Your towns Cycling infrastructure

[MattiThundrrr]

But again, all adding bicycle lanes to public highways does is undermine the years of work cyclists put in to gain the same rights to public roads as motor vehicle drivers have.

I can't understand your point here. Adding lanes that cars cannot drive in does not diminish a cyclist's right to the road. It is a part of the road that is only for bicycles. Only cyclists have the right to be there.

 

[Wylly]

Interesting topic! In my neck of the desert (Yuma) we have a few decent designated bike lanes and a few bike paths. Road (pavement) conditions are generally poor. The roads are wide and straight and visibility is good so I ride on the road a lot but I prefer designated “bike spaces”. I agree that we should exert our legal right to use most roads, but, fear or no fear, if you tangle with an internal combustion machine you lose. Not exactly sure how adding designated bike paths and lanes “undermines” our rights to road use; not only is road riding potentially more dangerous and aggravates our car bound brothers and sisters, it’s generally less fun!
Yuma has a lot of irrigation canals and the dirt roads on either side are the best places to ride around here.

 

[Captain Awesome]

We have pedestrian paths quite literally everywhere. Instead of just your normal sidewalk, we have asphalt or blacktop foot and bicycle paths that kind of wander and meander alongside of most of the major roadways. You can get from one side of town to the other, quite easily by interconnecting. Most of the private neighborhoods and subdivisions also have their own interconnected paths that link up to the main ones. The biggest downside for us is that, the city/county/state also allows golf cart traffic on these things. So what starts off as a nice 4 to 6 foot wide asphalt path becomes very narrow when a 4 foot wide golf cart comes barreling down thinking they own the road. Especially since most of them do not have any lane delineation or directional travel. It’s all use at your own risk .

Does the culture of “share the road” in the US need to change? Absolutely. Speaking from the viewpoint of a motorcyclist and a cyclist it’s imperative.

I don’t think it’s a matter of being “scared“ to ride on the road it’s just about having that heightened sense of awareness and being wary that you are very susceptible and very vulnerable out there.

 

[ingola]

I normally stay off the road when I can share the road or not I want to ride the savest way possible.
Unfortunately once I reach our industrial area I'm forced to share the road with transports and cars in a hurry to get home and it becomes an issue of knowing my surroundings. My son is an avid cyclist and has been told I catch you with ear buds or playing on your phone I'll personally steal your very fun bike and send it to the captain I'm sure he'd enjoy your bike

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Wide bike lanes in my town. Cars get less space.

Just out of my village and off to work! This is used for bikes only. Only cars for a few farm houses come here.

Cycling lane next to a faster car road (cars drive 80km/hr here). You can't get a proper look at the separate car road on this picture.This bike path is shared with fast E-bikes mopeds and scooters.

Few cars ride here. Mostly go to the right. The red/white round sign says: no cars or motorcycles allowed.

Typical "Edge of the village" cycling lane.

Only main roads have cycling lanes. Residential area's don't.

Bicycles are pretty safe here. Cars too, but they have a little more to consider.

There are roads with cars allowed up to 80km/hr and have no cycling lanes. Feels pretty dangerous in peak traffic.

Also plenty of roads where bicycles are not allowed..... you can spot tourists there

 

[ingola]

Very nice

 

[SwissGuy]

View attachment 279337
Wide bike lanes in my town. Cars get less space.

View attachment 279338
Just out of my village and off to work! This is used for bikes only. Only cars for a few farm houses come here.

View attachment 279339 Cycling lane next to a faster car road (cars drive 80km/hr here). You can't get a proper look at the separate car road on this picture.This bike path is shared with fast E-bikes mopeds and scooters.

View attachment 279340
Few cars ride here. Mostly go to the right. The red/white round sign says: no cars or motorcycles allowed.

View attachment 279341
Typical "Edge of the village" cycling lane.

Only main roads have cycling lanes. Residential area's don't.

Bicycles are pretty safe here. Cars too, but they have a little more to consider.

There are roads with cars allowed up to 80km/hr and have no cycling lanes. Feels pretty dangerous in peak traffic.

Also plenty of roads where bicycles are not allowed..... you can spot tourists there

I can only dream of such nice infrastructure.

Berlin is mostly car centered with only very few good (mostly unconnected) pieces of good and save to ride bike lanes. Our actual government is cutting all the funding and planning of bike infrastructure down to almost nothing. That's why I join protest rides on monthly basis (at the moment almost weekly)

If you want to get a basic idea about cycling in Berlin, have a look at my friends YT-Channel. He post videos about cycling in Berlin on a weekly basis and I'm also a regular provider of content to his vids (going by SwissBikeGuy). On fine example is the last one:

He comments in german but you mostly will get what whats going on...

 

[Irontri]

The state I live in has laws that say a bicycle rider has a right to use the same roads that automobile drivers do, all dedicated bike paths and lanes do is give motorists another excuse to yell "get off the road !!! " to cyclists instead of learning that bicycles have the right to be there and normalizing bicycle use of public roads and highways. This is why dedicated bicycle lanes are counter-productive and not a good idea. That should be pretty simple to understand and see.

I’d be interested to read any research that supports “bike lanes are counter-productive and not a good idea”.