4 ms·

25 kph is about 15 mph, which is not particularly fast in a bike lane here in the US. It is a lane, not a path; basically a painted shoulder theoretically close

25 kph is about 15 mph, which is not particularly fast in a bike lane here in the US. It is a lane, not a path; basically a painted shoulder theoretically closed to vehicles. However, most cyclists seem to be riding for sport, few people ride at a sedate pace because you're on the bike to burn calories and improve your fitness, not to get somewhere in normal clothes without becoming sweaty. It feels too dangerous to be a couple feet from all our big SUVs and pickup trucks at 100 kph/55 mph unless you're also going an appreciable fraction of that speed.

shafyy 5y ago
Your city is doing bike lanes wrong :-)
- scrose 5y ago
  I think you mean ‘Your country’. The US is notoriously bad at prioritizing people over ‘Level of Service’ for cars.
  - shafyy 5y ago
    I lived in SF for a while. While there's a lot of potential, it wasn't as bad as I would have thought.
    - browningstreet 5y ago
      I've lived in Amsterdam, Berlin and SF. SF is easily the worst, especially if you want to go biking with your family, even if that family includes an older teenager. Managing 3 people traversing a city shouldn't be as heinous as it is in SF. I've had fun in SF on a bike, bombing around solo -- but it never felt safe.
      - shafyy 5y ago
        I live in Berlin and lived in Zurich and SF. I think SF is good for US standards. In Zurich you have fewer bike lanes than in SF, but the drivers are more aware of cyclists so I felt safer. Berlin is investing a lot into biking infrastructure and I feel like there are great bike lanes for almost everyone you want to go (at least in the neighborhoods I go around). Of course, Amsterdam is another ball game :-)
dfxm12 5y ago
However, most cyclists seem to be riding for sport, few people ride at a sedate pace because you're on the bike to burn calories and improve your fitness, not to get somewhere in normal clothes without becoming sweaty. This is quite the hasty generalization.
- LeifCarrotson 5y ago
  It's definitely a generalization, but during my bike lane commutes or when I drive along a bike lane, I see a ton of Lycra-clad middle-aged men bent over in there best aero positions going 20 mph+. There are not a lot of upright riders going slowly. It's definitely a generalization, it's anecdotal and specific to the streets I frequent in my Midwestern US city, but at least here it's a true generalization.
u801e 5y ago
> It feels too dangerous to be a couple feet from all our big SUVs and pickup trucks at 100 kph/55 mph unless you're also going an appreciable fraction of that speed. Most bike lanes are on city streets where motor vehicles are going anywhere from 0 to 35 mph (0 to 55 km/h). Most people on bikes are going 0 to 20 mph (0 to 30 km/h) which really isn't much slower, so bike lanes or separated paths really don't make sense. Where traffic is moving faster, you rarely find bike lanes or separated paths.

shafyy 5y ago

Your city is doing bike lanes wrong :-)

scrose 5y ago
I think you mean ‘Your country’. The US is notoriously bad at prioritizing people over ‘Level of Service’ for cars.
- shafyy 5y ago
  I lived in SF for a while. While there's a lot of potential, it wasn't as bad as I would have thought.
  - browningstreet 5y ago
    I've lived in Amsterdam, Berlin and SF. SF is easily the worst, especially if you want to go biking with your family, even if that family includes an older teenager. Managing 3 people traversing a city shouldn't be as heinous as it is in SF. I've had fun in SF on a bike, bombing around solo -- but it never felt safe.
    - shafyy 5y ago
      I live in Berlin and lived in Zurich and SF. I think SF is good for US standards. In Zurich you have fewer bike lanes than in SF, but the drivers are more aware of cyclists so I felt safer. Berlin is investing a lot into biking infrastructure and I feel like there are great bike lanes for almost everyone you want to go (at least in the neighborhoods I go around). Of course, Amsterdam is another ball game :-)

dfxm12 5y ago

However, most cyclists seem to be riding for sport, few people ride at a sedate pace because you're on the bike to burn calories and improve your fitness, not to get somewhere in normal clothes without becoming sweaty. This is quite the hasty generalization.

LeifCarrotson 5y ago
It's definitely a generalization, but during my bike lane commutes or when I drive along a bike lane, I see a ton of Lycra-clad middle-aged men bent over in there best aero positions going 20 mph+. There are not a lot of upright riders going slowly. It's definitely a generalization, it's anecdotal and specific to the streets I frequent in my Midwestern US city, but at least here it's a true generalization.

u801e 5y ago

> It feels too dangerous to be a couple feet from all our big SUVs and pickup trucks at 100 kph/55 mph unless you're also going an appreciable fraction of that speed. Most bike lanes are on city streets where motor vehicles are going anywhere from 0 to 35 mph (0 to 55 km/h). Most people on bikes are going 0 to 20 mph (0 to 30 km/h) which really isn't much slower, so bike lanes or separated paths really don't make sense. Where traffic is moving faster, you rarely find bike lanes or separated paths.