Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment • Hacker News Board

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#51

Post by plants » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 3:23 PM UTC

ckemere wrote: post #9

Having just moved from Houston to Manhattan , I have been really impressed by the number of bikes I see. One factor, which this article doesn’t seem to discuss, is the e-bike. In Paris, is it mostly classical bikes, or are the electronics becoming widespread there too?

I imagine that’s just about the starkest within-US move you could make with regard to bike friendliness. I once made the mistake of visiting Houston without a rental car, and it was bleak. Welcome to NYC!

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#52

Post by HEmanZ » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 3:23 PM UTC

kindatrue wrote: post #15

"I really hope US cities head in this direction" The US is headed on the path of autonomous vehicles as the solution. It's the perfect combination of things our society loves: 1) No new public investment. 2) Continuous, end-to-end air conditioning

I suspect the US is going to get a super bifurcated urbanist result across cities in the next 20 years. Places like NYC, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco (maybe not these exact cities but you get the gist) are going to move strong towards European style urban infrastructure. It seems to be one topic that really does mobilize voters, especially younger educated voters, in these cities. It will in turn attract a lot more of these kinds of people, accelerating the change.

The rest of the US is just going to double down on sprawl.

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#53

Post by sod » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 3:24 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #30

I don’t get how you can make bicycling your only form of transportation, even if the bike travel infrastructure and parking is adequate. When I bicycle, even for a short amount of time like 15 minutes, I sweat, and end up a stinky wet mess at my destination. Especially in the summer. My shoes and pants get dirty from the road and my hair gets wet and messed up especially if it’s raining. So if I’m going anywhere with…

Cycling 15 km/h requires just as much power as walking.

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#54

Post by kfarr » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 3:24 PM UTC

offsign wrote: post #33

Title is misleading... the source Le Monde article states that use of certain bicycle paths has doubled (or tripled) in certain places , as investment has gone into improving these paths. That's great, but kind of obvious that if you build out dedicated bike lanes, cyclists are more likely to prefer them to alternate routes.

Even though it seems obvious you will find the majority of Americans fighting against bike lanes because they think nobody will use it. Having data to show causation like this is genuinely helpful for other countries and cities to follow their lead.

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#55

Post by handity » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 3:24 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #30

I don’t get how you can make bicycling your only form of transportation, even if the bike travel infrastructure and parking is adequate. When I bicycle, even for a short amount of time like 15 minutes, I sweat, and end up a stinky wet mess at my destination. Especially in the summer. My shoes and pants get dirty from the road and my hair gets wet and messed up especially if it’s raining. So if I’m going anywhere with…

If you ride at a reasonable pace and shift gears frequently to adapt to the terrain, you should never need to exert yourself so much that you'd break out in sweat. A gentle bike ride should feel pretty similar to a walk.

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#56

Post by seer » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 3:24 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #30

I don’t get how you can make bicycling your only form of transportation, even if the bike travel infrastructure and parking is adequate. When I bicycle, even for a short amount of time like 15 minutes, I sweat, and end up a stinky wet mess at my destination. Especially in the summer. My shoes and pants get dirty from the road and my hair gets wet and messed up especially if it’s raining. So if I’m going anywhere with…

Best solution is of course “shower at the office”. I worked for a company about 1h cycling away, and Sofia, Bulgaria is a hilly city, so cycling would involve quite a lot of exertion.

After some experimenting I found that my condition would be acceptable if I just change my t-shirt when I arrive.

My role was just your average dev so grooming requirements are a bit less than customer facing roles.

Also its all about temp management. I’d ware clothes that can be easily removed mid-journey so I can manage my temperature. Airy exercise t-shirts can cool you so well that if you don’t strain yourself too much you can avoid sweating altogether.

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#57

Post by taminka » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 3:25 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #30

I don’t get how you can make bicycling your only form of transportation, even if the bike travel infrastructure and parking is adequate. When I bicycle, even for a short amount of time like 15 minutes, I sweat, and end up a stinky wet mess at my destination. Especially in the summer. My shoes and pants get dirty from the road and my hair gets wet and messed up especially if it’s raining. So if I’m going anywhere with…

skill issue i’m afraid, when you cycle a lot a 15min bike ride is like a 3min walk, and most of the time if the temp is high you’ll sweat regardless

in that case, get an electric bike :)

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#58

Post by Tade0 » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 3:25 PM UTC

random_kris wrote: post #32

ryandrake wrote: post #30

I don’t get how you can make bicycling your only form of transportation, even if the bike travel infrastructure and parking is adequate. When I bicycle, even for a short amount of time like 15 minutes, I sweat, and end up a stinky wet mess at my destination. Especially in the summer. My shoes and pants get dirty from the road and my hair gets wet and messed up especially if it’s raining. So if I’m going anywhere with…

After biking for some months a 15min ride shouldn't get you too sweaty

Why should that be the case?

The amount of sweat is only correlated to the amount of heat generated.

Only way to counter sweating is to dress appropriately and/or ride slower.

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#59

Post by wnolens » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 3:26 PM UTC

ckemere wrote: post #9

Having just moved from Houston to Manhattan , I have been really impressed by the number of bikes I see. One factor, which this article doesn’t seem to discuss, is the e-bike. In Paris, is it mostly classical bikes, or are the electronics becoming widespread there too?

I bike in Manhattan and it's a dream. A literal grid of 20-30mph traffic, with a greenway up and down in case you want to avoid traffic entirely.

Re: Paris cycling numbers double in one year thanks to investment

#60

Post by teemur » Mon, Mar 18, 2024, 3:26 PM UTC

ryandrake wrote: post #30

I don’t get how you can make bicycling your only form of transportation, even if the bike travel infrastructure and parking is adequate. When I bicycle, even for a short amount of time like 15 minutes, I sweat, and end up a stinky wet mess at my destination. Especially in the summer. My shoes and pants get dirty from the road and my hair gets wet and messed up especially if it’s raining. So if I’m going anywhere with…

Won't help on dirt and rain (and limited help on upwind and uphill) but using a low enough gear you should be able to stroll around with similar strain as walking. And you need to be able to accept a slightly slower speed, which is often challening, at least for me.