vinfix

Interesting report on changing cycle culture

https://onezero.medium.com/techs-fav...l-1be08564d439

tagaproject6

With California's outlook on environmental issues, is there a big push on encouraging more cycling?

Ogsarg

I don't think that is reflective of anything other than what some ultra-wealthy VC's are doing on the Peninsula. I don't see it as reflective of cycling in the Greater Bay Area or California overall. Don't see many mid-day group rides cause people are working.

woodcraft

Developing infrastructure, & promoting kids riding bikes to school. Ebikes are coming on strong.

I found the article mildly interesting, & it gives a snapshot that relates to the "Where would you live" thread.

Jim Bonnet

Good article. I used to ride on those lunch rides. Havent done it in a couple of years.... The traffic is terrible up there now and people are too busy on their phones. Gravel could potentially be safer option. Certainly less chance of some mutant driver running the group off the road. Not a bay area issue though. Living down south of gilroy we have the same issue. small crowded roads.

LV2TNDM

It's a multi-faceted issue. I think the drop off in road cycling is simply a matter of the cyclic nature of popular sports. "Ten speeds" saw a huge popularity in the '70's and then it died out. Mountain bikes supplanted road bikes and the boom was on. But then Lance Armstrong made road cycling popular again, thankfully started by Greg Lemond. Then whiz-bang carbon fiber hit the industry and it was suddenly VERY COOL to ride a $10,000 machine with space-age technology. Also, there developed a bit of a sponsorship connection between high-tech and pro road teams. The damn Postal Service jumped on board! Thus another road bike boom. Perhaps the cache of these bikes is wearing off.


And a bike boom in suburban America?

Not in my childhood neighborhood! I am simply dumbfounded to find virtually NO KIDS ON BIKES in my old neighborhood. Where we kids used to ride everywhere, I now see almost none. And on school days? A traffic nightmare. Hundreds of cars lined up twice a day, dropping off and picking up precious little children. Nary a bicycle rider to be found.


Whereas when I went to school, kids walked or rode their bikes. VERY few got rides in cars. If you were unlucky enough to not have a bike, you walked, buddy!


And this is under the conditions where there weren't ANY bike lanes, bike advocacy groups, or bicycle awareness in popular culture. Today, completely different. Bike lanes and bicycle advocacy are standard in most big cities. And Palo Alto leads the area in pro-bike advocacy.


Yet our kids aren't riding to school.


Lame.


And there's another angle. I've recently come to learn that collegiate road cycling appears to be dying. I may be wrong, but my former team is a mere shell of its former glory in the 80's. And I have to think I know why: mountain biking. With the incredible growth of organized high school mountain bike racing, kids are gravitating (naturally) toward this segment of the sport. Heck, I would have if, 1) mountain bikes and 2) organized bike racing existed. (In fact, I admonish myself to this day for not participating in the invention of the mountain bike. I pushed my Mongoose BMX up so many south bay hills and wondered, "Why don't they put gears on these things?!!!" Shoulda, woulda, coulda.)


So I don't think kids are doing much road riding today. They want to shred the trails. Just like me! Except I fell in love with road riding after watching "Breaking Away!" and then truly relished the experience of collegiate road cycling.



But the fact that each and every one of our kids don't ride to school is a total travesty! Considering what we know about climate change and the American epidemic of obesity, it's crazy that bikes are being left to collect dust in garages. While roads are safer, cycling has a much better image, and child abduction rates are incredibly low, parents are instead shoving their kids into 6,000 SUV's for the two mile drive to and from school.


Go figure.

LV2TNDM

Given the recent traffic death of German Pro Benjamin Sonntag, the issue of possible (illegal) phone use behind the wheel comes to the fore.

Now it is not known as of the writing of the articles I read what the cause of the collision was. But a 19 year old driver running over a cyclist and then completely off the road at 12:30 in the afternoon? Sounds like distracted driving to me.

And even if this case wasn't caused by illegal phone use behind the wheel, it's a still a major issue. I'm so dissapointed to see the selfish drivers around us who refuse to put down the phone and drive safely. Just last week, a meandering idiot on the freeway was on the phone. At least while driving, you can usually spot the the idiots a mile away.

But on a bike, you're at their mercy. Sure, a rear-view mirror MIGHT help, but I'd guess not very often. The chances of looking back while a distracted driver happens to swerve toward you is pretty slim. And the chance you're actually going to be able to do something about is even smaller!

I was in the Netherlands two years ago. No on one phones behind the wheel. It was strange. It was amazing. I had my suspicions why. So when I saw a cop on the street in Amsterdam I asked why. He confirmed my suspicion: high fines and points on your license. California, by contrast, imposes a weal slap on the wrist with no points. Result? Epidemic illegal cell phone use by drivers. Even in front of my kid's school I see parents on their phones!!!

Until this country comes to its senses about cell phone use behind the wheel, we'll always be at risk of being wiped out by idiots on phones.

Oh, and thanks telecom industry for fighting tooth and nail against needed legislation to punish drivers who endanger everyone else!

If I'm ever hit by a driver on a phone, and survive the encounter, I hope I'll have the sense to show him/her exactly how I feel about the situation!

berner

I'm not surprised that many parents don't allow their children to ride on or even near roads. Partially, this may be due to poor cycling infrastructure and a great deal of traffic even on some secondary roads. I'm certainly surprised by how long a wait I often have to get into a traffic stream with my car on those same secondary roads or streets. But there is one elementary school in the area on one of my typical routes with at least 100 or 150 bikes parked around the school. There is a good sidewalk leading all the way to the east Bay Bike Path, not much traffic which is why I and other cyclists like riding there. I looked for an image of that school with no luck but did find other images. https://www.google.com/search?q=new+...IFLIuIdqe-xUM: