This is straightout rant, that belongs on a personal blog, not on the Atlantic. commentor Jim Brown: “This is one of the least helpful articles I’ve read on the subject of bicycling. Stereotyping self-righteousness isn’t going to solve the deficiencies of a roadway system that isn’t configured or operated around the needs of bike-riders.”

I commented (and i rarely comment on these things because it’s gonna suck me into “debates” and i hate arguing, but I wanted to reiterate Mikael Coville-Andersen’s comment):

“Levelling the playing field just reinforces the myth that bicycles are “just like” cars. They’re not. Bicycle users are still forced to abide by a traffic culture and traffic laws invented to serve the automobile.” — Mikael

Exactly. Bicycles are not cars and should not abide by the same rules because the same rules do not work for two things that function differently. Gotta change the stupid vehicle code that forces people to become “vehicular cyclists”. 

Install more proper cycle infrastructure like bike-specific traffic lights, timed at an average cycling speed, and I’ll bet less cyclists will “run red lights”.

And why are you even complaining about people salmoning??? If you are a cyclist yourself, you should understand that you need to see things in context. Maybe there are a bunch of people on the sidewalk so that cyclist can’t bike on the sidewalk the opposite direction. Maybe a bike lane needs to be installed on that street. 

Your post is definitely a rant and a disappointment to the Atlantic.

and then this guy who’s a frequent commentor replied back,

Why do I complain about people salmoning? To start with I HATE playing chicken in the bike lane or on the shoulder. I ride with traffic. Secondly, riding against traffic is very dangerous. It makes bicyclists effectively invisible to all cross traffic because motorists don’t expect to find traffic travelling at speed in that direction on that side of the road. Most collisions occur at driveways and intersections. Wrong way riders significantly increase their risk there. Wrong way riders become road pizza in higher percentages than with traffic riders.

Vehicular cycling works once you fully understand and utilize it.

As for facilities, give me a bike freeway with pedestrians prohibited that actually goes where I want to go and I might be interested. Too many paths are shared with pedestrians, don’t go where I want to go and still subject me to crossing conflicts at every intersection and even often still have driveway crossings. No thanks. Badly designed facilities are worse than none at all.

like, wtf, dude??? did i ask you?? I commented on the article, which means my comment was aimed at the author of the article.

I hate those dumb commentors who just talk about their personal experiences. I didn’t even say anything to provoke some personal response from some random probably old guy.

but, yeah, seems i did with the term “vehicular cycling”. gyahhd these stupid old men still exist (ie. john forester and his cohorts). 

i decided to reply for clarification since he didn’t catch it,

My comment on salmoning was focused on one-way streets where the person is attempting to go the opposite direction. The sidewalk may be full of people so the cyclist cannot safely ride on the sidewalk as law mandates.

Go ahead and advocate for vehicular cycling. I hope you get your kid and mother feeling safe cycling like that on the road.

I was going to say something like 

If you fully understood vehicular cycling, you would know that it exists to prevent bicycle infrastructure from being built.

but that would have set off a whole vehicular cycling debate, which is pointless, and i hate arguing, especially online arguing with outdated old men.

Yesterday afternoon, we had almost an full city council session when the mayor, councilmembers Alvarez, Gloria, Lightner, Sherman, along with staff for the councilmembers who couldn’t attend, showed up to listen to Martha Roskowski talk about how protected bike lanes (bike lane with some sort of protection and space between a bike rider and a vehicle driver) are a game changer in transforming cities…

The Green Lane Project is a campaign to get protected bike lanes on the ground in the U.S. by helping six leading cities implement innovative bike facilities. Mayor Filner was unequivocal in his support to apply to be one of the six cities in the Green Lane Project’s campaign next year. 

bikesd, 03.05.13.

congrats! san diego finally has its first bike-friendly mayor. 

things you can do to help keep san diego moving toward bike- and ped-friendly streets: support BikeSD and/or WalkSD by becoming a member, attend community meetings and city council meetings to speak up for safer streets, and encourage your friends and family to walk and bike more.

let’s see how much san diego can catch up with seattle, portland, chicago, nyc, sf, la..

dearborn st. in chicago’s loop (downtown).

Transport for London has commissioned independent transport research group TRL to trial ‘Dutch roundabouts’ and eye-level signals, ahead of a ‘potential roll out as soon as 2014’.

At TRL’s large scale facility in Berkshire, press were yesterday given access to trials, which are set to continue through to July, as experts analyse the various junction designs, road markings and driver/cyclist interaction on each.

…

Cycling Commissioner Andrew Gilligan, who arrived by bike, was among those touring TRL yesterday and he told the BBC: “We’ve got a cycling budget of £913m over ten years and it includes £100m to refit junctions. I’m really looking forward to seeing this [roundabout] on the road. I think it’s going to be fantastic for cyclists.”

bikebiz, 30.04.13.

IS THIS EVER GONNA HAPPEN IN AMERICA

in the meantime, here’s copenhagenize’s 2013 index of the world’s top 20 bike-friendly cities, that’s been circulating widely, but just in case you missed it.

summary on businessinsider, 29.04.13.

“There are no cities in the U.S. who can compete with a Bordeaux, Seville, Antwerp, etc,” Colville-Andersen writes in an email. “That said, a number of usual American suspects are lingering in the wings, in the Top 35.”

“The cities that are moving fast are the ones who are keeping bicycle users safe and encouraging them to ride,” says Colville-Andersen. “Political will is important, but it’s the planners and engineers who need to google ‘Cycle Track Best Practice’ and start presenting these ideas at meetings.”

atlanticcities, 30.04.13.

and Here’s What Americans Don’t Get About Cycling — And Why It’s A Problem. businessinsider, 29.04.13.

in europe, most people don’t consider themselves cyclists. they are just normal people using bikes to get around. “pedestrians on wheels”.