4 ms·

In an unclear situation (i.e. any busy city), doing 30 km/h is way too fast. The sibling post talks about 25 mph = 40 km/h(!), that's racing speed, pretty dange

by j0057 7y ago

In an unclear situation (i.e. any busy city), doing 30 km/h is way too fast. The sibling post talks about 25 mph = 40 km/h(!), that's racing speed, pretty dangerous if there is other traffic around. There's a difference between the cycling the Dutch do at 18-20 km/h -- maybe 25 km/h on a dedicated cycle path with no chance of interaction with other traffic -- and race-cycling at 30+ km/h, which is in no way appropriate in a city with pedestrians and cars. I saw it in London too: very busy streets, and the cyclists are in full racing gear on racing bikes where they're hunched over instead of upright (bad for overview of traffic situations), doing 25-30 km/h, that's asking for trouble and it also gives cyclists a bad name. It also explains why people complain about getting to work sweaty -- they're going way too fast! If you relax and do 18 km/h, it will take only a little bit longer but you won't be soaked when you arrive.

brianwawok 7y ago
Except for people trying to be fit, your speeds keeps increasing for a while. When I was in good bike shape (am not now), I would need to ride 20 MPH to get a decent workout. Riding 15mph wouldn’t even get my heart rate to 120. High heart rate is important to get the health effects of a workout. The whole reason I commuted on bike was to get a workout as I travel Either A) the paths need to be safe up to a reasonable workout speed (25 mph) Or B) people wanting a workout need to buy heavier and heavier bikes to go slower. I can get a great workout at 15 MpH if I ride a 49 pound fat bike with huge knobs. It would seem pretty silly for me to commute to work at 15 mph, get no health benefit, then go spin on a stationary bike at 25 mph.....
tmb 7y ago
There are large portions of the world where you could walk your bike to work ~1km away and still arrive quite sweaty, cycling simply isn’t a viable option in a lot of cases if that’s the concern.
u801e 7y ago
> In an unclear situation (i.e. any busy city), doing 30 km/h is way too fast. Yet drivers of motor vehicles can go that speed without too many issues between intersections. If one rides a bike in the middle of the general purpose traffic lane, then going 25 mph is safe. > It also explains why people complain about getting to work sweaty -- they're going way too fast! Depending on the distance one must cover during the commute, going "fast" is necessary if you want to complete your trip in a reasonable period of time. If I wanted to go at walking speed, then I would just walk.
- j0057 7y ago
  Your definition of safe must be different than mine, because car drivers are protected by wrinkle zones, roll cages, airbags and seatbelts, whereas a cyclist is less visible, takes up less space and has ~nothing to protect their body.
  - u801e 7y ago
    Yet, motorcyclists ride in the traffic lane at similar speeds on urban streets. The definition of safety is to act in a predictable manner in terms of following the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles. Then you're far less likely to be involved in a collision in the first place.
bad_user 7y ago
As I said in another message, the Dutch are lucky to have cities that are mostly flat. In my city we've got some hills in spite of the region being plain — and riding a bike on a slope you can easily reach 60 km/h without sweating. It's foolish to do so, but you get carried away. I was driving way too fast on that event and I even told that girl afterwards that she may have stepped on the bike lane, but I was also going too fast. However not to detract from my main point — when I first fell off my bike this year and hit my helmet-protected head, I wasn't doing more than 10 km/h. And so in both situations I was protected by my gear and the outcome would have been much worse without it.

by j0057 7y ago

brianwawok 7y ago

Except for people trying to be fit, your speeds keeps increasing for a while. When I was in good bike shape (am not now), I would need to ride 20 MPH to get a decent workout. Riding 15mph wouldn’t even get my heart rate to 120. High heart rate is important to get the health effects of a workout. The whole reason I commuted on bike was to get a workout as I travel Either A) the paths need to be safe up to a reasonable workout speed (25 mph) Or B) people wanting a workout need to buy heavier and heavier bikes to go slower. I can get a great workout at 15 MpH if I ride a 49 pound fat bike with huge knobs. It would seem pretty silly for me to commute to work at 15 mph, get no health benefit, then go spin on a stationary bike at 25 mph.....

tmb 7y ago

There are large portions of the world where you could walk your bike to work ~1km away and still arrive quite sweaty, cycling simply isn’t a viable option in a lot of cases if that’s the concern.

u801e 7y ago

> In an unclear situation (i.e. any busy city), doing 30 km/h is way too fast. Yet drivers of motor vehicles can go that speed without too many issues between intersections. If one rides a bike in the middle of the general purpose traffic lane, then going 25 mph is safe. > It also explains why people complain about getting to work sweaty -- they're going way too fast! Depending on the distance one must cover during the commute, going "fast" is necessary if you want to complete your trip in a reasonable period of time. If I wanted to go at walking speed, then I would just walk.

j0057 7y ago
Your definition of safe must be different than mine, because car drivers are protected by wrinkle zones, roll cages, airbags and seatbelts, whereas a cyclist is less visible, takes up less space and has ~nothing to protect their body.
- u801e 7y ago
  Yet, motorcyclists ride in the traffic lane at similar speeds on urban streets. The definition of safety is to act in a predictable manner in terms of following the rules of the road for drivers of vehicles. Then you're far less likely to be involved in a collision in the first place.

bad_user 7y ago

As I said in another message, the Dutch are lucky to have cities that are mostly flat. In my city we've got some hills in spite of the region being plain — and riding a bike on a slope you can easily reach 60 km/h without sweating. It's foolish to do so, but you get carried away. I was driving way too fast on that event and I even told that girl afterwards that she may have stepped on the bike lane, but I was also going too fast. However not to detract from my main point — when I first fell off my bike this year and hit my helmet-protected head, I wasn't doing more than 10 km/h. And so in both situations I was protected by my gear and the outcome would have been much worse without it.