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Real Bike Cities.

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Road Cycling
Published
2 June 2004
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9 June 2004
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Red Cloud
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  1. 1. Hamburg

    2. Rome

    3. London

    4. paris

    5. Other European big and small cities

    These europeans cities could be the best place for biker
    riders, and most Americna city like LA, NY, Pheoneix,
    Seattle are the worst place for biker. The reason is that
    in America most folks do not ride a bike. As matter of
    fact, probably less than 1% of American population are
    relying bike as a primary transportation. In europe, I bet
    that number of population relying on bike as the primary
    transportatoin are quite high.

    I've never rode a bike in real bike city. Someday I will. I
    bet that it's not going to be same feeling to ride a bike
    among a hugh bike populations verse a sole rider in big
    street in US.

  2. Seattle, on the other hand, is widely regarded as an
    excellent example of bicycle commuting. Paris is far
    from it. I don't have first-hand knowledge of the other
    places you listed, but your track record so far isn't
    terribly good.

    You might re-post your troll in rec.bicycles.racing where
    people make a sport of such things.

    --Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
    chainreactionbicycles.comchainreactionbicycles.com

    "Red Cloud" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    1. Hamburg

    2. Rome

    3. London

    4. paris

    5. Other European big and small cities

    These europeans cities could be the best place for biker
    riders, and


    most

    Quoted message said:

    Americna city like LA, NY, Pheoneix, Seattle are the
    worst place for biker. The reason is that in America most
    folks do not ride a bike. As matter of fact, probably
    less than 1% of American population are


    relying

    Quoted message said:

    bike as a primary transportation. In europe, I bet that
    number of


    population

    Quoted message said:

    relying on bike as the primary transportatoin are
    quite high.

    I've never rode a bike in real bike city. Someday I will.
    I bet that it's


    not

    Quoted message said:

    going to be same feeling to ride a bike among a hugh bike
    populations


    verse

    Quoted message said:

    a sole rider in big street in US.

  3. NYC in the 60s was fine. That was before bike messengers.

    The courtesy you get depends on how many bikes the drivers
    have seen before you that day. If it's none, you get all
    sorts of consideration.

    This is why you ought to be stamping out bike commuting, not
    encouraging
    it. It leaves you as the only rider. People give you a
    friendly wave, who pass you every day.
    --
    Ron Hardin [email hidden]

    On the internet, nobody knows you're a jerk.

  4. Red Cloud said:

    1. Hamburg

    2. Rome

    3. London

    4. paris

    5. Other European big and small cities

    These europeans cities could be the best place for biker
    riders,

    I doubt it. Here in Europe we usually consider Holland as
    the best example of how to plan and build for bicycle
    commuters.

    --
    Perre

    You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

  5. Greetings from London,

    It's along time since I've been to Hamburg. I wasn't
    impressed with their idea of compelling cyclists to ride
    on narrow urban sidewalks, even though they did paint a
    white line down the middle of the sidewalk, and call that
    a "bike lane"

    London is pretty good, although mine is a minority opinion.
    We are still trying to get a Tour de France stage here. The
    tour of Britain is back, meanwhile. The final stage will be
    a criterium in Westminster, Sept 5th. Send off for our free
    bike maps - London is big enough that it takes 19 of them to
    cover all london. Central London is map 10. For more info'
    look at the Transport for London web site www.tfl.org.uk

    There are lots of ways to get round London, so cycling has
    competition

    We got five ring roads from the planner kings (or at least a
    partial try) and Jubilee and Victoria in their halls of
    stone no highwalks for pedestrians, still doomed to die no
    Orbrail yet for railways, though once they ruled the throne.
    But there's one mode that rules them all although they won't
    admit it for fast fun trips around our town get a bike - you
    won't regret it.

    Jeremy Parker London UK

    "Red Cloud" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    1. Hamburg

    2. Rome

    3. London

    4. paris

    5. Other European big and small cities

    These europeans cities could be the best place for biker
    riders,


    and most

    Quoted message said:

    Americna city like LA, NY, Pheoneix, Seattle are the
    worst place


    for

    Quoted message said:

    biker. The reason is that in America most folks do
    not ride a


    bike.

    Quoted message said:

    As matter of fact, probably less than 1% of American
    population are


    relying

    Quoted message said:

    bike as a primary transportation. In europe, I bet that
    number of


    population

    Quoted message said:

    relying on bike as the primary transportatoin are
    quite high.

