vrkelley

So we have a thread for best commuting cities. If you're unfortunate and are riding in one of the worst commuting cities... where is it and what needs fixing?

vrkelley

I'll say Bellevue, WA is the worst. No bike lanes, side walks that go a few blocks and disappear (God help you if you're in a wheelchair or handicapped). And the cagers...yesterdays speaks for its self.

*Followed a car that appear to be losing a muffler...out of the back it belches it's contents...a red traffic cone...guy with passenger never even slowed down.

* Followed a woman for 2 miles, every time traffic slowed, she drifted into the fog lane. Weave city

* On a busy road, I make a left turn onto the street. Somewhere up the street a car 'winds it out to make a left turn INTO me...but ends up riding in the oncoming instead.

* At least 3 blow-throughs...turns right on red, doesn't stop or look.

chephy

Moscow. Why? Go there and you'll see why...

It's probably not the worst in the world for commuting, but the worst I've been in.

maddyfish

Alexandria, Va. is terrible. The worst place I have ever been to ride a bike. Stupid people. Mean people. Extremely poor road layout.

Aloyzius

Everywhere in Florida was awful. Bad, and rude drivers. No shoulder on poorly maintained roads. And yet they had surprisingly wonderful singletrack. Go figure.

One time a guy yelled, "GET OFF THE F&^*%# ROAD!" I turned and looked and he was an EMT driving an ambulance!!

-=(8)=-

Ha ha ha ....Coming from the most friendly bike commuting state on the east coast, Vermont,
Fl. was quite a kulture shock !! Surprisingly though, their 'Total Vehicle/Ped' initiative has
made my area quite commutable infrastructurally speaking, but yes....drivers here did not
get voted the worst in the country for nothing Selfish, violent and mean spirited..
A real test of all ones kung-fu skillz If they dont kill you one of the many gangs will

maximan1

Buena Park, California.
The most ghetto, redneck, dumbass, gangsta little town in SoCal
Not really, but people hate road bikes. They won't mess with me riding an MTB down the street, but will try to hit me when I ride road.

Schwinnrider

Have to agree with Florida. I grew up in south Louisiana, not an area known for it's wonderful roads, but the drivers were much better. I don't know if that's because of the easy going nature of the Cajuns, or what, but I had no problems at all. I lived in Wyoming for a while and riding there was awesome. No traffic, good drivers, beautiful scenery. Now that I'm in Florida it's like Mad Max sometimes. Aggressive drivers, narrow roads, traffic. The good thing about my area is that we are making improvements both in accomodating transportational cyclists and trail riders. We have the Withlacoochee Trail running competely through our county, the Suncoast Trail heading south of here to Tampa, and bike lanes and MUPs getting put in when roads are widened. I figure things will be nice in 10 years---and that's just about the time gasoline will become prohibitively expensive.

biknbrian

Beaver County, PA.

Zero support for bicycling. Very few adults ride bikes and cars are not expecting to see you therefore you are invisible. No berms on most roads. All the roads are winding rural routes with hills and blind corners. There are big trucks as well as cars and everyone is speeding.

About a month ago a bycilist was killed about seven miles from my house on a road I ride occasionally. There was one paragraph in the police/fire section of the paper and that was it. No name, no details, infact I can't even find any inforamation at all now. Nobody cares because any adult who rides a bike is a crazy weirdo.

I'm certain I will be hit at some point if I continue ride, especially on my road bike. Hopefully I won't be hurt badly.

Edit: One more thing, I was 90 miles into my first century (riding solo and unsupported) when I had to stop and take one shoe off for a few minutes because my feet were swelling. I laid the bike down and sat on the pavement on the side of the road near a golf course. Now what would you do if you saw a guy with a nice road bike laid down, sitting there in the gravel on the side of a rural road as the occasional car wizzed past at 55mph?

Several people were golfing about 30 yards away and several car passed. I didn't even get a single, "You alright?" It's a good thing I wasn't having any serious problems, because I could have laid down and died and I don't think anyone would have even helped.

Around here you are 100% on your own.

balindamood

Anywhere in Texas...except MAYBE Austin.

