Melissa Davis

I am strictly a commuter.

molten

Did PDay forget that the smallest one in class always got picked on, in school days.

molten

'Arkansas' has put up with the "challenging" of "San Diego" ? So how well does 'Arkansas' like OUR 'potholes' ? (no sic, no exagg). The gov has been too cheap to invest in road re-surfacing for all the $ that San Diego has.

molten

leadchucker: go further south of L.A. / Orange counties.

molten

Is LWB_guy one of those runners that be in the 'Bike Lane' ? In the way of Cyclists?

molten

Fantasminha -- I know why you "feel most comfortable" with your commuter: (a) it is the least of $; the least concern. IF destroyed by a car. (b) As that bike being a heavier bike to drive/control. Hence --- if no escape possible: more weight to use/defend against a car. More weight to damage the other.
As I have applied this Theory all the time.
A car's to damage a road bike is more severe.

molten

So out where degnaw is: there be no such (as being stopped/harassed/cited for) "Incomplete Stop"? "Without-Putting-Your-Feet-Down." ?

molten

subverita: you as an Ohioan (cyclist) be highly needed where I be located; but in the reverse situation --- of Ohio motorists.
In subverita's reply to the L.A. rider: subverita should come to the area of San Diego. San Diego seems to have the same gradation of roads as Ohio. Here, motorists will gladly cut-off a cyclist --- depending on how much space be taken & on the cyclist's body profile.

robbie_d

See my second post. It's in the introductions thread. It details how i ride.
Here is the link.

https://www.bikeforums.net/introducti...l#post18309818

JES600

I live in a rural area on a two-lane 45 mph road. If you actually go 45 mph in a car, you will be passed and honked at more often than not. To my knowledge, three people have been struck and killed by vehicles while getting their mail in the past five years. I don't ride my bike on this road because it terrifies me. The guys at the LBS even recommended that I never ride on this road.

Across the street is a K-12 school complex with sidewalks, 25 mph speed limits and lots of parking lots. When bus, parent and student traffic aren't going, I ride here. I can take this complex to a gravel road that connects to a park with miles of dirt trails. There's another park less than a mile further down the same gravel road with more dirt trails.

Basically, I ride my "hybrid" bike where and when I have the least interaction with car traffic.

ciaraco

Well, I cycle as a hobby, straight long road close by and sometimes I cycle to the local park which involves steep hills. I guess my current speed as a new cyclist is quite low (around 10-15mph).

molten

Don't let the pedestrians interfere with the Bike Lane.
Even more, as bicyles are said to be illegal to the sidewalk. Just because bikes are illegal to ride on the sidewalk in selected areas, pedestrians/joggers believe they have full rights to Bike Lane of the cyclists. They DON'T.

louiebk

I'm a runner but injury has forced me to start training for the biking and swimming portions of my goal to participate in a triathlon. I live in the city so there are plenty roads filled with bike, pedestrians, and cars!

Trace Syd

That's AWESOME, Deputyjones! Thanks for WONDERing with us!

fastturtle

I am 52 and I started going places on my bike at age 8, so it is a long story.

I live in a small city, about 40'000, and work in another one 35 km from home. Most of the time I commute by train, but using the train is made possible thanks to a short bicycle trip at each end; and these short trips are made easy thanks to a Brompton. And once in a while I cycle all the way, 70 km round trip, but clearly that would be too much for me to ride every day. I love cycling, but I wouldn't like my life to be limited to sleep-cycle-work-cycle-sleep.

And every other week-end I ride for pleasure, from short 60 km to long 200 or (very occasionally) 300 km rides, plus a few week-ends here and there, and usually a short one- or two-week holiday each year. All in all, this brings me to some 10'000 km per year, plus or minus 2'000 km, over the last 10 years.

Beside the Bromp, I mostly use a traditional-style, custom sized steel randonneur bike with fenders and hub dynamo. I have a more sturdy one for cycle travel, a mountain bike I use 2-3 times a year, an old semi-recumbent, and an old retrofitted road bike (also steel) that I use exclusively in summer for shortish rides.

