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Of course the context to MassVT's comments is that he lives in Boston, arguably home of the worst drivers, worst pedestrians, and possibly worst pedestrians in the country.
Of course the context to MassVT's comments is that he lives in Boston, arguably home of the worst drivers, worst pedestrians, and possibly worst pedestrians in the country.
What's wrong with the pedestrians in Boston? Boston ranks among the safest places for pedestrians.
A lot of people are just hell bent that the road is for cars, and only for cars. Bicycles belong on the sidewalks or they'll begrudgingly allow Lucy with her bright orange safety flag to hug the curb because she's six and it's cute and that makes it forgivable. Now, there are idiots... a few months ago I encountered some salmon riding in the middle of a four-lane road swerving around erratically in two lanes going the wrong direction at about 5 mph. On the other hand, I was cycling along next to a line of illegally parked cars on a quite Sunday morning (they illegally park there every Sunday for church, being good Christians). Rather than curb-hug, dart out, curb-hug, dart out, I just took the lane. Traffic was light, and it's a four-lane road so there's the left lane for anyone that wants to go faster than the about 20-22 mph pace my Lance-wannabe self was doing. Not good enough for Mr. Volvo SUV. After honking at me for a few seconds, he thought that he would be less inconvenienced to come up along side me and then ram me with his door. After being hit and run, hopping the curb, and getting back on the road I caught up with him at the light half a mile up the road. Only after putting a fist into his door and screaming like an idiot did I look in the back of his car.... and see his two kids are looking terrified and starting to cry. Really? What an incredible example of parenting to set. Hit and run, assault and battery with a deadly weapon because it was too much effort to just change lanes to pass a slower moving vehicle which threw you into a fit of road rage. Just an average Sunday morning on the way back from Church in America. Earlier this year in Oakland, a car actually came back after missing the cyclist the first time to run him over and kill him. As stupid as the salmon are riding the wrong way taking up both lanes it's a whole different ballpark.
People driving 1 1/2 and 2 ton hunks of metal that will easily reach 100 mph necessarily are held to a higher standard of operation than people riding a 20 pound bicycle most can't get up to 20 mph. Most of us out there on the streets are perfectly aware what the outcome of bike vs car looks like. We're very much dependent on drivers to not kill us, and most of us ride accordingly. We just don't expect that the rational reaction to great inconvenience of changing a lane when there is no traffic around you to be to take your two-ton SUV and use it to ram us off the road.
And yea, yikes glad you're ok. I haven't had any truly hostile interactions with drivers, just a few near misses from clueless ones (maybe I wasn't totally blameless in one) even after biking 20000 or so miles. My sympathy for inconvencing drivers is low though if there a line of cars behind I'll pull to the side if practical.
What's wrong with the pedestrians in Boston? Boston ranks among the safest places for pedestrians.
Pedestrians in Boston are known for crossing streets as recklessly as drivers drive on them. Its probably a rational response to the aggressive crazy Boston drivers. I should know, I was once a Boston pedestrian and picked up many bad habits there. It often becomes a game of chicken between cars and pedestrians and often the pedestrians win! Of course it helps that traffic is so bad that average velocity of cars is fairly low, so you have a pretty good chance of surviving a collision with a car.
Pedestrians in Boston are known for crossing streets as recklessly as drivers drive on them. Its probably a rational response to the aggressive crazy Boston drivers. I should know, I was once a Boston pedestrian and picked up many bad habits there. It often becomes a game of chicken between cars and pedestrians and often the pedestrians win! Of course it helps that traffic is so bad that average velocity of cars is fairly low, so you have a pretty good chance of surviving a collision with a car.
Their habits seemed normal city pedestrian habits to me. Cross when you have space or can push your way through. Portland, OR seemed like the exact opposite. I was weirded out by their behavior. Is everyone high? Why aren't everyone yielding to each other? Pedestrians make sure to wait for cars, cars stop for pedestrian if they're just standing around. I thought in a big city you got to move and claim your space.
