In the United States, bike use has increased dramatically over the past
decade.  _Time_ magazine reports that the number of bike-riding Ameri-
cans grew from 72 million in 1983 to 93 million in 1991.  1.5% of U.S.
residents commute to work at least occaisionally by bicycle, according
to the Bicycle Institute of American.  This is an increase of 1.5% 
since 1983.

Since it hard to find a place to bike safely in most urban areas due 
to traffic or pollution problems, bycycling can sometimes be problem-
atic or `scary'.  In this climate it isn't always practical to bicyle
around the year either.

As mostly bicyclest wanna-be, I have been wondering:

        - How friendly has your neighborhood urban planner been to 
          bicycling in your community?

        - Where are your favorite places to bike and when?

        - How have you or someone you know overcome the obstacles
          of commuting to work, the store, etc.?

28 responses total.

I try to approach bicycling like I do walking.  It's something
I like to do when I'm up for it (more and more as time goes on)
in place of driving, etc.  Also, the more I walk or bike places
the  more I discover places I can easily walk or bike to much to
the amazement of some people.  "You walked/biked all that way!"

I have found that cars seem to bike far away places seem close
but close places farther away.

Ann Arbor is actually a good place for bicyclists.  When I worked for
Northern Telecom, I commuted to work by bicycle when weather 
permitted.  If I was a little more committed (like klaus), I could
have done it even in the winter.  I do as much by bike or foot as
I can.

Was showering afterwards ever a problem?  I have heard some people
say they do not bike to work because there is no palce to shower
or change.

   That can be a problem.  I rode my bike some to a work place that
was 2.5 miles from home.  Did that mostly in the fall, just to avoid
those problems.  A number of places do have facilities for showering,
so its getting easier.

We didn't have any showers at NT.  I'd shower the night before, ride
early when it was cooler so I didn't sweat all that much, and then do
a kind of sponge bath when I got to work.  It seemed to work OK;  no one
ever complained anyway.

   I bike to school, which is slightly less than two miles away.  For a 7-8
minute trip, even on hot days, showering afterwords isn't generally necessary.
If I lived significantly farther away from school it might be a problem, but
then I think there are showers in the gym locker room that I could use.
   Biking with cars can be a problem sometimes.  Mostly, rather than really
being dangerous, its just mental.  When I started out, I would hear cars coming
up behind me and get quite nervous.  AFter a while I realized that as long as
the cars saw me they could get around me and it would not be a problem (the
only problem I have ever had with that was one guy a week ago who got onto a
race course and hit the front of the pack).  Remember, as long as you obey
traffic laws, cars have to figure out how to pass you safely.  You don't have
to get out of their way, they have to wait until its safe to pass and then do
it.
   There is also the factor of harrassment.  Some drivers think cyclists have
no right to be on the road, and won't hesitate to make that known. 
Getting yelled at is just something to get used to.  I have now gotten to
the point where I can just ignore the yelling and honking.   Anyway, this
is much more of a problem out on long training rides than it is around
town.  In the last two years of riding 250+ miles per week, I have only
had one really dangerous interaction with a car in a place where cars were
allowed to be.  A few months ago, some people threw a full Pepsi can into
a group I was riding in, hitting one person in the face.  Considering all
the cars that pass me on every ride, this doesn't seem to be anything to
get to worried about.  The percent of dangerous drivers is so small.

I bike more than I drive, but I do have a peeve about bikers who stay on the
road when there is a bike path right there.  When drivers see that sort of
thing it doesn't do much to support the construction of bike paths-- why
build them if we won't use them?  It's useful as a sort of protest where
the bike paths have deteriorated, like on huron Parkway, but where the bike 
lanes are in decent shape I use them, even putting up with the mindless
drivers who block them at intersections.  Write it off as the cost of living
in an obsessively car-oriented society.  There really are some places where,
through incompetent design, biking has to be avoided because it is genuinely
dangerous.  Huron Parkway is becoming one of those places.  I had planned to
bike to work and did for a while, but after a few years the path just got 
worse and worse, and riding in one of the traffic lanes is suicide.


Of course, this isn't to condone harrassment.  It's just another example of
why millions of detached, hermetically sealed drivers on the road is a
bad thing for society.

