I ride a bike for transportation as well as sport, and I'm way more scared of parked cars then I am of moving ones. I've been in 3 bike accidents (nothing major) in the past 6 years and 2 of those were due to drivers swinging open doors without looking. Therefore, whenever possible I now ride far enough out in the road so that I can easily avoid doors. If that inconveniences drivers then so be it...

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Matthew Adie
Hyperbolic Tangent

I do almost all my riding in my home of Staten Island, NY where i don't think there is one safe road on the whole island. You get used to it, and can anticipate what drivers are gonna do. Dealing with hight traffic roads my whole life as a cyclist has probably helped. But getting McDonalds cups thrown at you by teenagers is never fun...

I think as cyclists we are a bit stubborn. We want cars to respect us and follow traffic laws.. and then we go and run red lights and occasionally when suitable actually get to go over the speed limit. I'm realistic about my rights and so on, and how motorists are gonna treat me. I rarely ever retaliate, cuz its a losing battle, and i know myself i dont follow all traffic rules. But who wants to stop every 4 blocks for a traffic light. Kind of kills the ride...

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trying to get alittle more respect one day at a time

Are you serious? Hwy 1 (aka PCH) is one of the most scenic drives in the world.

Notice however that he is recommending a southbound ride, not the northbound one you suggested: riding north on Hwy 1 you're almost certainly going to be fighting strong headwinds, and that's enough to destroy the enjoyment of the ride.

John

I'm still shocked that people ride Highway 1. I thought it was too dangerous due to the blind corners. Guess I was wrong.

I agree it is a beautiful highway. Thanks for the tip on the direction.

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Always try and ride on lightly travelled roads - preferably with a shoulder and at a time of day (early, very early) when most folks are asleep or having their morning coffee.

Here in NYC, Central Park is a six mile loop that is closed to traffic before 7AM and after 7PM. Summer evenings before the sun sets are crowded and dangerous - but otherwise there's some great weekday riding in the country's most populous city.

While I do try to ride on less traveled roads I have to say that I feel sorry for those of you who are too scared to ride much. From what you say I assume you live your lives in fear and bubble wrap.

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Proud Founder of the Jamis Mafia- Daring to be different.

I ride on country roads. I'm fortunate to have a ton of em. I ride 1.4 miles on "town roads" to get to the country roads, but they are lightly traveled and relatively safe (except from a pothole or two ... "sweet jumps" as I call em).

The only scary part for me is on the downside of a hill, where a car/truck flying down the road has no idea you're on the other side ... so, I usually change lanes near the top of the hill (If I don't hear a car coming the other way), so at least cars and I can see each other.

On my rides, I'm about 30 times more likely to be chased by a dog than I am hit by a car.

I don't ride through town, and I'm fortunate not to have to. I have seen bikes ride through town, and it makes no sense. They're out in the middle of the road, or weaving through cars, or cutting red lights ... seemingly obeying whatever rules they feel like. I'll be honest, riding through town with my head on a swivel looking to avoid all the driveways, business exits, turning cars, etc. Yeah, I'm gonna trust my life in the hands of a car looking to turn before the oncoming car closes the window of opportunity. Just doesn't seem enjoyable to me.

On some of my longer rides, I do ride on some "faster" highways for short sections (maybe a mile) in order to get to other sections of lower-traffic, and man, I wish all the country roads were the same grade.

But, no ... it's not worth the risk for me. This is a hobby, and I'm a family guy. I'm not looking to make political or cycling-activist statements by riding on roads that are clearly not "bicycle accomodated". Now, the guy in town that's riding his bike because of too many DIUs, late at night, without reflectors/lights ... now THAT guy is making a statement. =)

I don't know if folks are just talking tough or acting brave/stupid ... but I guess I just don't see that it's worth the risk. Who here is willing to die and be the martyr that gets a "cycling lane" on a short section of road?

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-- Every morning brings opportunity;
Each evening offers judgement. --

Although I have not ridden all the way down to Santa Barbara, I'd say that some corners may seem blind from a car perspective where the speeds exceed 45mph, but at the typical bike speeds of 20-25mph none of the corners have seemed blind to me.

However, I do agree with you that some portions of Hwy 1 are dangerous due to the lack of a sizeable bike lane and the fact that cars go by rather fast. But this danger is moderated by the fact that there isn't a lot of traffic to begin with, and, as another poster already noted, most of it is not in a hurry to go somewhere (i.e. very few commuters).

