Cycling Quality by State/Country?

Ameribro here.

I was in Toronto two weeks ago. You guys definitely have a good cycling culture going on, at least around downtown. The new bikelane along the waterfront is pretty sweet.

Anyhow, when it comes to the US, it mostly sucks. There are a few hot spots, usually urban centers with a bunch of yuppies/hipsters. There are some rich suburbs that have ok bike lanes, but those are used by weekend warriors and not actual commuters.

London is a death trap for cyclists due to us driving on the other side of the road, lots of trucks come over from the continent and can't see the cyclists from their cab and end up crushing them when turning left.

Australian. Just need to keep watch for kangaroos and road trains around Bondi- otherwise it is bonza.

>>987491
That's what you get for your special snowflake status.

Mallorca. Literal paradise for cycling, both the infrastructure and geography.

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>>987491
build a wall and them pay for it.

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Australia's pretty ok. They give us red carpets to ride around on but in Spring we need to watch out for swooping magpies.

>>988206
fuck off Simon

The best cities in the United States for cycling are Minneapolis (Minnesota) and Portland (Oregon).

Northern Italy. Sportive cycling is popular and respected since we have a long tradition of being good at it. Commuting however is new and most people see bicycles as toys, unless you're wearing lycra. There's little if any investment in cycling infrastructure and road cyclists suffer too from our high car ownership rate.

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Colorado is a fantastic state for cyclists: loads of variety, pavement is tolerably well maintained most everywhere, and traffic is friendly as long as you avoid the suburban arterials in our sprawling cities. All of our major cities have significant levels of bike infrastructure, though the quality varies from world-class in Boulder and Fort Collins, to being mediocre (but with some really nice segments) in Colorado Springs and Pueblo. Commuting by bike is definitely doable here, but is rare outside of Boulder, Fort Collins, and central Denver because the rest of the state's residents live in either rural places or sprawling suburbs that are designed around the assumption that everyone will drive cars.

Guelph, Ontario.

Drivers are very used to bikes and there's at least 50% cycling paths on all the roads. Critical mass happens here every once in a while (never attended)

>>987449
>not too bad
>Posts a picture of Richmond "Murder Alley" Street

Majority of accidents in the downtown core happen on Richmond & Adelaide because drivers get cocky without oncoming traffic.

In general you're right though, Toronto is not *too* bad for cycling. The city is at least slowly trying to become more bike friendly. But the "Sharrows" they added to major roads are an absolute joke, and trying to get anywhere during rush hour is impossible because drivers will be right up to the curb and never even know you're there. Currently half the major streets have some kind of construction on them, and of course the bike space is first to be taken away. Those streets are also running busses instead of streetcars now, which are constantly having to switch lanes to pull up to the curb and blocking all traffic.

>>988397
Ever bike on the interstates? Seeing signs for that was wild when I drove through Colorado.

Madison, Wisconsin is top notch for cycling. You can comfortably and safely get just about anywhere in a bike.

>>987449
Metro detroit. Mixed bag. A few nice cycling trails and roads, but if you gotta go somewhere they aren't expect some piece of shit in a truck or SUV to try and drive you off the road.

>>988209
>swooping magpies

Oh man, I thought you were leading us on.

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New Jersey.

>>988533
Yeah, I've ridden on I-25 maybe dozen times, both legally (it's allowed where there's no frontage road available, hence the signs) and illegally by accident or out of necessity. It's not particularly dangerous or uncomfortable (getting sucked along by the turbulence of a passing semi-truck going 75mph is actually pretty fun if you're confident in your ability to ride through crosswinds), but I don't ride on the interstate unless absolutely necessary because it's very noisy and requires a degree of focus that detracts from the enjoyment of the scenery you're riding through.

>>987449
If you're interested, the alliance for cycling and walking puts out a benchmarking report with a lot of metrics on cycling safety, infrastructure etc... for each state

http://www.bikewalkalliance.org/storage/documents/reports/2016benchmarkingreport_web.pdf

>>988678
>>987449
also they just started work on bloor cycle track tonight, so pretty excited

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>>988386
Corvallis Oregon is better for biking than Portland. I've lived in both. Portland is a pain in the ass on a bike downtown (way too many cages), and the east side is pretty trashed, waiting to be gentrified. Corvallis was designed by bike enthusiasts. http://www.corvallisoregon.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=4332

We have about 470 km of bike paths and lanes here in Warsaw, so I'd say pretty good.
Sure, most of those don't go anywhere (as in, are not connected to one another, so we end up with stretches of not connected paths) and the surface is mostly bullshit "small brick" paving that's horrible to ride on on anything less than 40c balloons. But shit's getting better as we speak.