   Bikes are traffic, and should not be relegated to sidewalks or "bike paths."
I do not ride on bike paths.  I have a right to be use the road, and I will do
that.  Bike paths are little more than glorified sidewalks; they certainly 
aren't safe places to ride fast.  Quite frankly, if I do something to turn
somebody against the construction of bike paths that is better.  For competent
cyclists, roads are much safer.  All bike paths do is give drivers one more
reason to think cyclists have no place on the road.  They take away from
cycling; they do not improve it.

We discussed bike paths in the effective cycling class I took last
spring.  It was generally considered that they are unsafe for many
reasons.  Not only are they often in disrepair but people had found
road kill thrown on the path they were riding on.  The paths are
not cleared during the winter and some cyclists do ride in the winter.
The chief danger is to cyclists on paths where there are a lot of
drive ways and side streets.  When cars pull out of the drive way
and the side roads they don't stop at the bike path and often can't
be seen in time for the bike to stop.  The is a _very_ serious
problem if there are numerous side streets and drive ways.  The
bike path on Packard between Eisenhower and Platt was cited as
one of the most dangerous places to ride by most of the experienced
riders in the class.

We were told that roads were the place to be legally and safely.
The drivers can see you and know you are there.  The cyclist
doesn't have to wonder on and off the road depeding on where the
bike path, sidewalk, etc. is.  I was told that entering traffic
(pulling out) is quite a delicate operation.

Another unfriendly bike path is along I-275.  Who wants to excercise hard in
that polluted atmosphere?

Hi there.  Me again.  I ride to and from work every day, all year.  In the
summer I wear an old pair of shorts and a T shirt with my work clothes in
a back-pack.  I try to get out there before eight so I don't have to deal
with those who want to punch in at eight with two minutes and five miles to
go.  I do not have shower facilities at work, though we do have bathrooms
and those are as good a changing room as any.  I find one shower a day keeps
the oders at bay, even in the summer, as long as I don't push too hard.

I ride five miles each way on the likes of Industrial Hwy. and Seventh St.
I wear bright, reflective colors.  My bike looks like trash but has evolved
into a pretty durable, though ugly, machine.  It is equiped with several
reflectors, halogen head lamp with rechargable batteries, wide, low pressure
tires, rear-view mirror(Wouldn't be without it!) and a helmet on my head.

I have never had any significant incidents with motorists.  Obey the laws,
share the road as best you can.  A person on a bike is no match for a 
person in a ton or more of iron.  It took me a long time to get comfotable
with riding in traffic but I now find it very relaxing and prefer it by 
far to driving our car.  Even rain doesn't bother me.  I've given up on
fancy gortex, etc, etc. stuff and simply allow myself to get wet.  Skin,
kept warm under a layer of polyproplyn and/or wool is a fantastic rain
suit!  A light, bright, windbreaker keeps me comfortable even down to almost
0F.

Any questions? 

I've noticed the path in Plymouth by I-14.  It's above the freeway
and I have wondered if that makes it easier to  use as the driver
would be farther away from the source of noise and fumes.  Where
is the path on I-275?

The I-275 path is immediately to the west of the highway at 6 mile, Plymouth
Rd., etc.  Farther south it may, just may be east of the highway.  I wouldn't
ride there tho, with 8 lanes of traffic, at 70mph who knows how many vehicles
per minute, generating nitrous oxides, carbon monoxide, etc.
I haven't been riding too much lately because i've become asthmatic + live on
a hill with downtown, etc. uphill, but i preferred to ride on sidestreets. 
Unfortunately, alot of AA is not on a grid, with cul-de-sacs, and no straight
routes except main streets.  By the way, i am moving soon and look rward 
to pedalling again.  One further note, you folks who ride in all weather, I'm
sure you know that cantilevered brakes as found on trail bikes are far 
superior, and function quite well even when wet.

My point remains that, living in a car-oriented society, bikers are not
accomodated by roadbuilders, whether that means that bike paths are 
unsafe for all of the reasons above, or that bikers who won't use them
have to endanger themselves by riding in fast traffic.  Whether bike
paths or bike lanes as they exist today are safe and adequate or not,
the problem at hand is to do something about making biking safe.  No
reasonable driver or biker will agree that a bike traveling at 15 mph
on a street without a shoulder in heavy traffic traveling at 50 is a
safe situation, nor is dodging cars crossing a bike path.

Back to the subject, my favorite place to bike is the residential area
just north of Huron St. and east of State.  Plenty of moderate to steep
hills, one-way lightly traveled streets, interesting architecture, and
views of the city and surrounding forest.

