I cycle as my main form of transportation. I chose cycling partly to save money and partly for exercise. I ride a flat bar touring bike with internal hub gears. I ride in a vehicular style, following the recommendations of “Cyclecraft” by John Franklin. This helps acheive the exercise goal, because vehicular cycling is impossible without a good level of fitness.
I’ll use high quality infrastructure when it’s available, but here in the UK most cycle infrastructure is worse than useless. We have “advisary cycle lines” in which cars can freely drive and park, so their only function is to promote conflict between cyclists and drivers. We have “advanced stop lines” at junctions which can only be legally entered through a narrow left-side feeder lane, placing the cyclist at the worst place posible for negotiating the junction. We have large numbers of shared use cycle paths which are hated by both cyclists and pedestrians.
I’d prefer to live in the Netherlands where high quality infrastructure is common. I have no confidence that the UK government can provide similar infrastructure here. Most politicians have no understanding of utility cycling and design facilities only considering leisure cycling. There’s a big risk that if some minor upgrades are provided cyclists will be compelled to use them, resulting in a network that’s less useful than the existing roads.
Infrastructure quality is a major issue. I don’t mind infrastructure at all as long as it is done well. Most of the infrastructure I have seen is not done well.
The infrastructure we have here in the US tends to be terrible, though perhaps for different reasons than in the UK. As an example, consider the recent cycletrack in where I live, Austin, TX. This cycletrack is a disaster as far as I’m concerned. Local bike advocates say that it’s Dutch style infrastructure, but it really isn’t. In the Netherlands, the intersections are separated with a bikes-only part of the light cycle. The current setup has no such separation, and encourages conflicts with motorists as far as I can tell. This is particularly bad where the cycletrack ends, as the road markings make cars and bikes cross, and drivers basically never yield or even look as they are required to. I just ride in the normal lane unless I’m stopping off somewhere on the cycletrack.
I cycle as my main form of transportation. I chose cycling partly to save money and partly for exercise. I ride a flat bar touring bike with internal hub gears. I ride in a vehicular style, following the recommendations of “Cyclecraft” by John Franklin. This helps acheive the exercise goal, because vehicular cycling is impossible without a good level of fitness.
I’ll use high quality infrastructure when it’s available, but here in the UK most cycle infrastructure is worse than useless. We have “advisary cycle lines” in which cars can freely drive and park, so their only function is to promote conflict between cyclists and drivers. We have “advanced stop lines” at junctions which can only be legally entered through a narrow left-side feeder lane, placing the cyclist at the worst place posible for negotiating the junction. We have large numbers of shared use cycle paths which are hated by both cyclists and pedestrians.
I’d prefer to live in the Netherlands where high quality infrastructure is common. I have no confidence that the UK government can provide similar infrastructure here. Most politicians have no understanding of utility cycling and design facilities only considering leisure cycling. There’s a big risk that if some minor upgrades are provided cyclists will be compelled to use them, resulting in a network that’s less useful than the existing roads.
Infrastructure quality is a major issue. I don’t mind infrastructure at all as long as it is done well. Most of the infrastructure I have seen is not done well.
The infrastructure we have here in the US tends to be terrible, though perhaps for different reasons than in the UK. As an example, consider the recent cycletrack in where I live, Austin, TX. This cycletrack is a disaster as far as I’m concerned. Local bike advocates say that it’s Dutch style infrastructure, but it really isn’t. In the Netherlands, the intersections are separated with a bikes-only part of the light cycle. The current setup has no such separation, and encourages conflicts with motorists as far as I can tell. This is particularly bad where the cycletrack ends, as the road markings make cars and bikes cross, and drivers basically never yield or even look as they are required to. I just ride in the normal lane unless I’m stopping off somewhere on the cycletrack.