My take on bicycle commuting.

frenchyd said:

mad_machine said:

I wish I could ride.. while the state highways that go into and out of Atlantic City are open to pedestrians and bicycles, the 70+ mph car traffic nixes that for me. Ironically the only road onto the island that has slow speed limits is off-limits to bicycles.

Around here all those old railroad lines got turned into bike paths etc. check around, you might have a bike path to work even if you do have to drive out of your way to it.  

The problem is, Atlantic City is on Absecon Island. To get to work, I only have 5 ways to get onto the island. Two of them are completely off-limits to bicycles, one would add 10 miles to my trip, and the other two have almost unrestricted speed limits as the cops rarely patrol those roads. One of those two would also see me riding through downtown Atlantic City which has no room for bicycles on it's streets.

In reply to mad_machine :

Sorry to hear that.  What did they do with the old rail lines?   They make wonderful bike paths

In reply to Nick Comstock :

Nick, I apologize. You sound exactly like the sort of person I’m happy to share the road with. Yet I went all preachy about the evils of the young,  immortal, thoughtless, bike rider. 

I’m sorry. 

In reply to frenchyd :

No worries. Like I said I certainly realize the frustrations are real. And I can only control how I behave in traffic. If people would check their ego before getting on the roads, no matter what mode of transportation they use, things would be a lot safer for everyone. I'm afraid that's just too much to ask. Having said that I also believe better infrastructure would make everyone safer and happier. It seems like there are several people here that would be willing to cycle commute if the infrastructure was in place. But again we can barely maintain what we have so hoping for a whole new system seems like a giant leap.

I have a 10 minute drive to work, I'd love to be able to ride to work instead.

I've done it a few times but the problem is, the roads on the way here are all major truck routes as there is a large industrial park between my suburbia property and the farm property that the shop is on.

I can use side roads for about half of it but the last half, I have no choice but two major roads that are shared with homicidal dump truck operators and unskilled rig drivers who are intimately familiar with the term "time is money".

I drive, I value my life.

In reply to frenchyd :

still in use. The train comes in and out of AC over a dozen times a day.

I was watching build thread, and have often fantasized about commuting via bicycle, however, distance and the amount of work tools I need to carry make even a motorcycle commute problematic. 

It's funny how quickly cyclists forget what it's like to be a driver. And sometimes the other way around.

The biggest thing you can do to commute safely on a bike is to think about it from a car driver's point of view. Think about what their goals are. Think about what their distractions are. Think about where they are naturally going to place their vehicle, and then not get in their damn way. Think about where they will naturally be looking at an intersection, and if you have to ride IN traffic, ride in the spots they will see you and stay out of their blind spots. Visibility is your main asset. Ideally I try to ride in a way that keeps me from being in a driver's way at all, and if I have to be, then I make myself as bright and visible as possible.  Things like cutting across behind businesses and shopping centers and riding sidewalks* aren't legal but SOMETIMES are the safest option. Sometimes it's safer to ride on the street in the legal way. Sometimes (rarely) it's safest to take the center of the lane and pretend to be a car (usually at an intersection waiting on a light or if waiting in a turn lane, never in a high speed travel lane.)

You really have to think like a driver and then find the safest response.

*note about riding sidewalks - this is NOT the right answer in urban areas. Out here in the suburbs with no cycling awareness it can be safer than riding on the road. No one uses the sidewalks in our town, there aren't many turn in/outs, and you have to keep your speed down. You also have to know that you are riding illegally and ANYTHING that happens is therefore your fault. It's not something I generally recommend to others but it works well for me. 

Actually sucked it up and rode in to work this morning despite the 35-degree temperature. It can be REALLY HARD when you get up and see the thermometer and think about how cold it is out, but in reality the worst part of commuting on the bike in the cold* is walking out the door in the first place. Once I'm on the bike and moving, I'm either comfortable or warm.

*Not applicable when it's under about 25-degrees out... then it's bitterly cold no matter how much I'm bundled up, and I've yet to find gloves that really keep my fingers comfortable. Below 20 is right out.

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

I sucked it up and got a ride with my wife this morning. Woke up and my knees were on fire. Figured there is no reason to push it. 