More interestingly tho, today hits the 4th anniversary of public bike and the numbers are:
250 stations;
ca. 3000 bikes;
way over 400 k registered users;
users coming from over 100 countries (yes, it's open for tourists to use too);
and over 7 million rentings globally.
Pretty fucking neat, innit.

>>988824
Portland fucking sucks for everything these days. The fake boom (Californians moving en masse to telecommute to their SV jobs) over the past few years has not been kind to the city. Cycling is a decent way to get around, but if you're a roadie or god forbid a MTBer, forget it. MTB is practically illegal in the city despite there being a giant fucking wilderness area in the middle of the city that's perfect for it. Road biking sucks because of a massive road maintenance backlog (and the local bike activist fuckfaces fight against road improvements because fuck cagers amirite), aggro Californian drivers, and homeless junkies overrunning the goddamn Springwater. I hate this fucking city now.

Sweden.

I expected it to be a vegan zero-carb halal bicycle friendly place. How wrong I was!
First, they didn't allow bicycles even on low-floor buses. Then, cycling along the roads cars kept beeping at us.

In Stockholm it was ok, though.

But the last straw was that we couldn't take the bicycles into trains.

So we went to Latvia. No beeping, just wide roads for both cars and bicycles to get well along.

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>>988869
I totally agree. Forest park has some great trails to bike, but it is legit illegal to do. The Californians have completely destroyed the city. annex Portland to Washington and build a wall on the southern border. I really wish there were toll booths that were exclusively for people with California plates on their cages. Something like $200,000 to get in the state. I want a wall with gun turrets, I want all Californians dead. They claim that "cali is the best," but when they are feeling parched they come up here. Keep them out, ship them out. They are destroying my homeland.

>no Netherlands

The Netherlands is internationally recognised as being the best country in the world for cycling
Nobody even comes close

>>988907
Swedish rail is notoriously retarded.

Melbourne:

There are lots of routes and bicycle paths that connect suburbs. I often ride to visit family who live 20km away and ride mostly on bicycle paths, I only ride on streets to get onto the bike paths most of the time. To get to university I ride on streets but honestly most of the time it is unnecessary, Melbourne is awesome for cycling.

>>988546
Same, friend

Too many sudden hills (very few "rolling hills") with absolutely no bike lanes for miles (unless you go to newark, there are 2 in the entire city there, or just go to nyc) and the drivers are mostly soccer moms driving their husband's money around in a Mercedes and wondering why all these poverty-stricken cyclists didn't also marry a dentist lawyer. I've nearly been run off the road by minivans, SUVs, and rednecks in pick up trucks alike.
Plus you have to really comb the state (north half anyway) to find a ride that offers a decent view for your troubles

>>987449

My experience

Philadelphia 2008 - 2012
> A very special time when fixays were everywhere and the roads were still dangerous enough to keep casuals away. A good time to be a drunk 22 year old on a bike going very fast on city streets

Philadelphia 2012 - 2016
> Bike culture peaking and new bike lanes have brought incredible amounts of shitty bikes and shitty riders onto the streets, making the riding situation tame and probably better but less exciting, which is good I guess because I'm old. I'm taking pictures of ugly philly bikes on instagram "phillyprocycling"

NYC 2015
> I went here for "vacation" and stayed in a shitty hotel in Fort Lee to bike through Manhattan and Brooklyn on 100-mile rides and it was a lot of fun. Very nice to be able to get on a bike lane or go into the city traffic, which is high tier safe because the drivers are all serious as hell and familiar with bikes (believe it NYC people, philly drivers are more sloppy and dangerous)

NJ (middle area)
> Riding a bike from Philly to the Beach is pretty nightmarish for at least 1/3 of the ride - the congested, no-shoulder, suburban mega sprawl not-meant-for-anything-but-cars and very dangerous driving

>>989965
>soccer moms
>rednecks
I'd rather keep the rednecks and lose the soccer moms in my area desu.
The rednecks at least know how to drive and have some sympathy for people wanting to be outside.
The soccer moms have no shame whatsoever and don't seem to feel at all bad about driving a SUV through a crowded area with only 1 or 2 people in the car

When I lived in somewhat rural California for a year I never felt unsafe while riding even though there weren't many bike lanes. Now that I'm back in Seattle, USA the only real trouble I run into is people walking on bike trails, looking at their phones, and clueless to their surroundings. Junkies are pretty annoying too. People in cars on the other hand are fairly accommodating and courteous if you are.

