Leinster

So his comparisons with Chicago, NYC and Davis are completely valid.



San Francisco is right out, mind.

SirHustlerEsq

Most of the vid is spot on. I don't like bike lanes because I don't want to travel on my bike at "bike lane speeds", I travel at car speeds or faster. I should also note that I was recently pulled over on my bike and warned by police for using the left lane of a four lane road to pass cars. This brings me to my second point, Americans in cars are disengaged from driving and city management dislike cyclists.

RollCNY

In all fairness to his video, I stopped watching about 1 min in when he shows two cyclists on what looks like a gorgeous mountain road, cycling two abreast where they shouldn't be, and he asks, "Why would anyone cycle here?". It is right after his little jab about cyclists using their cars to transport their bike to ride, and I am sure he is referring to the fast moving traffic and safety. However, if someone can't see the allure of riding on a road with mountains in the back ground, I am not keen to hear their "insights".

Leinster

Agreed with that. His dismissive attitude to the notion that anyone would drive-to-ride really didn't lend to his credibility.

softreset

As someone who works in Davis, CA and rides there regularly, I thought it was pretty neat that he featured the town. Davis also has bike-specific traffic lights although there's only a few and they're near the off-campus freshman housing. I will say that Davis is a huge melting pot for cyclists, more diverse than any other small non-metropolitan city that I've seen. It's a college town with ~ 25,000 undergrads and you pretty much see everything on the road. There's an extremely active cycling club, there's multiple cycling teams and there are a whole lot of commuters.

It's also pretty easy to discern the difference between a commuter/college student going to class and one of the 'more serious' riders headed out of town to train. That's the lycra guy he references, I've yet to see a student in lycra going to class in the 4 years I've worked in town.

Ferrous Bueller

It may have been a bit unfair to point out the riders two-abreast. But that road really doesn't have a good enough shoulder for safe riding. You and I may have ridden roads like that a lot. But the Dutch would have a separate pathway parallel to any road that wide or busy.
Tour de France notwithstanding, cyclists in Europe don't ride on multi lane highways. Alpine roads cyclists use in France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany are low speed affairs. No bikes allowed on the Autobahns.

ConGrUenCy

I've read that Dutch drivers are taught to open the car door with the hand farther away from the door. In the US, you'd open the door with your right hand, since this will force you to turn around and look behind for approaching cyclists. This protects cyclists from being doored.

Leinster

Bikes aren't allowed on Freeways in the US either, and I've cycled on multi-lane highways in Ireland and France (and Australia); more often than not as a link to get to more bike-friendly roads, but it's far from uncommon to see cyclists on the shoulder in Europe, similar to those clips he showed in the US.

It's over 20 years since I last cycled in Holland, and I was 12 at the time, so I can't really comment on how separate the infra is there, but I'd bet there are places where a cyclist will ride unseparated from the traffic on a busy road. Again, though, that's where more courteous and understanding drivers come in; an Irish, Aussie or American driver might well try and run you off the road for transgressing onto his territory.

Ferrous Bueller

I'll take that bet.
I lived there last year and for several years prior. Roadways as fast or busy as the one in the video would be classified as 'A Series'. Those are the Dutch Interstates. Bikes have separate pathways or roadways. Don't forget they've been spending 10% of their transportation budget on bike infrastructure.
The difference is real. I recommend another visit. But not now: wait until April/May .

RollCNY

I may be going off topic slightly, but there are many cultural differences in the US that also impact bicycle commuting, other than safety of riding alongside cars. Hygiene is an obsession in the US that can get in the way. I have an 11.5 mile commute, and I ride many times per year. My coworkers are not so much amazed that I ride, as they are amazed that I can't shower after the ride. In the cycling group that I ride with, many of them won't commute for the simple fact that they can't clean up before getting into their office clothes.

I am not defending or rationalizing, only saying that there are significant differences in cultural norms between the US and Europe, and building bike lanes won't do crap for many of them. Like the fact that most folks in the US assume that every bicycle commuter only does it because they are required by law to.

Leinster

That's not a cultural difference. I know plenty of people who work indoors in Europe (UK, France, Ireland) who don't commute by bike because they can't shower, or commute by bike because their office has showers. Some bring 5 clean shirts in on Monday and leave them at their desk etc. I used to ride the 6 miles each way to my job on a construction site in Dublin, and didn't feel the need to take a shower on arrival there. Similarly, I had no problem biking to work in Jack In The Box, because no matter how sweaty I was when I arrived, I was going to be worse, plus the added bonus of grease and other goodies, 5 minutes after starting my shift.

furiousferret

This is the main reason I do not commute, a lack of showers at work. I could clean myself with a faucet / wet towel, but honestly, it isn't a shower. The Southwest US isn't Holland, and it can get into the 80's during the morning commute so not being a sweaty pig isn't an option.

RollCNY

I did not intend to be stereotypical, and believe your experience to be more expansive than mine. I said it solely based on the fact that the Europeans (primarily English, Irish, and German) and Australians that I have had experience with are far less uptight about getting sweaty in their street clothes than the bulk of my American cohort.

dalava

Bicycling as transportation is not the same cycling as exercise or recreational activity. When you ride in relatively flat city streets with dedicated bike lanes and lights like they have in Holland or Denmark, you hardly work up a sweat. The average moving speed there is probably 6-8 mph, by my reckoning, and throwing in a few stops along the way, you are really not that sweaty by the time you get in the office. It also helps most of those countries are not super hot in summer.

RollCNY

My 11.5 mile commute has 24 stop lights and 5 all way stops, and takes me between 34 and 45 minutes. I do not think I would like the Holland scenario.

dalava

That's a lot of stops! Where are you, Manhattan?

Ferrous Bueller

With all due respect, you have no idea what you're missing. Avg speeds may be 6-8mph for short trips, but some are hammering off to work at over 25mph. There are even bike routes between cities rated as 'high speed'.

rousseau

It's interesting how fastidious North Americans can be in comparison with Europeans. We over here are supposed to be the descendants of rugged pioneer stock, but it seems that the unprecedented postwar prosperity we experienced has made us soft.

Ferrous Bueller

Agreed. Fastidious, yet morbidly obese.

RollCNY

Syracuse, but I have to clear a suburban village to get there. I have one 2 mile stretch with no lights, but they are thick otherwise. The perk is long sight lines, so they are easy lights to time, and avoid stopping.

RollCNY

I meant it tongue in cheek. Part of me would love to cycle across Europe. I am a huge Medieval history buff, and would love to ride the land, as it were.

Hiro11

Uggh, morbidly obese cyclists in lycra who are trying to be fastidious.