Comment Re:50/50 (Score 2) 566
I can't speak about Canada, but in Sweden (where I live) things vary a little.
Most cities and towns have provisions to keep cyclists and cars separate, and many (maybe even most) make a genuine attempt at making it possible to commute by bicycle. Unfortunately, this does not mean all.
In the town I live, there are some long stretches of bike path that go downhill. Excellent, even a bad cyclist can pick up some speed. And at the bottom of the hill you find yourself staring at a 90-degree turn either left or right! The only reason for many of these turns is that some architect decided to put a 90-degree turn there...
In other places, the bike path just peters out into nothing, and you find yourself among the cars and lorries not really knowing how you got there.
In one specific place things have been organised so nicely that for a car driver leaving the car park, the most natural thing to do is to stop with half the car blocking the bike path next to the car park...
In a number of places the bike paths are so uneven I cannot keep any semblance of high speed. Maybe it's by design (I don't think so), but anything over 15 km/h feels like it's going to convert my bike into a pile of metal parts.
My favourite complaint has been fixed though. It used to be that when cycling from out of town via one specific route you were legally obliged to do a suicidal lane change in a heavily trafficked roundabout in order to get to the bike path (where the law requires you to be, as a cyclist).
If these complaints where fixed I would find commuting by bike a great idea. The one thing that would still need fixing is slightly harder: the attitude some car drivers have towards bikes: since it's a bike, I in my car have the right of way...
Most cities and towns have provisions to keep cyclists and cars separate, and many (maybe even most) make a genuine attempt at making it possible to commute by bicycle. Unfortunately, this does not mean all.
In the town I live, there are some long stretches of bike path that go downhill. Excellent, even a bad cyclist can pick up some speed. And at the bottom of the hill you find yourself staring at a 90-degree turn either left or right! The only reason for many of these turns is that some architect decided to put a 90-degree turn there...
In other places, the bike path just peters out into nothing, and you find yourself among the cars and lorries not really knowing how you got there.
In one specific place things have been organised so nicely that for a car driver leaving the car park, the most natural thing to do is to stop with half the car blocking the bike path next to the car park...
In a number of places the bike paths are so uneven I cannot keep any semblance of high speed. Maybe it's by design (I don't think so), but anything over 15 km/h feels like it's going to convert my bike into a pile of metal parts.
My favourite complaint has been fixed though. It used to be that when cycling from out of town via one specific route you were legally obliged to do a suicidal lane change in a heavily trafficked roundabout in order to get to the bike path (where the law requires you to be, as a cyclist).
If these complaints where fixed I would find commuting by bike a great idea. The one thing that would still need fixing is slightly harder: the attitude some car drivers have towards bikes: since it's a bike, I in my car have the right of way...