>>990006
>The rednecks at least know how to drive and have some sympathy for people wanting to be outside.

You must have different type of rednecks.

Rural Appalachian mountainfag here.

It is literally hell here to ride a bike, any attempt to do it is suicide, rednecks feel like they're entitled to any and all space around them and you're the problem.

Turn signals? What the fuck is that?
Stop signs? Nah son, just go.
Bicycles? That's just queer road bumps


Rural two lane roads here are a death trap, you have pick up trucks and other heavy trucks on those roads going way faster than the speed limit allows for and going full speed on turns where you don't see what's on the other side, getting way in the middle of the road or the other lanes. Don't come to East KY, Western WV, South Ohio, Northwestern Virginia, Northern Tennessee.

>>990137
Those people are in northern ohio too

>>988386
don't move to Portland, is full already. no more room for more people. the whole city is so overcrowded it is going to shit

>>988869
>>988910
my brothers, you preach the truth. it is so good to know I am not alone in this fight. reading your words has given me renewed strength to carry on with my holy mission.

>>989944
>Nobody even comes close

Denmark does though.

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>>989964
If you think Melbourne is good for cycling, you should try Canberra. It's the city with the highest modeshare for cycling to work in the country. Pic related. The cycleway/MUP/bikelane network is extensive, almost all the buses have bicycle racks on the front, and it's even legal to cycle on the footpath. Unless you go across the border to Queanbeyan anyway.

Here's a map:
http://files.transport.act.gov.au/cyclingmap/

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>>988397
I can see where you were standing from here

>>988910
Colorado knows your pain. We have Texans, califaggots, and way too many illegals. This state is getting worse every year

Floridafag here. Sounds like all USA sucks.

This state has nice flat long roads with beautiful views of skys every day, and what WOULD be amazing forest and marshland

...except every city is kind of like: low cost housing, plaza, wal mart, gas station liquor store, fast food chain, gas station, plaza, suburbia, plaza, home depot, starbucks, plaza, gas station, plaza, gas station.

if you go to a richer area, the only difference is everythings taller and shinier, obscuring your view. hotels, office buildings, etc.

your only other option is HUGE stretches farmland, which is beautiful since there is little to no buildings, no light pollution and usually beautiful animals and interesting crops.

all around the drivers are nice, but they kind of suck at driving...

in conclusion, everything is flat and roads are smooth, it would be nice all over but the people mess everything up. Also very lackluster urban planning in general. grids, big and small. grid grid grid grid grid. Curves dont exist here. Straight roads. No mountains. You'd be hard pressed to even find a hill.

>>991365
Yeah but Canberra is tiny and shit though

>boston

The only requirements for a road to be a shared road in boston seem to be it has to be a narrow two lane, with an at least 20% incline at least twice along it, and it needs to be repaired. So that's fun.
As far as the bikers, we get all sorts. 60+ year old freds with 6k plus bikes riding once a week along the bike paths,
the wheelieing youths of all different flavors (who are a menace if you're a driver but good fun if you're not a square due to their tendancy to do critical mass rides to downtown at least once a week) riding mostly garbage from department stores but occasionally SE big rippers
Transplants (mostly asians) who commuted to work in their home countries and will be damned if they let a thing like the confusing streets and agressive drivers stop them from doing it here (though only going at a frustrating 10mph)
Hipsie fixters of all ages and income brackets
There's also a small but real bmx culture with less crossover with the wheelie group than the wheelie group would like to admit.

>>994200
when did you get that norco breh?

>>994200
good shit

>>988209
Canberra is amazing on the bike.
Not only is there the supporting infrastructure, but there are some beautiful rides.