Basically, for those of you here who ride a bicycle, what do you have in the way of bike infrastructure, and how pleasant/painful is it to cycle where you live? In my area, there’s a small handful of mixed-use sidewalks (basically they made the sidewalk a bit wider, made it asphalt, and painted a yellow line down the middle) which are certainly better than nothing (especially better than painted bike gutters) but not really a connected bike network, it pains me to see how much could be done but isn’t, it’s not like there isn’t the space or anything either
There’s one of those paths nearby that’s very useful to me for getting to a few shops, and getting there doesn’t require cycling in the road very much, but going any farther requires me to cycle in traffic which sucks, thankfully the main street I’d be going down is still pretty residential so it’s not too busy and isn’t too fast (the sign’s 50km/h, though tbf people do always go at least a bit over the limit), still feels dangerous though to have to rely on cars safely passing, especially when Canada absolutely has loads of large pickups and SUVs just like the US
The amount of hills in my area is also pretty troublesome, I had to get an e-bike just to be able to handle them at all, it’s the only reason I’m even able to venture outside the neighborhood on this thing
Currently living in Shanghai. The bike lanes are often so big that cars could drive on them, and often separated by flowerpots from the actual roads. The biggest downside to driving a bike here are the motorcycle drivers, they constantly honk and drive like crazy. But shared bikes are everywhere, and I paid like 13¥ for a month of using them as much as I like. So it’s very convenient and extremely cheap.
It’s crazy because China has essentially created public transit infrastructure that is everything western transit nerds want. All the discourse about more trains, denser development, multimodal transit, accessible transit etc. has already happened in some Chinese cities. Still lots of problems (e.g. aggregate traffic fatalities), but it’s incredible stuff getting done.
Flat. Together with The Netherlands probably the best in the world (I live in Belgium). There are several cycling ‘highways’ near my house which can take me to different cities in no time.
In the city it’s a bit more dangerous but that’s mostly because of cars.
In Indian cities, you are only expected to use a bicycle if you are too poor to afford a car or a motorcycle. Roads are crafted using only cars and other heavy vehicles (trucks, etc.) in mind. The result is that there is no separation between car space and bike/pedestrian space, and if you walking or using a bike, you stick to the edges of the roads and hope that some careless driver does not turn you into roadkill.
I am very uncomfortable when I walk for this reason. I am not too afraid or paranoid but having to watch for cars or even motorcycles at all times is really exhausting especially considering that people drive in the wrong lane very often here. I don’t bike because if the distance I have to travel warrants a bicycle I will just take the car instead.
Over the last five years or so there has been an emergence in hobbyist biking. I saw think in one of the bigger cities during a visit. By hobbyist, I mean relatively well-off people (mostly men) buying expensive bikes, biking attire and biking for the sake of it, often as an exercise. But they still have to contend with cars for road space so I don’t know why they do it. Sounds unfun. I would rather go to a nice park and jog instead but even clean green public spaces are a rarity. But that’s just how things are when infrastructure is designed for capital rather than human .
I wear a a suicide vest so that if I get hit by a car (highly likely) I’m taking both of us out.
Realistically, where I am currently biking is impossible. You will die.
20 minutes away by car is an extremely progressive city that I love to bike in and can get anywhere I want in 15-30 minutes tops.
I don’t live there but I came to complain about how Bentonville, Arkansas (where walmart is headquartered) is one of the friendliest places for cyclers in the US. Why? Because one of the heirs to the walmart fortune likes cycling. Nothing says freedom like billionaires planning your economy based around their personal hobbies!
