ riding in the street (2020)
21–30 of 64 posts
Re: Bicyclist pisses everyone off by ‘legally’ riding in the street (2020)
#22The problem is he's slow; he's going something like 15 km/h in narrow lanes where drivers are expecting to be able to go 30 km/h.
Drivers can fuck off. There are not minimum speeds in urban areas.
And I guess bike can do that too?
Is that how you prefer to live your life, in a constant war?
How about each side respect the other - cars give bikes space, and bikes move over for faster moving cars.
Re: Bicyclist pisses everyone off by ‘legally’ riding in the street (2020)
#23Cyclists and cars should not be on the same roads. It's silly to pretend that drawing some chevrons on the road or making a law that you need to do whatever around cyclists will make a difference. People who want cycling options should be advocating for separate paths dedicated to cycling, with proper signals when they need to cross car lanes so there is no ambiguity
I wholeheartedly disagree. Wherever bicycles and cars share the same routes, at roughly the same speed, they should share the same roads - at a speed that is safe for everyone, so about 30km/h. For routes and speeds that are different (highways), roads should be separated.
Re: Bicyclist pisses everyone off by ‘legally’ riding in the street (2020)
#24Cyclists and cars should not be on the same roads. It's silly to pretend that drawing some chevrons on the road or making a law that you need to do whatever around cyclists will make a difference. People who want cycling options should be advocating for separate paths dedicated to cycling, with proper signals when they need to cross car lanes so there is no ambiguity
The absolutely can be on the same road - but bikes need to acknowledge they are slower than car, and act that way. Move over and let cars pass. And cars need to give bikes space when passing them.
If we just respected each other, it's easy to share.
And I say this as someone who rides both, about equally.
Re: Bicyclist pisses everyone off by ‘legally’ riding in the street (2020)
#25Cyclists and cars should not be on the same roads. It's silly to pretend that drawing some chevrons on the road or making a law that you need to do whatever around cyclists will make a difference. People who want cycling options should be advocating for separate paths dedicated to cycling, with proper signals when they need to cross car lanes so there is no ambiguity
It’s true, cyclists should not be on roads with cars. But they can share the same streets. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroad)
Streets that are cyclist-friendly are also pedestrian-friendly.
Re: Bicyclist pisses everyone off by ‘legally’ riding in the street (2020)
#26When cycling without bike lanes, I ride in the safest way I can: I often take up the middle of the lane at stopping intersections so that I get a turn in the queue and I have direct visual communication with drivers, and to eliminate at least one of the potential conflicts at the intersection. (Right hand turners from beside/behind in your lane.) I sometimes use a car in my lane as a "blocker" if I'm convinced it's n…
Wholehearted second this. The best advice to bikers who aren't traveling at kids speeds is "take the lane". Prevents dooring and being run off the road.
My only take is that I wouldn't be comfortable doing this if I didn't have proper lighting (front headlamp + Garmin Navia rear radar is huge confidence boost) and comfort in demanding drivers acknowledge my presence.
Re: Bicyclist pisses everyone off by ‘legally’ riding in the street (2020)
#27Cyclists and cars should not be on the same roads. It's silly to pretend that drawing some chevrons on the road or making a law that you need to do whatever around cyclists will make a difference. People who want cycling options should be advocating for separate paths dedicated to cycling, with proper signals when they need to cross car lanes so there is no ambiguity
I wholeheartedly disagree. Wherever bicycles and cars share the same routes, at roughly the same speed, they should share the same roads - at a speed that is safe for everyone, so about 30km/h. For routes and speeds that are different (highways), roads should be separated.
30 kph is absurdly fast for city bikes and really slow for cars on any long stretch of road. So it's only relevant for like 1% of roads that are very windy and only sport cyclists go.
Re: Bicyclist pisses everyone off by ‘legally’ riding in the street (2020)
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
Drivers can fuck off. There are not minimum speeds in urban areas.
And I guess bike can do that too? Is that how you prefer to live your life, in a constant war? How about each side respect the other - cars give bikes space, and bikes move over for faster moving cars.
You do realise the two things you are suggesting are contrary? How is the driver giving the cyclist space if they expect the cyclist to move out of their way?
The central issue here is that it’s simply not safe to ride over to the side, being constantly passed by fast moving cars.
As demonstrated in more civilised places, it’s easy for cars and bikes to coexist if people just adopt a different attitude. And that is, essentially, that the drivers must drop their insane entitlement and realise that being stuck behind a slower moving vehicle for a 30 seconds (or even a couple of minutes!) will have almost no effect on their life.
Re: Bicyclist pisses everyone off by ‘legally’ riding in the street (2020)
#29Cyclists and cars should not be on the same roads. It's silly to pretend that drawing some chevrons on the road or making a law that you need to do whatever around cyclists will make a difference. People who want cycling options should be advocating for separate paths dedicated to cycling, with proper signals when they need to cross car lanes so there is no ambiguity
I was downvoted for saying the same thing two days ago in a very constructive way. It seems this is a very contentious issue.
Re: Bicyclist pisses everyone off by ‘legally’ riding in the street (2020)
#30Cyclists and cars should not be on the same roads. It's silly to pretend that drawing some chevrons on the road or making a law that you need to do whatever around cyclists will make a difference. People who want cycling options should be advocating for separate paths dedicated to cycling, with proper signals when they need to cross car lanes so there is no ambiguity
Cyclists do demand it. It's just hard to fight against the car culture that's built up in the US.
I think the things to break it will be a) better mass transit options b) more WFH and c) cheaper e-bikes so longer commutes/grocery trips can be done without a car.