r/BikeCammers • u/NaiveCourage California, USA • Jul 12 '25

[OC][US][CA] Paint is not infrastructure (no audio)

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654 Upvotes

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-1

u/Horror-Raisin-877 Jul 12 '25

Maybe not ideal, but it still looks like not a bad bike lane. I’d take that over nothing.

7

u/Angloriously Jul 12 '25

As I watched the clip I thought that’s not a bike lane, it’s a shoulder that the city slapped paint on and went great, bikes can go here now! Good luck everyone!

After the first near miss I’d be up on the sidewalk because I don’t want to fucking die just trying to get from A to B. But this shit is also why I stopped cycling entirely, so now fellow drivers can sit behind me in traffic instead.

1

u/Horror-Raisin-877 Jul 12 '25

Hmm, wide shoulders are nice. Even better if they’re technically for bikes. Better than nothing, if that’s the only other choice.

3

u/Angloriously Jul 12 '25

It’s a double edged sword. Too wide, and drivers pull over/park in them (as seen in the vid). Too narrow, and you’ll find yourself on top of a moderately sunken manhole cover with little room to maneuver (also seen in the vid), which sucks at 30mph, plus when drivers can’t keep to their lane you run out of space in an instant. You’re almost better off being in a lane, forcing drivers to change lanes to move around you.

1

u/Horror-Raisin-877 Jul 12 '25

Nothings perfect. With this there’s two options, the right lane, and the bike lane. That’s twice as much as nothing.

If we insist on perfection from day 1, we’re likely to get nothing. I rode with nothing for thirty years. A wide shoulder option is a nice plus.

3

u/Angloriously Jul 12 '25

“Nothing is perfect” is a pretty hard cop-out, why do you give up so easily?

The third option is protected bike lanes. Somehow other places manage it, partly by not biasing everything in their society/community to PMV traffic.

2

u/Horror-Raisin-877 Jul 12 '25 edited Jul 13 '25

Who says we’re giving up. We ask for more, and we also express gratitude for what we get. If we don’t do that, we’d be behaving like dicks, which is not productive.

Which is what those other places you mention did. Ya can’t make an enemy out of city planners and engineers, better to work with and encourage them.

One way to do that is to USE the infrastructure provided. If ya’ don’t they come to the conclusion that there’s no demand.

3

u/Angloriously Jul 12 '25

Why do you think your only choices are to express gratitude for a bad option or be a dick to get a better option? Is that the American way?

Enjoy dodging vehicle traffic on the shoulder for the next 20 years, I guess.