    I've never rode a bike in real bike city. Someday I
    will. I bet


    that it's not

    Quoted message said:

    going to be same feeling to ride a bike among a hugh bike


    populations verse

    Quoted message said:

    a sole rider in big street in US.

  6. "Red Cloud" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    1. Hamburg

    2. Rome

    3. London

    4. paris

    5. Other European big and small cities

    These europeans cities could be the best place for biker
    riders, and most Americna city like LA, NY, Pheoneix,
    Seattle are the worst place for biker. The reason is
    that in America most folks do not ride a bike. As matter
    of fact, probably less than 1% of American population
    are relying bike as a primary transportation. In europe,
    I bet that number of population relying on bike as the
    primary transportatoin are quite high.

    I've never rode a bike in real bike city. Someday I will.
    I bet that it's not going to be same feeling to ride a
    bike among a hugh bike populations verse a sole rider in
    big street in US.

    I'd take Seattle over Rome any day for bike commuting.
    Seattle does not have the plague of moped riders talking on
    cel phones filling every gap in the car traffic.

  7. "Mike Jacoubowsky" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    Seattle, on the other hand, is widely regarded as an
    excellent example of bicycle commuting. Paris is far from
    it. I don't have first-hand


    knowledge

    Quoted message said:

    of the other places you listed, but your track record so
    far isn't


    terribly

    Quoted message said:

    good.

    You might re-post your troll in rec.bicycles.racing where
    people make a sport of such things.

    Yeah, I think the "Seattle" thing was thrown in there for
    trolling purposes.

    Now, I think I'm going to haul myself up from the computer
    and go ride in one of those "worst places", where,
    according to the mayor, bicycle commuting has been
    increasing at 7-8% a year.

    --
    Warm Regards,

    Claire Petersky Please replace earthlink for mouse-potato
    and .net for .com Home of the meditative cyclist:
    home.earthlink.netWelcome.htm See the
    books I've set free at:
    bookcrossing.comCpetersky

  8. David L. Johnson said:
    Red Cloud said:

    1. Hamburg

    2. Rome

    3. London

    4. paris

    5. Other European big and small cities

    Have you tried to ride in these cities, or are you just
    assuming that, since they are in Europe, they must be
    better than anything the US has to offer?

    I hate it when I click on an unread post and then actually
    consider its content, BEFORE noting the author.

    Bill "Red Cloud Troll" S.

  9. I must say, the last time I was in London, I noticed that
    the air quality was terrible. I had to blow black stuff out
    of my nose and that was just from walking around, let alone
    if I was riding a bicycle. It was a very nice city, but I
    hope they did something about the air quality.

    Curt

    "Jeremy Parker" <[email hidden]> wrote in
    message "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    Greetings from London,

    It's along time since I've been to Hamburg. I wasn't
    impressed with their idea of compelling cyclists to ride
    on narrow urban sidewalks, even though they did paint a
    white line down the middle of the sidewalk, and call that
    a "bike lane"

    London is pretty good, although mine is a minority
    opinion. We are still trying to get a Tour de France stage
    here. The tour of Britain is back, meanwhile. The final
    stage will be a criterium in Westminster, Sept 5th. Send
    off for our free bike maps - London is big enough that it
    takes 19 of them to cover all london. Central London is
    map 10. For more info' look at the Transport for London
    web site www.tfl.org.uk

    There are lots of ways to get round London, so cycling has
    competition

    We got five ring roads from the planner kings (or at least
    a partial try) and Jubilee and Victoria in their halls of
    stone no highwalks for pedestrians, still doomed to die no
    Orbrail yet for railways, though once they ruled the
    throne. But there's one mode that rules them all although
    they won't admit it for fast fun trips around our town get
    a bike - you won't regret it.

    Jeremy Parker London UK

    "Red Cloud" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    1. Hamburg

    2. Rome

    3. London

    4. paris

    5. Other European big and small cities

    These europeans cities could be the best place for
    biker riders,


    and most

    Quoted message said:

    Americna city like LA, NY, Pheoneix, Seattle are the
    worst place


    for

    Quoted message said:

    biker. The reason is that in America most folks do not
    ride a


    bike.

    Quoted message said:

    As matter of fact, probably less than 1% of American
    population are


    relying

    Quoted message said:

    bike as a primary transportation. In europe, I bet that
    number of


    population

    Quoted message said:

    relying on bike as the primary transportatoin are
    quite high.