I find that seperate bike pathes remove the bicyclits from the motorists
area of concern, while pathesmaked in the street include the cyclist.
Seperate bike pathes also are considered sidewalks by pedestrians.  I ride
in the street when there are seperate pathes so I'm not overlooked by
motoristsu!b, its safer.
Most of the street building/repairing does include making them safer for
people on bikes.  There is mounting pressure, even at the federal level,
to make new road construction accommodating to cyclists needs.  Even the
newer traffic lights with their sense coils barried benieth the roads
surface, must be able to sense the presence of a bicycle (Now they just
have to mark, on the road, where to stop so you'll be sensed!) in the
city of A^2.
For recreational cycling, I like to get out the map and find dirt roads
outside the city limits to ride on.  Very pretty, few cars making for a
very relaxing ride.  My favorite directions are north and west of the city,
though there is some good dirt road riding south towards Manchester too.
One just has to learn not to panic when a dog runs out to see what your
made of ;)

re 13:
   Cantelevered brakes are not inherrently superior to calipers.  In terms of
power and modulation, that all depends on the individual brake, rather than
on the type of brake.  The main advantage to cantilevers is that they have
plenty of clearance for wide tires, such as on mountainbikes, and are probably
a bit less mud-sensative.  I have cantilever brakes on my mountain bike and
my around town bike, and like them fine, but I wouldn't trade the Dura Ace
calipers on my road bike for anything.

I like the Campy caliper brakes on my road bike too.  A bit stiffer than
Dura-Ace.  I also like the Phil Wood disk brake, not to mention his hubs
and bottom bracket.  No one type of brake is better than another.  The
force going into the lever, from your hand, is all the same.  How much
of that force is lost through the cables and flexing metal parts, etc.
is what makes the differance.  Cantilevers are very simple, use short,
stout parts mounted to the fork and this makes them easy to design and
cheap while retaining very good braking ability.  The brake pads also
make a big differance on brake preformance.  A clean, gooshy pad on a
clean, dry chrome rim will toss you over the handle bars as soon as the
pads touch, while a pad made of graphite won't do much at all.  There
are many types of pads on the market.  I general the soft ones that will
stop you with little force will wear quickly.  The harder ones don't
wear as fast but require more fore to stop as fast as the softer ones.

I prefer Aztecs on my mountain bike, because they grab enough to make the 
weak cantilevers (Dia-Compe X-1) adequately powerful.  I've got Dura-Ace pads
on my road bike, and those work well also.

Riding your bike in Detroit is suicidal... I love it.,

As for brakes... Campys are cool... I like black pads for some reason.

Is the color really _that_ important?

No.  btw, I was walking by the new sports bookstore yesterday (it's
just north of the library downtown) and noticed they had a copy of
the Sierra Club Bicycle Commuting book for a couple of bucks.  If you're
serious about this, and get there quick enough, perhaps you could get it.

Re 19:
   The only time I've ever ridden in Detroit was the stage of this year's
Tour de Michigan, that was part of the state fair (not commuting, but oh
well...).  Incredibly narrow course.  Hot dog stands sticking out into the
course.  Huge crowds, totally oblivious to the race, including some people
who the marshals had to forcibly remove from the course.  Riding that course
could certainly have been suicidal.  In fact, the pros almost boycotted the
stage.

I saw a guy "commuting" through down town Detroit several years ago.  He
had a police whistle in his mouth and it was going every time he went
through an intersection or someone got in his way.  He was a very
aggresive rider.

Well, that could be useful.  Unfortunately, most of my bad experiences
with vehicles while commuting have been AATA busses.  I'm not sure that the
drivers would be able to hear a police wistle.  It would probably be a lot
more effective for the AATA to just hire drivers who know how to drive.

Buses are not terribly maneuverable, and sort of have an unwritten right of
way.

I've seen busses making whole lane changes.  Certainly they could give me a
few feet, rather than forcing me into the curb.  For that matter, they could 
also avoid passing me two seconds before they are going to stop.  That doesn't
take maneuverability, it just takes thinking.

The other problem with a large vehicle like a bus besides maneuverability is
visibility.  The bus is not an animal with senses proportional to its size;
all sensory input has to be piped to some guy sitting in the front left corner
of that monster.

Yes, and if he sees me enough not to rear-end me, then he should know I'm
there.

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