John

I did some riding with Francois and my cousin in El Paso and southern New Mexico. Those guys have it made. The only busy road the Francois and I rode has a 6-10 foot bike lane and is 4 lanes to boot. The other roads were amazingly empty AND well paved. The only thing they lack is a long sustained climb. It looked like 4 miles 6-9% was the max, but hey.

Anyway, I avoid crowded roads, and our weekend rides in the mountains start at dawn.

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Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

With credit card in pocket and pre made motel reservations I've ridden hwy 1 from Oregon to Santa Cruz 535 miles in 5 days which was a total blast. I've also done Hwy1 from Santa Cruz to Santa Monica 375 miles in 3 days [twice]. If you do it mid week the roads are mostly empty an the riding is great

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"on your Left"

Just ride like the crazies on this video. No worries

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR2ygFn-yR8

But seriously, I live in LA in the Southbay and I avoid the busy streets as much as I can but in lala land you really have no choice sometimes.

JC

I think we are definitely at times being stubborn on our right to ride in certain areas. I love to ride and hate to sound anti cycling when I say this but there are many times, on certain roads where we just shouldn't be riding. This is for our safety, the safety of drivers and I know technically we have a right to be there but if a better route exists that doesn't clog up traffic or place a very underpowered cyclist on a very overpowered car dominated road than it should be taken. We have rights, but we still need to listen to our common sense. It would be great if every road was cyclist friendly, hell it would be great if every road was car friendly as there are roads even drivers get edgy on. But the truth of it is that although legally we do mix, realistically sometimes we don't. And adding to this, please if you're cycling don't push your right to ride on cars by taking up more than the bike lane or riding two abreast when there is really room for only one. It's hard to get motorists to respect us if we obviously don't respect them. Granted so far this is a one way loosing battle for us but it's still at least worth a shot to try and get a long a bit... Think of it from a drivers perspective as well as a cyclists, think of what you'd think if you saw a cyclist blowing through a stop light that you're sitting at in your car, or if you got stuck behind two guys riding next to each other chatting away when they should be riding single file. I guess I get a bit more annoyed at this because i coach a cycling group as well and sometimes I see that my riders don't respect the dangers or the responsibility for their actions they need to take when riding on the open road (doesn't help that we ride at night...) and I'm just scared that on one of these rides someones going to drift a bit too wide "because they had the right to be there" and get tagged by a passing car. I don't care who had the right to be there then, they still got hit, and it's hitting a lot closer to home for them than the car even if the car is legally wrong.

my rant, thanks for bringing this up btw.

You would lots of company along the Cambria to San Luis Obispo section. It is heavy with bikes.

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I'll be what I am
A solitary man

We should be stubborn and remain stubborn. The worst thing to do is to give in the the f'd up car culture.

In winter I eagerly anticipate riding outside, but this season I have this strange dread/fear/paranoia of being hit. I was hit(minor other than bike destruction) twice last year -- once biking and once running. Both were is low-speed limit areas with light traffic.

My qualifications for a good road(in order):

• Intersections where traffic does not backup --the start/stop seems dangerous and the cars always try to crowd me out or race me to the intersection.
• Minimal traffic
• Long stretches with minimal stop signs and stoplights
• 2-lane roads -- 4-lane roads even with sparse traffic always seems to have 2-cars driving next to each other approaching me from the rear
• Good road quality
• Roads where I see other bikers
• Lower speed limit
• Good shoulder

Usually the lower speed limit conflicts with the "long stretches".

It is impossible to ride around Chicago suburbs without risking your life on dangerous rodes for at least a portion of your ride. I try to minimize it by riding early on weekends, but my weekday afternoon rides at 4pm don't allow me avoid traffic.

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Swim - Bike - Run the rest is just clothing changes.

Great thoughts and dialog.

I have had the stern discussion more than once with folks I am riding with that just because we are legally allowed to ride 2 abreast and we can pull out some photocopies of Ohio law that says we can, it doesn't mean that we should. At the time we were on a 2 lane road at a busy time and common sense dictated that we needed to be single file.

I believe share the road goes both ways. We need to do our part to stand up for our rights, sure, but we need to be considerate of traffic and drivers, just as we are asking them to be considerate of us. As many said, we are drivers too. We need to think like we are both and ride accordingly.