No bike love today
Ok, here is the honest to goodness truth. The truth is that I really don’t enjoy riding in the city a lot of the time lately. The traffic is terrible, the roads are an abomination and frankly, its too freaking hot.
Today I rode to a meeting and had to dodge numerous potholes, was yelled at and then had to search wildly for a place to park my bike. I wish I could say that this is not the norm, but I would be lying. Here are a few photos showing the crap we have to ride through just to get around.
(nice to know I am not alone!)
had to lock in an alley
They are repaving the roads on the Southside and said they were going to consider putting bike lanes…but the striping is done and not one to be seen. Same thing happened last year. WTF?
Yes, I know that it takes people like me to get change, but I am sick of having to do it. Come on local government, get your act together. Why must we always be behind the times? We are ranked #50 in most things bike-related and I know why. It sucks! I want change and am working for it, but allow me a moment to bitch. No wonder no one wants to ride around here, you deal with crappy drivers, arrive somewhere sweating and shaking with nowhere to park your bike.
Ok-I feel better (ish). Thanks for listening.
Hmm. Bike yaself up to Allentown? Our city government just figured out it might be a good idea to invest 100,000 in sharrows and bike lanes. Also, we have lots of races.
I mean, there is still tons of bicycle hate, but none of that weird looking intersection crap you seem to have to deal with.
Sorry, Elisa! That sucks. I wish you peaceful riding and open-minded government officials!
Seems to be that local gov officials just dont cycle…local governments everywhere need to at least consult with cyclists about infrastructure. Hope some of them read ur post and get with the vibe a bit more (wont even touch on the subject of drivers!).
#50? We are not even ranked and there are few shoulders, no sidewalks(not even a path) and plenty of drinking (texting) drivers. The bright side is I don’t have to lock my bike at the store because no one wants it.
I feel your pain. My neighborhood in Nashville is pretty bike-friendly in comparison, but there’s STILL practically nowhere to park a bike. That picture of the SUV hogging the bike lane is priceless. Unfortunately you’re doing all you can — hope they get the message.
I know the feeling. Here conditions are a lot better for bikes and we have some traffic free routes, but I know the feeling of being treated as if there’s something wrong with me because I’m being too different.
say it isnt so
yesterday seemed to be a bad day
i got more than the usual share of bad driver behaviour
and it was saturday
wle
oh
i should say
i am in atlanta [[point being - maybe it was everywhere]]
nothing peculiar today though
except scirocco
the desert winds
weirdly hot and dry with high winds
wle
Agreed — it sucks. but keep riding and trying to make it better!
Hear ya. Keep the faith when you can. If it was easy, every one would be doing it. Thanks for trying to make it easier for everyone else!