Ashyukun (Robert) said:

Actually sucked it up and rode in to work this morning despite the 35-degree temperature. It can be REALLY HARD when you get up and see the thermometer and think about how cold it is out, but in reality the worst part of commuting on the bike in the cold* is walking out the door in the first place. Once I'm on the bike and moving, I'm either comfortable or warm.

*Not applicable when it's under about 25-degrees out... then it's bitterly cold no matter how much I'm bundled up, and I've yet to find gloves that really keep my fingers comfortable. Below 20 is right out.

My favorite rides are when it's 35-45 degrees. I'm a big guy, and I generate a lot of heat. I don't even switch to pants instead of baggy MTB shorts till it's below 40. 

Gloves are an issue when it's freezing or below. They make some seriously warm gloves for the guys that are fatbiking in the snow, you might look into them. If you really want to ride when it's below 25, get some bar mitts or pogies

In reply to ultraclyde :

I solidly prefer riding when it's under 60 degrees out- I can wear my shorts-length bib down to about 45 of so and have varying weight tights that work down below the 20's, I warm up really fast when pedaling.

Gloves are always my biggest problem. I've every used skiing mittens at some points despite them making it a lot harder to control the bike. The local shop recommended bar mitts, but with riding a road bike it's difficult to find ones that will really work well with the handlebars, and to an extent they'll be less effective since my bike is old and I have a down-frame shifter and not shifters on the brakes/handlebars so would be taking my hands out of the mitts constantly. Perhaps if I can at least find some that will fit the handle bars they combined with my nicest thin gloves would work.

I live in Houston. 

I find the drivers here to be total A-holes towards cyclists.   They are that way to the other vehicles so why treat cyclists any differently I guess. 

I would not attempt to ride to work because of that.

  I fortunately live near some dedicated bike paths so I can ride recreationally but even the cyclists on the paths are A-Holes to each other with occasional  head on collisions because of unsafe or inattentive passing.      

Reading alot of these stories make me happy I live in a small town and only have too cross one high traffic road and even then it's only 35mph. I ride too work in my uniform and it's dark blue so I stop riding when it gets too wear I'm leaving or coming home in the dark.

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

Really.

Nick Comstock said:

In reply to frenchyd :

No worries. Like I said I certainly realize the frustrations are real. And I can only control how I behave in traffic. If people would check their ego before getting on the roads, no matter what mode of transportation they use, things would be a lot safer for everyone. I'm afraid that's just too much to ask. Having said that I also believe better infrastructure would make everyone safer and happier. It seems like there are several people here that would be willing to cycle commute if the infrastructure was in place. But again we can barely maintain what we have so hoping for a whole new system seems like a giant leap.

Minneapolis has a pretty good bike system. Trouble is we have winter as much as 6 months of the year and frankly bicycles in the winter don’t make sense.  I do see a few big tire bikers riding the bike trails in the winter and a few really determined bike riders  riding pretty late in the year. 

Our western suburbs are really awash with bike paths/ trails.  The advantage of being the home of JJ Hill.  

I feel kind of bad... on the drive in this morning (was like 40 degrees and pouring rain- not going to bike in that when I can drive...) I accidentally drenched a guy on a bike stopped at stop sign on a cross-street. He pulled up to the intersection just as I went through and didn't realize there was a HUGE, deep puddle along the curb- the Infiniti threw up a sheet of water taller than it is and I'm sure completely covered the guy on the bike. Honestly there was no real way for me to have avoided doing it and it quite definitely was not intentional- but I still feel bad for the guy...

In reply to Ashyukun (Robert) :

Dude, I didn't even drive the Miata this morning.  It was a day for the Suburban, nobody should have been on a bike today.

 CvcIn reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :

It’s 17 degrees and a brisk wind will add to the pleasure.  Most snow has stopped 

In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :

I wholeheartly agree- but there are plenty of people I see who clearly don't have any way to get around other than on a bike...

