Happier Abroad Forum Community

And especially when it gets to the point where bicycle trails are extremely few and far in between, not to mention when there are no bicycle paths or even streets with wide shoulders crossing interstate highways and rivers. Like people want to keep cyclists quarantined as though Americans would be absolutely terrified to death to the point of losing sleep of the thought of that cyclist who just rode past their house having ridden even 20 miles to get there, or as if, at even a popular concert, local city event, or what not, the very words "I came by bicycle" or even "We came by bicycle" coming out of someone's mouth would spawn as much terror and panic as an AK-47 going off.

All across America, there are many miles and endless miles of Interstate highways, railroads, rivers, and creeks, even in urban areas, that have not one single bicycle/foot bridge or wide-shouldered, bicycle friendly street going over it or anything. Only roads strictly designed for motor vehicles and only motor vehicles. It's like a cyclist may well end up scouting about 10 to 15 miles of distance just to find a route to safely cross over or under an Interstate highway or over a river or creek without getting flattened by a reckless driver. Many roads that cross over highways, railroads, train yards, and rivers not only have no sidewalks, they have absolutely no shoulders at all either! It's just a couple feet of space between a tall concrete wall and traffic whizzing by at 50 miles an hour. And on the other side of the concrete wall is open air and a vertical drop straight down onto whatever the road is crossing, whether it be a river, a swamp, a train yard, a railroad, or an Interstate highway. Not to mention nearly all rural roads where the only safe place to ride is in the grass.

For instance, there's a bicycle trail that goes from just south of Chicago's west suburb of Countryside all the way to Joliet. But from Joliet, there is not one single bicycle friendly route across Interstate 55 to Shorewood or far western Joliet! Another example is Disney World in Orlando, Florida. World Drive, Epcot Center Drive, Buena Vista Drive, Osceola Parkway, Western Way, Victory Way, and Vista Blvd; No shoulders, no paralleling sidewalks, nothing! Only regular car and motor vehicle lanes and then plain grass. The only place on those roads where bicycles would be safe riding is in the grass. And there are no bicycle trails going into and/or through the Disneyland area, either! Another example; Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. Just south of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and sitting right between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, is a mainly industrial area, plus a maze of crisscrossing state and county highways. And guess what? No sidewalks or bicycle trails through there, either! Not even that go over or under the north-south highways! The roads that pass north of the airport are not bicycle friendly either!

Now here in Fort Myers, it's more bike friendly; in fact, you can even go to Sanibel Island on your bicycle, too! The shoulders on all 3 bridges of the Sanibel Causeway are 8 feet wide, plus Sanibel Island itself is criss crossed with bicycle trails going all the way from the lighthouse to the southern tip of Captiva Island. And I really like that a lot. U.S. 41 from the Caloosahatchee River all the way south to past Naples has sidewalks which in fact widen south of Colonial Blvd. McGregor Blvd also makes for some seriously scenic bicycling. You can also ride your bicycle to Cape Coral from Fort Myers, and also to Fort Myers from Cape Coral, as like the Sanibel Causeway, the Midpoint Bridge (Colonial Parkway in Fort Myers, Veterans Parkway in Cape Coral) also has 8 foot wide shoulders. It really disappoints me that so few roads that cross over Interstate highways, railroads, swampy areas, rivers, and such elsewhere in America are not either paralleled by sidewalks and bicycle trails, or even simply built like the Sanibel Causeway.

traveller wrote:And especially when it gets to the point where bicycle trails are extremely few and far in between, not to mention when there are no bicycle paths or even streets with wide shoulders crossing interstate highways and rivers. Like people want to keep cyclists quarantined as though Americans would be absolutely terrified to death to the point of losing sleep of the thought of that cyclist who just rode past their house having ridden even 20 miles to get there, or as if, at even a popular concert, local city event, or what not, the very words "I came by bicycle" or even "We came by bicycle" coming out of someone's mouth would spawn as much terror and panic as an AK-47 going off.

