
The Bike Wars Are Over, and the Bikes Won - dodders
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2016/03/bike-wars-are-over-and-the-bikes-won.html
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elipsey
Not too long ago, a cyclist in my town who was standing parked on the sidewalk
was killed by a truck that tipped over. I was suprised by how many people said
he had it coming -- that was the first comment on the local news website, and
I heard elsewhere as well.

Well, I can take a hint.

I've largely stoped bike commuting because other people hate it. I have never
been yelled at, harrassed, scolded, or bullied so much while using any other
form of transport.

I follow the rules and try to act humble; you just can't win when your doing
something so unpopular and are at such a physical disadvantage to other road
users.

If I ride in the road drivers get mad and I'm risking my life, if I ride on
the sidewalk pedestrians get mad and I'm breaking the law, and if I ride on
the shoulder they both get mad and I can't turn or change lanes.

Walking is a little better because you're mostly segregated from other road
users so it's harder for them to retaliate. Drivers often don't yield to
crosswalk signals or to pedestrians on sidewalks in my neighborhood, but they
can't generally drive onto the sidewalk just to harrass me. On a bike people
can sneak up behind you and honk, encroach on your lane, and get in front of
you and brake aggresively, or just curse at you and run away. Things like this
happen fairly often when I bike and there's not much I can do to avoid it
except not bike.

I see a few drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians breaking the law all the time,
but for some reason, I don't see anyone claiming that this means all drivers
deserve to die, only the other two things.

I kind of wish that different users of different modes of transport could just
call truce and stop picking fights with each other, but I'm not holding my
breath, and I'm not interested in getting killed over it.

I'm glad this is getting better in NYC but where I am it still sucks.

~~~
splurge100
Where are you?

~~~
elipsey
Ithaca, ATM

~~~
diracshard
Good god, Ithaca, NY?!

When I was there it was actually one of the more friendly and cool communities
I'd lived in. It's a bummer to think that it could have gone so downhill as to
be hostile to cyclists, given the demographic.

~~~
elipsey
Yes. Impressions probably depend on who you know and where you are. I think
Cornel people are much friendlier to cyclists than the average resident, but I
don't live very close to campus.

I should add that in general I think it's a great place, this is one sore
point for me.

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bradford
This statement infuriated me:

> "...And bike lanes are a dangerous lure, giving would-be riders a false
> sense of security that it’s safe to ride on streets"

Proponents of vehicular cycling would state that the safest place to be _is in
the street_. Bike lanes are dangerous because they give cyclists the
impression that it's safe to ride _in bike lanes_.

([http://bicyclesafe.com/](http://bicyclesafe.com/) outlines some of the
dangers)

~~~
proactivesvcs
And a lot of the UK "cycle lanes" I've ridden next to are preposterously
narrow. I know of one that is narrower than my handlebars. As a result,
motorists think (subconsciously or otherwise) that they can drive aside the
cyclist, up to the line, instead of the advisory two meters when passing.

I give these such a wide berth that most motorists realise that I'm blatantly
avoiding such a lane and rarely give me grief. I assume they can see why!

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boxy310
I like pieces like this. City governments all over have a lot more visibility
into the decision-making process than previous generations have had, and
sometimes that means that good policy can get drowned in bad NIMBYism, but
having a tough public administrative class means they're able to tough out
criticism to let time judge them on their merits.

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vanderZwan
As a Dutchman, the first two paragraphs were quite infuriating to read; a list
of arguments similar to the now-classic "Schödinger's immigrant"-joke
("simultaneously too lazy to work and stealing your job").

> _Well, no wonder: Roads are built for buses, cars, and trucks, not for
> people on bikes._

Well good to see that the 1920s auto-industry propaganda[0] still has it's
firm grip on American society! Roads were not _made_ for cars, the cars
_claimed_ the roads once they got on the scene. You can choose to design them
in a way that accomodates all[1].

The only reason I'd hate leaving the Netherlands is because no other country
comes close in bike-friendliness at the moment (simply put: good bike
infrastructure is so common it's barely noticed by the locals, because it's
the norm[2]). I do hope that changes soon.

[0]
[http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26073797](http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26073797)

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlApbxLz6pA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlApbxLz6pA)

[2]
[https://www.youtube.com/user/markenlei/videos?flow=grid&view...](https://www.youtube.com/user/markenlei/videos?flow=grid&view=0&sort=p)

~~~
dominotw
>Well good to see that the 1920s auto-industry propaganda[0] still has it's
firm grip on American society

I am curious do you guys typically have showers at work ?

One of the reason I don't bike to work is that we don't have showers at work.
Most of days in this part of US are hot and humid and I don't feel like
sitting at work drenched in sweat.

~~~
zzalpha
> One of the reason I don't bike to work is that we don't have showers at
> work. Most of days in this part of US are hot and humid and I don't feel
> like sitting at work drenched in sweat.

Microfiber towel and a change of clothes?

I typically wait the 30-45 minutes needed for me to physically cool down in my
air conditioned office. Then I towel off and change and I'm good to go.

Probably wouldn't work for everyone, but it works for me.