Frenchyd, I agree with you 100% on lights and visibility, but you've said a couple things that I just can't get on board with.  Riding on the shoulder, especially if it is dark outside, is way more dangerous than riding in a lane.  There is so much debris, roadkill, etc. over there and nowhere to go if a car is passing you.  A good friend of mine got to take a ride in an ambulance and had a scary recovery with some permanent injuries thanks to a scenario like that.

The notion that "bicycles in the winter don’t make sense" is ignorant.  They make just as much sense as anything else.  Minneapolis has been ranked the best cycling city in the country at least once.  You don't earn that title if cycling is only a viable option for half the year.

It is important to own the lane if it would be unsafe for a car to pass you.  Most drivers aren't hateful towards cyclists.  They're just incredibly impatient.  If it is going to be downright dangerous for a car to pass, take away the option but give it back as soon as it is safe again.

I'm a bit spoiled to have lived in a city that mostly respects cyclists and has plenty of safe infrastructure.  I now live eight miles outside of town along I-70, but if I got a job in certain parts of town, I could ride down the hill from my house, get on the Katy Trail, and ride to work.  I wouldn't do it everyday because it would be at least 15 miles each way, but I'd do it occasionally.

In reply to bigeyedfish :

 You make sense from your perspective, however my route starts at 5:30am about when garbage trucks and delivery trucks first get moving.its also dark usually especially in the winter.  I’m mostly on residential roads. Some very narrow and I swear laid out by a drunken snake. I’ve got places where I have to go around blind curves followed by blind curves. 

My speed is carefully controlled and with the security systems on modern school buses tracked by the school, my company, the district, occasionally the parents. And myself. 

My time schedule requires me to be at this stop by 6:24 and the next by 6:25. The tax payers want me as fast as possible The parents often are waiting and will call in if I’m a minute down ( they can’t leave for work until the child gets on my bus.) 

I have a given time to drop my kids off at school or I’m late which will cost my company.  

Long stop lights, slow traffic, kids late to the bus stop, none of it is counted for. In short I’m hustling so I need to get past you because you are holding me up.  

Its not unusual to pass garbage trucks etc and we take up the whole road on residential streets when we meet or pass each other  

Ride in the lane!? I’ve got to stop at whatever speed I’m going (25-30-40 mph) ?  Those kids don’t wear seat belts  ( they are safer without them )  and I have a second to decide to do a head on collision with a garbage truck  or you?  

Like I said, I’ll always give a rider a break if I can. I’ll slow down and wait until it’s clear.  Swing into the other lane to give you room. 

But up to 77 kids and me or you riding in the lane?  

If you have to ride in the lane to be safe, maybe you should reconsider your choice of vehicle?  

Not only that but I mentioned my tail swing 13 feet capable of swatting you right off your bike and I can’t see behind me very well.  

Worse the bus is 40 feet long. No, it doesn’t bend in the middle like a Semi truck. It takes up lanes going around a corner or tight curves.  The inside back tire will jump over the curb and run way up on the grass if forced to stay in one lane. People have knocked down streetlights and telephone poles with buses.  

You may think your safe because you’re a foot away from the bus only to be run over by the rear duals. 

In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) :

Tonight it will be 11 degrees, Snow Flurries, wind gusts to 30 mph. 

Enjoy your bike ride. 

Been on both sides.  Now I'm glad most of my car commute is freeways and then from the monuments to work so I don't have to deal with cyclists and ride sharing.  Like I said I've been on both sides.  Fellow cyclists usually female with a helmet were always the greatest danger as a rider.  You'd be obeying the laws next thing you know they're passing you within inches.  Blithe would be a good descriptor.   Taxis were the next danger and this was pre-ride sharing so that's probably added to the danger.  All of this I now miss due to my new home and the attendant route to work. 

In reply to nutherjrfan :I used to be a big fan of bikes. My best friend growing up, we were actually blood brothers.  He helped me be a lot smarter than I was and we were inseparable. 

Anyway he rode his bike to and from work. One day a plumber who had a little too much liquid lunch was distracted by a pretty girl and his truck wandered into the turn lane where he was waiting to cross traffic. 

According to witnesses, his head snapped right off his neck when the truck hit him.  Now I don’t ride except on bike only paths.