mosy bicycle friendly town



B

Bill B

Guest
On PBS a walking program [can't remember title] devoted the entire show to bicycling. Most of the
program was filmed in Davis California. The show said Davis was the most bicycle friendliest town in
the USA. Viewing the program I would have to agree.Sure wish more towns were like Davis
 
Originally posted by Bill B
On PBS a walking program [can't remember title] devoted the entire show to bicycling. Most of the
program was filmed in Davis California. The show said Davis was the most bicycle friendliest town in
the USA. Viewing the program I would have to agree.Sure wish more towns were like Davis

Rhode Island is another bicycling friendly place with many miles of paths throughout the state.
 
"Bill B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On PBS a walking program [can't remember title] devoted the entire show to bicycling. Most of the
> program was filmed in Davis California. The show said Davis was the most bicycle friendliest town
> in the USA. Viewing the program I would have to agree.Sure wish more towns were like Davis

With a name like "Davis" it has to be good !
 
[email protected] (Bill B) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On PBS a walking program [can't remember title] devoted the entire show to bicycling. Most of the
> program was filmed in Davis California. The show said Davis was the most bicycle friendliest town
> in the USA. Viewing the program I would have to agree.Sure wish more towns were like Davis

I've recently moved to Portland Oregon and rode in Chico City, CA., when my son went to
school there.

Those are two more you can add to the list. Chico was voted the best city to live in for bicycling
by Bicycling Mag a few years ago. Portland recently.

Slow Joe Recumbo
 
[email protected] (Bill B) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On PBS a walking program [can't remember title] devoted the entire show to bicycling. Most of the
> program was filmed in Davis California. The show said Davis was the most bicycle friendliest town
> in the USA. Viewing the program I would have to agree.Sure wish more towns were like Davis

Head north to Portland, Oregon. It's just like Davis, only cooler.

Jeff
 
[email protected] (Bill B) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> On PBS a walking program [can't remember title] devoted the entire show to bicycling. Most of the
> program was filmed in Davis California. The show said Davis was the most bicycle friendliest town
> in the USA. Viewing the program I would have to agree.Sure wish more towns were like Davis

Salt Lake City, my home for the last 13years, is not America's best bicycling town, but it is
getting a lot better. The mayor has a bicycling advisory council and they have really tried to
develop bike friendly routes. Some thanks goes to the original Mormon settlers for intentionally
opting for wide avenues, making biking lanes possible.

I think that our part is to join local bike advocacy groups and to voice our support of safe cycling
to local political leaders. It is nice to have one community, Davis in this case, recognized as
best. It is better when where we live makes biking safer.

Gary McCarty, Greenspeed GTO
 
"Bill B" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> On PBS a walking program [can't remember title] devoted the entire show to bicycling. Most of the
> program was filmed in Davis California. The show said Davis was the most bicycle friendliest town
> in the USA. Viewing the program I would have to agree.Sure wish more towns were like Davis

Riding in Davis is fine, but going west out to neighboring Winters we've been heckled many times by
the locals.. Having ridden all over the Sacramento region and beyond, then having opportunity to
ride in Eugene, OR. while on vacation multiple times, I prefer Eugene and the area around it the
best.. Would be a candidate area for my retirement. Lot of bicycle industry there as well!

Rick Steele Gold Country Cyclery Cameron Park, CA http://www.tandems-recumbents.com
 
It sure isn't Naperville IL!
"Jeff Wills" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> [email protected] (Bill B) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> > On PBS a walking program [can't remember title] devoted the entire show to bicycling. Most of
> > the program was filmed in Davis California. The show said Davis was the most bicycle friendliest
> > town in the USA. Viewing the program I would have to agree.Sure wish more towns were like Davis
>
> Head north to Portland, Oregon. It's just like Davis, only cooler.
>
> Jeff
 
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Joe,

Just plain "Chico." :)

Steve

Joe Keenan wrote:

>[email protected] (Bill B) wrote in message
>news:<[email protected]>...
>
>
>>On PBS a walking program [can't remember title] devoted the entire show to bicycling. Most of the
>>program was filmed in Davis California. The show said Davis was the most bicycle friendliest town
>>in the USA. Viewing the program I would have to agree.Sure wish more towns were like Davis
>>
>>
>
>
>I've recently moved to Portland Oregon and rode in Chico City, CA., when my son went to
>school there.
>
>Those are two more you can add to the list. Chico was voted the best city to live in for bicycling
>by Bicycling Mag a few years ago. Portland recently.
>
>Slow Joe Recumbo
>
>

--
Steve Fox McKinleyville, CA http://SoTier2003.crazyguyonabike.com

O \ _____,%) (*)-'------------(*)

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Encoding: 7bit

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1" http-equiv="Content-Type"> <title></title> </head> <body bgcolor="#ffffff" text="#000000">
Joe,<br> <br> Just plain "Chico." <span class="moz-smiley-s1"><span> :) </span></span><br>
<br> Steve<br> <br> Joe Keenan wrote:<br> <blockquote
cite="[email protected]" type="cite"> <pre wrap=""><a class="moz-txt-link-
abbreviated" href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]</a> (Bill B) wrote in
message news:<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="mailto:[email protected]
gle.com"><[email protected]></a>... </pre> <blockquote
type="cite"> <pre wrap="">On PBS a walking program [can't remember title] devoted the entire show to
bicycling. Most of the program was filmed in Davis California. The show said Davis was the most
bicycle friendliest town in the USA. Viewing the program I would have to agree.Sure wish more towns
were like Davis </pre> </blockquote> <pre wrap=""><!---->

I've recently moved to Portland Oregon and rode in Chico City, CA., when my son went to
school there.

Those are two more you can add to the list. Chico was voted the best city to live in for bicycling
by Bicycling Mag a few years ago. Portland recently.

Slow Joe Recumbo </pre> </blockquote> <br> <pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">-- Steve Fox
McKinleyville, CA <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://SoTier2003.crazyguyonabike.com">http://SoTier2003.crazyguyonabike.com</a>

O \ _____,%) (*)-'------------(*) </pre> </body> </html>

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harv wrote:

> It sure isn't Naperville IL!

Harv,

You mean that you don't ride your bike on IL 59? ;)

Some of the older residential and downtown parts of Naperville would not be too bad, but it would be
near suicidal to ride on any of the major arterials. [1]

[1] In the more recently developed areas, these are often the only way to get anywhere, unless one
were to ride off-road through private property.

Tom "Spent most of December in Naperville" Sherman - Quad Cities
 
I moved to Portland, OR, a year and a half ago, and it's great. bike lanes everywhere, bike racks on every bus, a light rail system that has bike hooks/areas, and great hills right in town, with nice rides from town to the country. if you're strong, ride out to the Old Gorge Highway and perhaps up Larch Mountain when the snow's gone. It's our l'alpe duez (sp?). i've had some run-ins with aggressive drivers, to be forthright, but not many, and it's a whole other world from Chicago, where it's every man for himself and bike are "permitted but not intended users of the roadway." That's Illinois, actually. Chicago does have great rides through the northern suburbs along the lake. But Portland's scene is very strong. Google Vanilla Bicycles. That guy is sick. Soooooo custom. Oh yeah. Portland's got a strong old-school scene. I commute on my Centurion Sport Dlx. It gets looks. I bought it with paper route money (i'm 30). In a park near my house, these guys play bike polo. cones for goals like hockey, sticks, ball, and tricked out bikes. they put the cable for the rear brake on their left brake lever so the can hit and still brake (and not go over the handle bars). really funny. involves PBR, as that's what the indie rock kids drink to be punk in the craft-beer capital of the country. oh, and portland, although wet all winter long, is warm all winter long and there's no snow (ignore recent freak storm). so you can ride all year long with rain gear. and the rain is light and misty, not downpour. and it's drought conditions all summer, so it's beautiful weather to ride when weekend warriors usually do (June-ish through September-ish). So i ride and ride. and there's good mountain biking to be had with a not-too-long car ride and tame mountain biking in parks right here in town. Go Portland. rah.
 