    I've never rode a bike in real bike city. Someday I
    will. I bet


    that it's not

    Quoted message said:

    going to be same feeling to ride a bike among a
    hugh bike


    populations verse

    Quoted message said:

    a sole rider in big street in US.

  10. maxo said:

    However there are too many to mention, my hometown of
    Gothenburg, Sweden is especially nice--they have seperate
    bike lane and lights in the city! Makes you feel like just
    another vehicle.

    I ride on the road in Washington, DC and feel just like a
    vehicle, too. I share the traffic lights with the cars and
    the trucks - no big deal...

    Curtis L. Russell Odenton, MD (USA) Just someone on
    two wheels...

  11. maxo said:

    ... my hometown of Gothenburg, Sweden is especially nice--
    they have seperate bike lane and lights in the city! Makes
    you feel like just another vehicle.

    Hmmm. Being segregated in a bike lane wouldn't make me feel
    "just like another vehicle." I prefer to use the same
    facilities the other vehicles use.

    --
    --------------------+ Frank Krygowski [To reply, remove
    rodent and vegetable dot com, replace with cc.ysu dot edu]

  12. Curtis L. Russell said:

    I ride on the road in Washington, DC and feel just like a
    vehicle, too. I share the traffic lights with the cars and
    the trucks - no big deal...

    the issue of lanes vs. no lanes can also be discussed to
    death 😄 it is interesting though--I don't think either is
    clearly superior.

    It doesn't really matter to me because I've ridden so many
    miles in so many cities that nothing really surprises or
    disturbs me...😉

    In Gothenburg (and Amsterdam for that matter), the lanes
    work because there are quite a few cyclists and the lanes
    are integrated very well with the motorised traffic,
    including their own stoplights.

    American bike lanes are usually just a stripe painted on the
    side of the road, that ends before intersections quite
    often. I find this quite silly seeing as the really
    dangerous part of biking with autos is the jockying at
    stoplights. A lot of cyclists stay far to the right even at
    lights and become for many motorists--invisible targets. I'm
    of the school that it's safest to occupy the lane when you
    can keep up with traffic--and that includes intersections.
    Behaving like a car is the best way to get treated like one--
    that's old news to most folks posting here of course 😉

    Unfortunately, a lot of recreational cyclists are
    intimidated by doing this, and often don't know it's within
    their rights to ride like this, motorists especially get
    annoyed in cities like where I'm living ATM, Nashville--
    where most cyclists ride illegally on the sidewalks or on
    the left side of the road. (!) We do have some new bike
    lanes which I find unnecessary for my personal habits--but I
    think are good "training wheels" for a lot of the newcomers
    to bicycling around here. The lanes have directional arrows
    (I know I know 🙂) and encourage riding on the street and
    with the flow of traffic--habits that folks can apply to non-
    striped roads.

    When I was in Chicago, I'd often avoid the bike paths if I
    wanted to get somewhere fast and use the regular streets,
    the paths being clogged by geniuses on bikes and blades who
    think it's a good idea to listen to headphones at full
    volume and cluelessly block traffic. LOL

  13. "maxo" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:


    My favourite bike city in the states is Chicago! Lots of
    everyday normal folks ride--not just the crunchy granola
    types. There are plenty of bike lanes, and motorists--as
    aggressive as they usually are in the big city, seem to
    tolerate cyclists. The city also has installed bike racks,
    real solid brilliant ones, almost everywhere! I find that
    more important than the bike lines almost. Chicago's also
    flat--so you can ride whatever piece of junk you have
    laying around and not worry too much about theft.


    Thanks for the kind words on my home city.

    I was surprised to see Paris on the original troll's list. I
    haven't biked when I've visited there, but there didn't seem
    to be a particularly high amount of bicycling and the
    traffic didn't seem particularly bicycle-friendly. Outside
    Paris (and I don't mean the suburbs) there seemed to be both
    more biking and a more bike-friendly atmosphere. This
    impression is based on relatively brief visits, so it may
    not be accurate.

    --
    ---
    Mike Kruger Blog:
    journals.aol.comZbicyclistsZlog

  14. "Per Elmsäter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

    Quoted message said:
    Red Cloud said:

    1. Hamburg

    2. Rome

    3. London

    4. paris

    5. Other European big and small cities

    These europeans cities could be the best place for
    biker riders,

    I doubt it. Here in Europe we usually consider Holland as
    the best example of how to plan and build for bicycle
    commuters.

    I forgot Holland!!! I even believe that HOlland could be
    the best biker nation on earth.