~~~
jo6gwb
Hey Alpha, it's probably not working for your colleagues.

~~~
zzalpha
Pro-tip: body odor is a result of bacteria on the skin that breaks sweat down
into various compounds. Sweat itself doesn't actually stink.

So what's a great way to remove that bacteria? Showering (with plenty of
soap).

So showering _before_ you exercise, toweling off quickly after exercise, and
following with deodorant, is a very effective way of eliminating body odor as
a result of exercise, as that combination a) removes bacteria on the skin, b)
removes the food they feed off of before odor compounds can form, and c)
staves off further odor production as a result of additional sweating and
bacterial growth.

Try it. You might be surprised.

Additional tips: adjustments to diet can make a huge change in body odor.
Thinning or removing body hair is also helpful, as bacteria tend to thrive in
those areas.

You could also try using disinfecting wet wipes as part of a post-exercise
clean-up routine, in addition to simply toweling off.

------
splurge100
Copenhagen is one of the most wonderful cities to get around I've seen. Many
of the bike lanes are separated and raised from vehicle street level by a
small curb, which does not stop a determined vehicle (or out of control
vehicle) from invading the lane, but does wonders for the psyche of the
bicyclist. The feeling of gliding through the city via your own network of
paths is incredible. There's often plenty of bike parking too.

In my opinion, all densely populated cities with reasonable climates should be
built that way. If San Francisco had similar dedicated lanes throughout the
city, and more bike parking, I'd absolutely wager that car ownership (and all
of those cars laying fallow on the street) would drop significantly.

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blisterpeanuts
Interesting perspective. Driving through Cambridge, Mass. recently, I noticed
some nice bike lanes[1] that seem pretty nicely separated from both cars and
pedestrians.

I'm hoping that this approach will gain in popularity. What we lose in
slightly narrower roads and more restrictive sidewalks, we gain in a safer
separation of fast moving cyclers from both peds and cars.

This is the future of urban transportation -- mixed use thruways that
eventually must accommodate Segue-type vehicles, as more people (especially
20-somethings) appear to be moving away from motor cars.

1\. [https://goo.gl/maps/CkaLVGpeCbk](https://goo.gl/maps/CkaLVGpeCbk)

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iamthepieman
This piece is screaming for more pictures. Here are some from the places
mentioned in the article in the order of their appearance.

Ninth Street: [http://imgur.com/kc3IqM8](http://imgur.com/kc3IqM8)

Grand Street: [http://imgur.com/8nzlYys](http://imgur.com/8nzlYys)

Kent Ave, Williamsburg: [http://imgur.com/bscl26i](http://imgur.com/bscl26i)

Prospect Park West: [http://imgur.com/WiLvOyE](http://imgur.com/WiLvOyE)

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CalRobert
I dunno about that, southern California remains a desolate hellscape full of
people who joke about murdering me and my fellow cyclists like it's nothing at
all.

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shmerl
I wish there were more bike lanes in Brooklyn. They are still pretty rare.

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dsl
I have yet to hear a logical explanation for why we don't tax and licence
bikes in major cities. Paying your "fair share" of road use taxes gives you an
equal voice when asking for specific use lanes, and licence plates allow us to
better track and punish the few that cause the problems (if I had a dollar for
every time I wish I could write down a bikes plate number...).

~~~
grardb
I ride a bike, and I pay taxes. I'm not sure what you mean by that. What is a
fair share for bike riders? We don't have bike lanes on every street, and many
of the bike lanes we do have aren't respected.

Drivers double-park their cars on them. They also open their car doors without
checking to see if bike riders are coming first. They also swerve in and out
of them while texting. They also drive onto them to get around vehicles like
garbage trucks, often without looking. Drivers make turns without looking both
ways, often putting us at risk.

I ride my bike to work every single day in New York. Every week, I have
multiple close calls because of careless drivers, and sometimes because of
careless pedestrians. I don't run red lights, and I don't even ride that fast.
I ride my bike on the correct side of the street. You want me to pay extra
taxes for what, exactly? My bike and myself combined are a little over 200lbs.
Do I create potholes in the roads? Does my bike cause pollution?

I don't think you ride a bike.

~~~
dominotw
>My bike and myself combined are a little over 200lbs. Do I create potholes in
the roads? Does my bike cause pollution?

What about the cost of building and maintenance of bike lanes and other
associated costs that would be involved in increased complexity of
cleaning/maintenance of roads due to bike lanes (more so if they are secluded
from main traffic).

Do you think this cost is justified for a minuscule percentage of population
who choose to bike on the roads.

~~~
grardb
Have you ever been to New York? Outside of some parts of Manhattan, bike lanes
aren't "built." There is some paint splashed onto the side of a street, and
based on what I see, not much "maintenance" happens after that. There is no
extra complexity because of that paint. Street cleaners disregard the bike
lane as if it wasn't there (which I'm fine with).

Regardless, I still pay taxes just like everyone else. I used to own a car,
and I didn't pay any extra taxes. Why should I now that I have a bike?

~~~
dominotw
>There is some paint splashed onto the side of a street, and based on what I
see, not much "maintenance" happens after that.

But that not acceptable( dangerous for both cars and bikers) like you
suggested in you parent comment. Bike lanes need to be protected from main
traffic which would mean more costs.

Protected bike lanes are paramount to safety. Which means regular maintenance
equipment like snow plowers/slating won't work. Bike lanes here are totally
useless here in winters because we don't the right equipment/training to
clean/salt bike lanes.

~~~
freehunter
It's possible to separate bike lanes from traffic lanes without building more
infrastructure. In fact the entire article was dedicated to that concept. I
suggest you read it.