Once upon a time I rode on Diehl Rd for a nooner ride. Almost got run over
by a schmuck driving a semi.
"Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> harv wrote:
>
> > It sure isn't Naperville IL!
>
> Harv,
>
> You mean that you don't ride your bike on IL 59? ;)
>
> Some of the older residential and downtown parts of Naperville would not be too bad, but it would
> be near suicidal to ride on any of the major arterials. [1]
>
> [1] In the more recently developed areas, these are often the only way to get anywhere, unless one
> were to ride off-road through private
property.
>
> Tom "Spent most of December in Naperville" Sherman - Quad Cities
 
PortlandMatt <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I moved to Portland, OR, a year and a half ago, and it's great. bike lanes everywhere, bike racks
> on every bus, a light rail system that has bike hooks/areas, and great hills right in town, with
> nice rides from town to the country. if you're strong, ride out to the Old Gorge Highway and
> perhaps up Larch Mountain when the snow's gone. It's our l'alpe duez (sp?). i've had some run-ins
> with aggressive drivers, to be forthright, but not many, and it's a whole other world from
> Chicago, where it's every man for himself and bike are "permitted but not intended users of the
> roadway." That's Illinois, actually. Chicago does have great rides through the northern suburbs
> along the lake. But Portland's scene is very strong. Google Vanilla Bicycles. That guy is sick.
> Soooooo custom.

What's interesting is that Vanilla shares shop space with TerraCycle and Stites Design. Far-out
trike builder, custom recumbent parts maker, and old-school lugged bike builder, all under one roof.
The even let the OHPV (Oregon Human Powered Vehicles) have their meetings there. Neat stuff!

Keep a watch on the www.ohpv.org site for Oregon events... it ain't current right now.

Jeff
 
PortlandMatt wrote:

> I moved to Portland, OR, a year and a half ago, and it's great. bike lanes everywhere, bike racks
> on every bus, a light rail system that has bike hooks/areas, and great hills right in town, with
> nice rides from town to the country. if you're strong, ride out to the Old Gorge Highway and
> perhaps up Larch Mountain when the snow's gone. It's our l'alpe duez (sp?). i've had some run-ins
> with aggressive drivers, to be forthright, but not many, and it's a whole other world from
> Chicago, where it's every man for himself and bike are "permitted but not intended users of the
> roadway." That's Illinois, actually. Chicago does have great rides through the northern suburbs
> along the lake....

I would rather ride in Chicago proper than most of the more recently developed suburbs. Chicago has
(for the most part) streets on a regular grid system and reasonable traffic speeds. In the suburbs
there are 4 to 8 lane arterials and traffic is either very congested or moving at 60-mph.

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities
 
"Rick Steele" <[email protected]> wrote
>
> Riding in Davis is fine, but going west out to neighboring Winters we've been heckled many times
> by the locals..

I wonder if part of what makes a town bike friendly is whether bicyclists are perceived as
individual and ordinary folk,--
i.e, they are the locals.

Austin is 'big' in bicycling, but in some of the surrounds, there has been a backlash from a very
vocal and well connected minority against bicyclists. They are seen as 'other' and come in groups,--
selfish and recreational usurpers of the motorists' way... Recently, this resulted in proposed
legislation to ban bicyclists from certain rural roads.

In places where bicyclists may be your friend riding to work, to the store, to the park, etc, they
are not some anonymous impediments in the way of 'progress'. So maybe what helps make a bike
friendly town is more bicyclists more often.

This probably means that cities where bicycling is a full 12-months-a-year common practice will
stand a better chance of being seen as bike friendly for two reasons. The weather is more often
conducive for riding and therefore bicyclists may be more commonly and persistently seen. Ordinary.

