Enough with the political bashing dude.
Joe
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Joe, I know it is a crazy time in the US right now. Not doing any political bashing, just calling things as I see it. And I am pretty sure others have as well. Try not to take offense because none is intended.
It is kind of funny, I am the conservative that some ultra liberal family members don’t like, and here I am bothering people by speaking about the right wing…
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For context, I should also say that the UK (where I live) is no cycling utopia, but there are more cyclists about in towns and cities and people on road bikes are not uncommon. So car drivers tend to be a bit more experienced with cyclists.
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I grew up riding in Boston and Providence, Rhode Island, so I’m fairly confident riding on busy streets. Granted I was young and reckless at that time.
There’s always some a$$ that likes to scare you with their napoleon complex, or whatever.
Just be aware of your surroundings, I’m always looking behind/around me even on empty gravel roads.
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Ain’t that America…
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Seems that way to me too.
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Hey Joe,
Do the liberals in their Prius roll coal on you?
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I live in South Florida. It is dangerous. I try to get as early a start as possible on the weekends; folks are usually sleeping in, not rushing to work or taking the kids to school. On the weekdays it’s a bit more difficult. I have the sense there is strength in numbers at least from a visibility perspective, so I tend to do the group rides. I think drivers are less aggressive with groups than with a solo rider. However, if I’m planning a solo zone 2 ride, I employ the same strategy as the weekend and try to get up as early as possible to beat the traffic. This means riding pre sunrise with multiple lights… end of the day it’s a roll of the dice.
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From my perspective, it’s gotten worse in the last 4-6 years for sure. I ride solo, right of the white line and mind my own business and it never fails I get a close pass or a horn honk. People are just plain angry. I only ride road now for training for MTB.
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Accurately matches my experiences in the Southern US. Diesel trucks, right-wing bumper stickers, and small penis syndrome.
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Let’s drop the Left, Right, Liberal, Conservative talk please. It’s counter-productive and will lead us to places we don’t need to be in this forum.
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It is mesmering to watch the relationship of English speaking rich lands with cycling.
Some French would have fix that. I mean look at these terms, how could you run them over:
bidon
la danseuse
attaquer
changer de vitesse
I am biking in South Korea. I remember when I was riding a bike in the US about 10 years ago, the drivers in Washington State and Oregon were Mother Terrassa.
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I rode in California in 2019 on a holiday and found it pretty ‘average’ and fairly comparable with my local UK experiences.
For the most part the quieter roads in Malibu weren’t too bad - the PCH was heavy with traffic but the shoulder was pretty wide allowing everyone to co-exist nicely.
Oddly the worst experience (very much a one off) of the trip was in the Yosemite national park. A driver buzzed our small group pretty close on a straight road with good long distance ahead visibility.
He was annoyed enough to stop and approach us at a shop / truck stop where we were resting, claiming we were wrong to ride on the road and prevent his progress.
Was an unproductive discussion as I asked him why he couldn’t have passed with a wider berth at which point he got quite angry.
In the UK it’s common to see a big mix of good and poor driving so I suspect this is for the most part replicated in the US?
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wait till you come to Singapore. motorists here are anti-cyclist. anyone coming to singapore can ping me. i show you around. my friend from china was like “what the hell!!!” when she came to signapore…
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I drive further for good road rides than for good mountain bike rides. leaving from my garage is not a realistic idea and I live in the suburbs.
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I’ll ride for good roads on the weekend. Otherwise, I ride on the trainer. Soon I will move to the good roads but still in the city for now. I used to ride from the city to the country and back, but after living in TX for a bit and coming back, I just can’t be bothered to get passed by 500 cars and wait at a dozen red lights until I make it to the countryside
Gotta say, I’ve gravitated to off road trails, Watopia, and rails-to-trails bike paths due to the traffic in Central Florida. I’d happily ride gravel too but rural Florida has some interesting characters. Just not worth the risk getting mowed down by a distracted driver or angry lunatic. Hopefully the OP can find safe places to ride 
Joe
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I switched to 90% mountain biking. When I do ride road, I am lucky that I live right on a great road route but after riding all the “safer” back roads from the house for a decade it’s gotten pretty bland. When I branch out to different routes I’m always reminded why I stay in my little rural road bubble. The open roads here in western NC are terrible.
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