  15. "cheg" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<6Wjvc.41027$Ly.26887@attbi_s01>...

    Quoted message said:

    "Red Cloud" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]...

    Quoted message said:

    1. Hamburg

    2. Rome

    3. London

    4. paris

    5. Other European big and small cities

    These europeans cities could be the best place for
    biker riders, and most Americna city like LA, NY,
    Pheoneix, Seattle are the worst place for biker. The
    reason is that in America most folks do not ride a
    bike. As matter of fact, probably less than 1% of
    American population are relying bike as a primary
    transportation. In europe, I bet that number of
    population relying on bike as the primary
    transportatoin are quite high.

    I've never rode a bike in real bike city. Someday I
    will. I bet that it's not going to be same feeling to
    ride a bike among a hugh bike populations verse a sole
    rider in big street in US.

    I'd take Seattle over Rome any day for bike commuting.
    Seattle does not have the plague of moped riders talking
    on cel phones filling every gap in the car traffic.

    Do you see a lots bikers in Seattle?

  16. "Per Elmsäter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]

    [...]

    Quoted message said:

    I doubt it. Here in Europe we usually consider Holland as
    the best example of how to plan and build for bicycle
    commuters.

    How much of it is actually planned? I lived in Almere and
    Amsterdam. I thought the bike paths (and roads generally) in
    Almere were designed by people on acid. And Amsterdam wasn't
    planned, it's old and organic (not that that's a bad thing).

    --

    A: Top-posters.
    B: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet?

  17. "David L. Johnson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

    Quoted message said:
    Red Cloud said:

    1. Hamburg

    2. Rome

    3. London

    4. paris

    5. Other European big and small cities

    Have you tried to ride in these cities, or are you just
    assuming that, since they are in Europe, they must be
    better than anything the US has to offer? Conversely, if
    you try riding in New York, or (so I am told) Seattle, or
    even Philadelphia, you might find that they can be
    exceptional places to ride.

    Easy to assume European cities are more friendly to bikers
    than any American cities. Nobody can't deny fact. Seattle
    or NY or Phil can't be call as the biker city cuz their
    residents do not depend on bike much unlike where you see
    a signficant portion of Europeans are depending on bike.

  18. "S o r n i" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

    Quoted message said:
    David L. Johnson said:
    Red Cloud said:

    1. Hamburg

    2. Rome

    3. London

    4. paris

    5. Other European big and small cities

    Have you tried to ride in these cities, or are you just
    assuming that, since they are in Europe, they must be
    better than anything the US has to offer?

    I hate it when I click on an unread post and then actually
    consider its content, BEFORE noting the author.

    Bill "Red Cloud Troll" S.

    Just hate yourself moron.

  19. Mike Kruger said:

    I was surprised to see Paris on the original troll's list.
    I haven't biked when I've visited there, but there didn't
    seem to be a particularly high amount of bicycling and the
    traffic didn't seem particularly bicycle-friendly. Outside
    Paris (and I don't mean the suburbs) there seemed to be
    both more biking and a more bike-friendly atmosphere.

    Paris is certainly better than London, but should be quite
    far down on anyone's list of European biking cities. There
    are some bike lanes here and there, but most of the time you
    have to share the bus corridors - with the buses! Traffic
    can be demonic - I made the mistake of trying a route
    through the 15th Arrondissement on a Friday afternoon just
    before a long weekend and it was nose-to-nose trucks. Also,
    as I wrote in my thread on the Coulee Verte, there is a
    tendency not to upkeep bike paths even when they are
    provided, and to design them in such a way as to be
    practically unuseable.

    I know it's only a smallish town, but I think Cambridge UK
    should rank on any list of great European cycling cities.

    EFR Ile de France

  20. DRS said:

    "Per Elmsäter" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
    "]news:[email hidden]

    [...]

    Quoted message said:

    I doubt it. Here in Europe we usually consider Holland as
    the best example of how to plan and build for bicycle
    commuters.

    How much of it is actually planned? I lived in Almere and
    Amsterdam. I thought the bike paths (and roads generally)
    in Almere were designed by people on acid. And Amsterdam
    wasn't planned, it's old and organic (not that that's a
    bad thing).

    That's the difference between Europe and the U.S. We built
    our towns long before any cars and bicycles were around,
    then we built the roads. In the U.S. it seems you build the
    roads first and then the town. Planning over here is
    utilizing what you've already got as best as possible.

    --
    Perre

    You have to be smarter than a robot to reply.

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