Jon Meinecke
 
On my last three trips there I was impressed with Albuquerque, NM. Lots of bike trails that actually
lead somewhere so you can actually use them to get where you want to go. Major roads either have
wide shoulders (Tramway for one) or alternatives that are reasonably close to the road. Most drivers
I found were accomodating although their tolerance level seemed to drop the further north and west
you went (Rio Rancho people seem to have limited outlets for their aggression). A neat side show is
watching the dogs in some of the newer subdivisions jumping up to look over the block walls that
contain them as you ride by. The system isn't as extensive as Portland but then the town isn't as
big, it doesn't rain that much, and you've got some beautiful high desert topography surrounding
you. Now, if they could only do something about those goatheads.........

Mike S. St. Louis, Mo
 
This entire nation is wacky according to the talk shows, and California is hit hard with financial
problems, but I just learned that a row of shops is opening in Santa Cruz before summer: one
electric mountain bikes/cruisers/bents, one 'bents (EZ line I think), rowbikes, trikes, tandems, pedi-
cabs, tandems, a funny upright that attaches to a wheelchair, 4 wheel bikes (two EZ-1s most likely).
etc. Interesting!

Chris Jordan Santa Cruz, CA.

[email protected] (Bill B) wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> On PBS a walking program [can't remember title] devoted the entire show to bicycling. Most of the
> program was filmed in Davis California. The show said Davis was the most bicycle friendliest town
> in the USA. Viewing the program I would have to agree.Sure wish more towns were like Davis
 
Originally posted by Jon Meinecke
"Rick Steele" <[email protected]> wrote
>
> Riding in Davis is fine, but going west out to neighboring Winters we've been heckled many times
> by the locals..

I wonder if part of what makes a town bike friendly is whether bicyclists are perceived as
individual and ordinary folk,--
i.e, they are the locals.

Austin is 'big' in bicycling, but in some of the surrounds, there has been a backlash from a very
vocal and well connected minority against bicyclists. They are seen as 'other' and come in groups,--
selfish and recreational usurpers of the motorists' way... Recently, this resulted in proposed
legislation to ban bicyclists from certain rural roads.

In places where bicyclists may be your friend riding to work, to the store, to the park, etc, they
are not some anonymous impediments in the way of 'progress'. So maybe what helps make a bike
friendly town is more bicyclists more often.

This probably means that cities where bicycling is a full 12-months-a-year common practice will
stand a better chance of being seen as bike friendly for two reasons. The weather is more often
conducive for riding and therefore bicyclists may be more commonly and persistently seen. Ordinary.

Jon Meinecke

Gee, I don't know about that. Houston and the surrounding towns have a very large, vocal, visable cycling community, who are partially responsible for defeating that insane House bill to limit cycling on certain roads. It seems there are monthly cycling related accidents, not always necessairly due to the "hate the cyclist ", although I'm sure there is some of that too, but more of a philosophy of Bubba, big truck mentality where people drive way too fast, over step the dividing line between lanes and don't pay attention to others who may not have 2 tons of steel surrounding them. I have been riding around here for many years and always encounter total disregard for my rights on the road, in and out of town (in my car and on my bike). The only exception I can think of is Fayetteville Texas where they have billboards announcing their love of cyclists. All this from a state that boasts the largest organized cycling ride in the US--The MS 150. Not to mention our famous son..Lance! Go figure!
 
"Tom Sherman" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> harv wrote:
>
> > It sure isn't Naperville IL!
>
> Harv,
>
> You mean that you don't ride your bike on IL 59? ;)
>
> Some of the older residential and downtown parts of Naperville would not be too bad, but it would
> be near suicidal to ride on any of the major arterials. [1]
>
> [1] In the more recently developed areas, these are often the only way to get anywhere, unless one
> were to ride off-road through private
property.
>
> Tom "Spent most of December in Naperville" Sherman - Quad Cities
>

In almost any Naperville neighborhood of significant size, one is generally able to enter or leave
without being forced directly onto a major arterial road, defining the main arterials as Route 59,
75th Street, Ogden, and Washington, and assuming one is willing to go a bit out of one's way. The
referenced Diehl isn't always bad, depending on time of day and which section you're talking about.
I've ridden on worse. For that matter, very early on summer weekend days you can find about any of
the major arterials rideable, although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it -- Ogden and Washington
less dangerous than the others.