Spokebreaker

Detroit. I mean, really, how can you beat the Motor City for unfriendliness to bikes? You can't ride on the freeways (though why would you want to over there?), bike lanes are non-existant, except in far-flung suburbs like Ann Arbor, there is no real mass transit and what little exists is not geared for bikes.

Not to mention Michigan winters.

Then again, I moved away in 2000, so maybe something has changed since then?

cristobal41

Any city in Spain is awful for comutting. Absolute lack of bike lanes, except the ones for the politicians pics, no access from suburbs to downtown, 40ºC (!00ºF), no bike respect culture and the second most hilly country in Europe behind Switzerland.
I live in Madrid and everything is not enough when safety on you bike is the matter.
On the other hand, no place to ride your (not commuting) bike like Spain.

maddyfish

This needs to be stated again.

bikebuddha 

Atlanta Georgia, crowded narrow roads, bad drivers, god awful heat and humidity in the summer, pollution, most Atlanta drivers could probably be described as functionally ********, I could go on.

Silverexpress

Detroit.

My reasons.....
1. Low or No income
2. Drugs
3. Guns
4. Dwindling and corrupt police force.
5. Abandoned Pitbulls, Dobermans, Mastiffs...etc...

It's really a different world South of 8 mi.

Lamplight

We need a thread for "fairly bad cities for commuting." I was going to add my town to this thread, but after reading some of these posts I'm not sure it's quite up to par. In my town the city does try to make it easier for cyclists at least a little bit, but of course the motorists are the ones who don't care. We have a few bike lanes, but drivers use them for passing when the car in front of them is turning left. They usually do this without slowing down, which means driving in the bike lane at 50+mph. My brother was almost hit yesterday right before my eyes, but luckily this particular car had slowed down to pass in the bike lane. They both stopped to look at each other, and then the motorist angrily waved my brother on. How gracious of him.

donnamb 

Nope, my stepdad's still getting nearly creamed on a regular basis there. The motorists just don't want him around, so they're always trying to "teach a lesson".

Banzai

I read once that Miami had the worst road rage in the country.

Banzai

Amen.

I'm currently living in the armpit of my least favorite state ever...the drivers are rude, the streets are cratered and patched and cratered again...and some of the drivers in their big "Texas edition" pickup trucks are downright aggressive.

I know a gal who about two months ago was deliberately knocked off her bike by a high-speed side mirror to the back. Two broken ribs, an injured back, and a broken wrist. The group she was cycling with didn't manage to get a plate, because they were so stunned and trying to stop to help her. They did say that it was a seemingly deliberate engine gun and run away...and the jerk apparently accelerated into the hit.

comradehoser

Alexandria, but not Arlington?

Shavit

Nashville, TN. The urban sprawl, and poor city planning (narrow roads, interstates everywhere, etc.) make this city a ridiculous place for practical commuting/running errands. But then again, there are a lot of people riding bikes, so the drivers in my area at least during the warm weather (around a university, and a pretty well off neighborhood) don't mind our presence and are usually pretty friendly/patient.

by the way maddyfish, i'm surprised to see alexandria, Va in the "worst list" ... I never had to much of a problem when i lived there ... just goes to show that a good place for one might be hell for another.

cerewa

Baghdad?

Not that I'm saying commuting by non-bike means is any better.

maddyfish

I stayed in Alexandria, and mostly rode around there.

-=(8)=-

I havent seen a South Carolina resident pipe up
I spend time there and the drivers look Florida bad but they
dont provide lanes or even minimal concessions like FL does
We looked at properties in a few areas and nixed it due to the
car based infrastructure and angry drivers.

vtkarl

Ha, ha, I actually commuted by bicycle everyday in Baghdad! OK, OK, so it was just from one side of base to the other - about a mile. The funniest sight I saw there was a young infantry guy bicycling around base with a machine gun (a SAW) slung across his back. I couldn't get my camera out fast enough to take a picture, though.

The building in the picture has General Petraeus' office inside. The other picture is shrapnel damage to our bicycles from a rocket attack!