Their habits seemed normal city pedestrian habits to me. Cross when you have space or can push your way through. Portland, OR seemed like the exact opposite. I was weirded out by their behavior. Is everyone high? Why aren't everyone yielding to each other? Pedestrians make sure to wait for cars, cars stop for pedestrian if they're just standing around. I thought in a big city you got to move and claim your space.
the Feb 12 entry. the site filter dislikes the title and it's a pain to get it through.
While in Portland two years ago, my wife and I were standing on a corner in downtown waiting to cross, when some class act rolled down the window of his hatch-back car and said, "Hey man, do you know if I'm supposed to be driving here....you know, with these train cars? I mean, it's really crazy". He was pointing at a light rail car that was at a stop in front of him, and he was stopped directly behind it on the tracks. He was really concerned and just kept saying "this is crazy, man, what do I do?" He eventually realized that I wasn't going to coach him on how or where he should drive and he pulled around the light rail car and sped away.
So, to answer your question, yes, everyone is high.
I am surprised that no one on here has mentioned that the world's most bike-friendly city, Copenhagen, has a climate almost as harsh as Chicago. Copenhagen has 37% bicycle mode share, with reportedly 60% of cyclists who keep riding straight through the winter months no matter the weather.
Here is a list of cities in OECD countries with double digit bicycle mode shares. Note that you have to go down the list to #10 to get to the first city with mild winters (Ferrara, Italy). On the entire list of 47 cities, there are only 10 that I would consider to have mild winters (avg. January temps above 40) - Ferrara, Bologna, Florence, Venice, and Parma Italy; York and Cambridge UK; Davis CA USA; and Bordeaux and Avignon, France.
I will conclude that it is blatantly obvious that cycling can be an "appropriate," desirable and safe form of transportation in cities with cold winters, contrary to the claims of numerous posts in this thread.
I am surprised that no one on here has mentioned that the world's most bike-friendly city, Copenhagen, has a climate almost as harsh as Chicago. Copenhagen has 37% bicycle mode share, with reportedly 60% of cyclists who keep riding straight through the winter months no matter the weather.
Here is a list of cities in OECD countries with double digit bicycle mode shares. Note that you have to go down the list to #10 to get to the first city with mild winters (Ferrara, Italy). On the entire list of 47 cities, there are only 10 that I would consider to have mild winters (avg. January temps above 40) - Ferrara, Bologna, Florence, Venice, and Parma Italy; York and Cambridge UK; Davis CA USA; and Bordeaux and Avignon, France.
I will conclude that it is blatantly obvious that cycling can be an "appropriate," desirable and safe form of transportation in cities with cold winters, contrary to the claims of numerous posts in this thread.
Are you serious? It seldom gets much below 32degrees F (0 Celsius) in Copehhagen, or above 68 F (20 C).
Chicago, OTOH, gets well below 20 F in the winter and well above 80 in the summer. Climate of Chicago - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Average minimum temps, Dec, Jan, and Feb: 22, 16, 21. Average maximum temps June, July, Aug: 81, 85, 82. In addition, Chicago is known for extreme weather conditions.
I rode in Vermont for a few years, year 'round. When you saw -12 on the weather you knew it was going to be an ok day when the sun came up. Not a big fan of fixie culture, but a fixie is what worked best for me. Great control in snow and no derailleur(sp?) and one less brake to get iced up and not function. Also contrary to the norm, I preferred the skinny tires because they knifed into the snow, rather than floating on top like 2.0's or something like that. I could never find anything that kept my hands and feet warm enough, so keeping moving was very important. In Vermont, you might not have any warmth from your job to your house, so being prepared was paramount. Also, spraying my bikes down with WD-40 once or twice a week slowed the destruction from the caustic salty slush goo that was everywhere.
This thread just made me realize my current city bomber is going to be useless as a winter tool when it snows here
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