I live between a lake and a small mountain range, so flat riding is possible but more or less limited to staying along the lake. To explore more varied places, you have to do some climbing, typically some 600 to 800 meters above the lake.

Trafic in the area is not too bad, with some cycling infrastructure, mostly bike lanes. On my way to work there are only 2 km which are rather uncomfortable. Some other roads are a bit scary at rush hours, but I ride them only on week-ends when they are much more quiet. Car drivers normally are reasonably respectful of cyclists. Although car is still clearly the dominant means of transportation, most people do ride a bike at least once in a while, so they know how it is like. At least during the summer. They tend to slowly forget from december to april.

I had two cycling accidents in my life (not speaking about stupid falls with no consequences). The first time during a cycling holiday I was hit from behind by some guy apparently not looking ahead of him, and sent flying into the grass. Fortunately the guy was driving distractedly slowly so I was not injured beyond some ribs that made for poor sleep during a few weeks. The bike suffered more damage but I managed to complete my holidays as planned.
The second time was just me and myself. I was flying downhill on a brand new recumbent when suddenly I found myself on the ground, slipping on ice with a broken femur.

What else ? I very much obey red lights, but tend to slip through stop signs, and interpret my way the obligation to use some uncomfortable cycle paths. I wear a helmet when I dress in lycra, which includes recreational rides and "full" commutes, but certainly not short Brompton trips or local errands. Actually, during all my falls and accidents, my skull or helmet never hit anything (not to say that it won't happen tomorrow).

boyleesquire

Bicycling has been my primary mode of transportation off and on since I was 19 (there were a couple of years that my commute was more than 40 miles one way). Currently I commute 5 miles in a solid 16.5 minutes on a '70s Raleigh with track wheels (fixed gear) and a front brake. Ninety percent of my miles are urban in 25mph zones with two to five lanes and lots of stoplights. I do my best to keep up habits which keep me visible/acknowledged, claim my safty needs, and represent the needs and goodwill of the rest of the bicycle community. The four main hazards I try to avoid are: right hooks, left crosses, doors, and lane sharing without sufficient space. To do this I usually ride centered in the lane and hold the position if I'm keeping with traffic or am going over 25 in a 25 zone. If I'm not feeling strong, or I distrust the driver behind me I turn onto a side street, or the bike lane if one is availible. I ride centered in the lane because thats where drivers look even if they never ride a bike, that's where I also have the best visibility, and that's how the road was designed to be used. I prefer to avoid bike lanes because they're made to get cyclist doored and traffic turning right usually doesn't check the bike lane before crossing it whether entering or exiting the road.

Jean3n16

I ride around town, which is 25mph and the sidewalks STINK! ( we dont have a city engineer). The roads arent much better but by a little.

wingedbulldozer

The bike is my main source of faster than leg travel, so it's becoming a part of me. That said, I stop at nearly every stop light (on the busier intersections of downtown and the highlands), and most stop signs (communities with stop signs and speed bumps annoy me, so I look both ways before crossing at moderate speed, especially at 0700 on a Saturday.) I ride mostly at night with a solid white front light, and a blinking rear. I don't wear a helmet, and I only ever have while in Iraq, or on a motorcycle, so you can lecture me all that you want as I refuse to change. I generally stay pretty safe as most of my riding is done at night and early morning (I work graveyard) and it seems that Louisville is getting a bit more friendly to cyclists. My ride generally are pretty mild, but range from downtown busy traffic to laid back park riding (and everything in between). I have yet to be hit by a car or have a serious spill, and the drivers give me space (most roads that I ride are 4 lanes).
Lastly, on my commute at night (2130-2200) I listen to music on my commute, as well as on my way home. Some may not agree, and that's their right, but I prefer to ride bikes (motorized or not) with music.

Rollfast

Still using the pedals.

TheNormanRider

I commute to work during the week, and ride for training or recreation (depending on my mood) on the weekend. Norman is a decent sized town, and my route has some bike infrastructure, but otherwise I'm riding on the street with traffic. What I hate most are the 2-lane roads, and I sprint those in order to get out of the way quicker. My favorite section is the street that takes me through the Oklahoma University campus, especially in the early morning. Occasionally I pass other cyclists and we greet each other, but for the most part the morning ride is quiet and peaceful, allowing me to prepare mentally for the day.