All across America, there are many miles and endless miles of Interstate highways, railroads, rivers, and creeks, even in urban areas, that have not one single bicycle/foot bridge or wide-shouldered, bicycle friendly street going over it or anything. Only roads strictly designed for motor vehicles and only motor vehicles. It's like a cyclist may well end up scouting about 10 to 15 miles of distance just to find a route to safely cross over or under an Interstate highway or over a river or creek without getting flattened by a reckless driver. Many roads that cross over highways, railroads, train yards, and rivers not only have no sidewalks, they have absolutely no shoulders at all either! It's just a couple feet of space between a tall concrete wall and traffic whizzing by at 50 miles an hour. And on the other side of the concrete wall is open air and a vertical drop straight down onto whatever the road is crossing, whether it be a river, a swamp, a train yard, a railroad, or an Interstate highway. Not to mention nearly all rural roads where the only safe place to ride is in the grass.

For instance, there's a bicycle trail that goes from just south of Chicago's west suburb of Countryside all the way to Joliet. But from Joliet, there is not one single bicycle friendly route across Interstate 55 to Shorewood or far western Joliet! Another example is Disney World in Orlando, Florida. World Drive, Epcot Center Drive, Buena Vista Drive, Osceola Parkway, Western Way, Victory Way, and Vista Blvd; No shoulders, no paralleling sidewalks, nothing! Only regular car and motor vehicle lanes and then plain grass. The only place on those roads where bicycles would be safe riding is in the grass. And there are no bicycle trails going into and/or through the Disneyland area, either! Another example; Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. Just south of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and sitting right between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, is a mainly industrial area, plus a maze of crisscrossing state and county highways. And guess what? No sidewalks or bicycle trails through there, either! Not even that go over or under the north-south highways! The roads that pass north of the airport are not bicycle friendly either!

Now here in Fort Myers, it's more bike friendly; in fact, you can even go to Sanibel Island on your bicycle, too! The shoulders on all 3 bridges of the Sanibel Causeway are 8 feet wide, plus Sanibel Island itself is criss crossed with bicycle trails going all the way from the lighthouse to the southern tip of Captiva Island. And I really like that a lot. U.S. 41 from the Caloosahatchee River all the way south to past Naples has sidewalks which in fact widen south of Colonial Blvd. McGregor Blvd also makes for some seriously scenic bicycling. You can also ride your bicycle to Cape Coral from Fort Myers, and also to Fort Myers from Cape Coral, as like the Sanibel Causeway, the Midpoint Bridge (Colonial Parkway in Fort Myers, Veterans Parkway in Cape Coral) also has 8 foot wide shoulders. It really disappoints me that so few roads that cross over Interstate highways, railroads, swampy areas, rivers, and such elsewhere in America are not either paralleled by sidewalks and bicycle trails, or even simply built like the Sanibel Causeway.

Interesting post Traveller!!! But in America EVERYTHING is built basically around the automobile. Traveller if you're looking for a bicycle culture I would recommend going to the Netherlands (Holland) or Denmark.

Like I said, in America, you are expected to be a strictly indoor person regardless of the weather. Even when it's 80 and sunny, you are expected to act like it's 5 below zero with a roaring blizzard. American culture expects all to only breathe filtered and mechanically altered indoor air with no more than 20 percent humidity, and have no exposure to sunlight and/or outside air. You are lucky it isn't even a felony under Federal law, even punishable by up to 50 plus years in prison, to own a bicycle or any wheeled conveyance other than an automobile in America!

Another disappointer; very few places of business, mingling, and even party have bicycle racks! From experience especially, the places least likely to have bicycle racks in general include bars, nightclubs, strip clubs, churches, restaurants, apartment complexes, hotels, and most tourist attractions. There are even shopping centers that have no bike racks, too. It's really terrific that colleges, universities, and most high schools even have bike racks. Normally when I arrive at a destination via bicycle, the first thing I look for is a bike rack. If there is no bike rack, I lock my bike to a pole or a street sign.