Certainly Naperville is not so terribly bike-antagonistic that individuals can not have biked
several thousand miles within its borders without a major car-related mishap. That said, the traffic
can be horrendous and drivers' attitudes towards cyclers is rather at the lower end of the spectrum
of bike-friendliness. This is typical of most suburbs of major metropolitan areas -- and the metro
areas themselves -- from what I have seen, nothing is particularly special about how bad Naperville
is for bicycling. It is the good biking towns that are exceptions to the car-based culture which
draw our attention to how bad things are for bicycling in general, and may make local bikers
overpersonalize their experiences to demonize one specific area rather than generalize them to the
USA as a whole.

That said, I must admit that it's probably a truism that smaller towns are usually nicer to ride in
than bigger ones because there is a smaller pool of car drivers available to ignore, insult, maim or
kill you. Given Mr. Sherman's posted experience here in both towns, he could tell you that Champaign-
Urbana is nicer to ride in than Naperville and surrounding areas if for no other reason than their
traffic is much lighter. The fact it is doubtless more liberal is probably not a factor.
 
Michael Devore wrote:

> In almost any Naperville neighborhood of significant size, one is generally able to enter or leave
> without being forced directly onto a major arterial road, defining the main arterials as Route 59,
> 75th Street, Ogden, and Washington, and assuming one is willing to go a bit out of one's way. The
> referenced Diehl isn't always bad, depending on time of day and which section you're talking
> about. I've ridden on worse. For that matter, very early on summer weekend days you can find about
> any of the major arterials rideable, although I wouldn't necessarily recommend it -- Ogden and
> Washington less dangerous than the others.
>
> Certainly Naperville is not so terribly bike-antagonistic that individuals can not have biked
> several thousand miles within its borders without a major car-related mishap. That said, the
> traffic can be horrendous and drivers' attitudes towards cyclers is rather at the lower end of the
> spectrum of bike-friendliness. This is typical of most suburbs of major metropolitan areas -- and
> the metro areas themselves -- from what I have seen, nothing is particularly special about how bad
> Naperville is for bicycling. It is the good biking towns that are exceptions to the car-based
> culture which draw our attention to how bad things are for bicycling in general, and may make
> local bikers overpersonalize their experiences to demonize one specific area rather than
> generalize them to the USA as a whole.
>
> That said, I must admit that it's probably a truism that smaller towns are usually nicer to ride
> in than bigger ones because there is a smaller pool of car drivers available to ignore, insult,
> maim or kill you. Given Mr. Sherman's posted experience here in both towns, he could tell you
> that Champaign-Urbana is nicer to ride in than Naperville and surrounding areas if for no other
> reason than their traffic is much lighter. The fact it is doubtless more liberal is probably not
> a factor.

The commercially developed IL 59 Naperville/Aurora corridor [1] is by far the worst area of
Naperville for cycling. It is also in this area where it is very difficult to get from "A to B"
without travelling on the major arterials.

I do not believe that Naperville is worse than a lot of the other Chicago suburbs, or auto-centric
US suburbs in general. It happens to be near the area where Harv lives and works and where I was
temporarily working in the recent past, so that is why it received special attention.

As I posted recently, the are only a few streets in Champaign-Urbana that I would avoid on a
bicycle. It should also be noted that the greater C-U area has a smaller population than Naperville,
and a much higher percentage of non-automotive commuters (primarily students).

The other significant advantage that C-U has over most of the Chicago suburbs is that even if one
lives near the geographic center (as I did), it is possible to be out of the urban area in 20
minutes at normal cycling speeds.

[1] Home of the 1,000,000+ square foot "warehouse" stores and seemingly at least one example of
every national chain retail outlet and restaurant.

Tom Sherman - Quad Cities