The afternoon going home is a little different. While not terrifying, I do have to ride with more traffic because I'm traveling during rush hour. My Cygolite gets switched to DayLightning mode so as to make sure I'm seen, but I don't use rear lights in the day; instead my high-viz jersey is relied on for visibility. I've actually had several close calls in the near 5 months since I began bike commuting, mostly motorists who are distracted, misjudge my speed and distance, or just plain don't care. But generally drivers do give me my space, which I appreciate a lot.

The state recently signed in to law the Idaho stop, which goes in to effect November. I don't blow through stop signs, but I do treat them already as yields, and will stop if there's an oncoming car that has right of way. I do stop, without exception, for traffic lights, and I've gotten pretty good at being able to trigger them so I get green, though 3 times I've had to proceed when safe because it just won't change.

My weekend recreation rides see me by the Oklahoma river near downtown OKC on a safe MUP. I pedal along, mind my own business, and take in the sights. I've had one close call with a pathlete who cut me off so close that my front tire nearly touched his rear tire, but I had to let it go, reminding myself that even on a MUP there are a**holes.

Other than that, I'm really happy that I've gotten in to the sport of cycling, and that it's something I get to do almost every day. I'm not quite at the level yet, however, where I will ride even if the weather is bad, but I do hope to stick with it through the winter, unless we get another infamous ice storm.

Awl

Very quickly since 'restoring' my road bike earlier this year my riding style has changed from recreational to commuting, 4,5 miles one way, with the occasional trip on the side, once every month on average. The trips were just to enjoy being on the bike, never more than 30 miles.

I started at first taking a main road that was 4-lane, no bike lane, no shoulder, 40mph limit. It quickly scared the hell out of me, so I found a new route that takes a little longer but is far less dangerous, plus more than half of it has a bike lane. Riding to/from work has pretty much trained me to ride efficiently, and has put me in the mood to take more serious trips once in a while.

Greggster

A few thoughts on flat vs drop bars, and fat vs skinny tires:
Orlando has made some bike-centric improvements by adding bike lanes and bike paths wherever they can. But their attempts fall short because many roads are already too narrow and shop keepers insist on maintaining convenient parking. We also experience a lot of road maintenance around town, so, bike lanes often end where construction or a row of parked cars begins. For me it adds interest having to constantly juggle between the road, sidewalk, and the occasional dirt/grass path. This is what the hybrid was built for – and it makes me wonder how the road biker contends with these challenges. My impression is that many of them feel entitled to the road as they zip through dangerous passages at a fast clip, and they may well be. But we've also experienced a lot of bicycling deaths due to collisions with cars. I can't help but think that riding fast, in a "heads-down" posture has something to do with it. So I've adopted a personal protocol for metropolitan riding. I've relinquished the desire for speed in exchange for a more casual, sightseeing appeal. With flat/riser bars and fat tires, I feel confident negotiating curb cuts and rough pavement. The "heads-up" posture facilitates readiness for sudden door and pedestrian hazards with my hands always near the brake levers. A quick trip for me averages 17mph, but I'm just as happy at 13mph. I think this attitude is in keeping with the better spirit of the adventure, which can also affect the way car drivers react to your presence.

Ryan12

Carefully, always carefully

coominya

I live in a city of 1.8 million with extended suburbs so I only typically ride Sunday's early when there is little to no traffic. I just discovered a network of bikepaths though, ones that run through parks and watersheds that lead from my outer suburb all the way to the city. I knew they existed a lot closer in but what a joy to find them out this far too. It's a totally different style of riding, you have to slow down a lot more, and you'll never do it comfortably on a racer, but a good hybrid eats them up as it allows you to go off onto the grass to pass or avoid pedestrians etc. These will allow me to ride any day anytime, 40km into the city and 40 back if I want.

bobwysiwyg

+1