As with any dangerous tool, if you respect it and treat it as such (lights (we love blinky lights), awareness of suroundings (I rely heavily on my ears for what is appraching me from behind so head phones are a bad idea), following traffic laws, no cell phone while biking, ect) then you will be fine, if you don’t your going to get hurt. Such is life.

I don’t know about LA, but OC had the best set of bike paths I’ve ever experienced, and as a student I used them extensively. I miss my Gitane, though bikes back then (1982) were quite heavy compared to modern ones.

When I first showed up as a grad student at U. Cal., Irvine, I was paid as a research assistant (I designed electronics for experiments) at about $12,000 per year. It was more money than I’d ever seen in my life. I just couldn’t imainge how someone could spend all that money. Talking with one of the other grad students I found that he was very broke. Turns out that part of the difference was that he owned a car.

While living in Boston, i briefly worked for a company that had showers. I had a 9 mile bike commute. Even at the start of the summer, averaging 9 MPH, it was as fast as the subway or driving. By the end of the summer, i was averaging 21 MPH, and it was faster than any other means even including time showering.

While living in Philadelphia, i commuted for two summers. It was 6 miles. I took it slow on the way to work as there were no showers. I took a longer route home and made it into real exercise. While Philadelphia has no bike lanes, they do shut down a ten mile road by the river on Saturday Mornings to vehicles. Philadelphia also has some of the worst road debris i’ve seen anywhere. Despite Kevlar tires with tire liners, flat tires were common. And, i got very good at replacing spokes and truing wheels. Feh.

In Detroit it seems hopeless. Employers have no showers, and/or the commute is 45 miles.

I’ve only had one bicycle accident. I borrowed a touring bike (drop handlebars) with an oversized frame. I couldn’t see traffic, and had difficulty braking. A car i’d passed twice caught up to me and made a right turn into me. I actually ran into the car. I wasn’t hurt. Nor was the car or bike. The driver stopped and got out. She started speaking Spanish at me. Yelling really. But she changed her tune when i started speaking Spanish back. It was an uphill struggle to appear human to her. I think it actually shocked her. It turned out she really was fluent in English - but just didn’t want to talk to me.

On my own bike, i’m in command. I know what everyone’s doing and what they will be doing. I can wear headphones and listen to A Brief History of Time and still be safe. These things improve safety by keeping me awake. Your mileage may vary.

Thanks!!

“the major accident class for experienced commuters is failure of a left-turning car to yield.”

I completely agree. That’s the one I watch most too…. and try to make eye-contact, or if not sure at a huge intersection, I just get off the bike and cross on foot. Takes me an extra minute, may have saved my life. Also, at night I have one of those bright flashing multiple-LED lights as my headlight… makes it very easy to see me and judge where I am.

I also was disturbed by the tone of the LA Times article. It probably put off more people from cycling than it encouraged because it played up that “danger” aspect too much. Makes us all sound like thrill seekers or extreme sports enthusiasts, rather than regular people just like the reader is. Nothing could be further from the truth. I go out of my way to avoid dangerous sports and thrill rides. I just want to get out of my car, that’s all.

Cheers!

-cvj

I agree 100% with the tone of your post. I think you have to ride like a vehicle, obeying the laws, if you expect auto drivers to treat you like a vehicle and honor your right-of-way. Additionally, you have to be more careful about judging driver’s intentions, and ride very deliberately, leaving no doubt with hand signals and body language (eg lane placement).

If you’ve read Forrester’s book “Effective Cycling”, you’ll know where this is coming from, and that there is a long debate between those who want, e.g., bike paths for commuters thru parks, versus those who want “Share the road” signs on city streets. I’m more of a “share the road” person.

**

One thing I always had trouble with as a bike commuter is anger at “misbehaving” auto drivers. Many times I was too quick to flip the bird at a driver who cut me off or stopped in my path. I think the main cause was tension and fear about being “powerless” (that is, crushable by a car) — classic yapping chihuahua syndrome.

I was disappointed in the tone of the LA Times article, because it did have some of that fearful mentality — perhaps it was just the quotes chosen.

Anyway, as I matured as a cyclist, this fear/anger gradually went away. I don’t have the same frustration level any more, and my rides are much more pleasant as a result.

**

In all those years of commuting, and several extended bike tours (eg, cross-USA in 1987) I never had a collision with a car. Most bike accident statistics are pretty much worthless to commuters in judging their risks, because the accident statistics are biased by the dominance of children. IIRC, the major accident class for experienced commuters is failure of a left-turning car to yield. So that’s the one I watch especially. Of course, depending on your route, YMMV (so to speak).

Thanks for commenting. It is *so* important for people to hear from experienced people who know the roads even better than I do. It’s very reassuring and encouranging. I hope maybe some others who’ve surfed in via LAObserved or elsewhere may share a bit too….

Personally I’m not out on my bike to change the status quo. I do it because it’s enjoyable and because I have to take personal responsibilty for the world I live in. If while pedaling somewhere some four-wheelers see me riding and a lightbulb goes off that says to them that they can do that, good for them.

This is *exactly* my attitude. The status quo gets changed by just doing it, and some people might join in based on the example. This is the word of mouth aspect I was talking about. People see and hear what I do and they ask me questions at work, or just randomly on the street. Next thing I hear is that colleagues are asking me about bus routes…. or they are finding that maybe part of their week they might use mass transit to try it for a while. And I get lots of questions about the bike, and its convenience, which is good too….(although I’m not expecting everyone to suddenly get folding bikes because people really find it hard to do something so unusual…. it’s mostly afraid of just looking different, but that’s another story.)

And as for personal responsibility… Yes, I very much agree! I am at the stage now where I feel like I have really failed if I use the car unneccessarily - for a single short-to-medium trip I could have done on the bike or on foot. So I try to find the extra time and plan my day a bit better so as to not have to jump into the car to run that errand. It just feels *wrong* now….. this might be a bit extreme for some, but I’m just saying… When I do use the car I like it to be a trip that gets a lot of errands done, and/or maybe involve longer distances, heavy or awkward loads, giving people a ride, or just highly contrained time.

My typical week, in the routine of the semester, has me not touching the car at all until the weekend. This is not going to work for everyone - I chose to live in a part of the city that allows me to use the many public transport options in combination with my bike, or that gives me access to lots of local things within walking or quick biking distance. Different people have different situations, and I recognise that - but so many people just *assume* that there is no alternative to the car. They tell me where they live and where they want to get to and I give them a list of bus routes… They tell me that the bus stop is several blocks away or worse. The idea of walking to the stop is strangely prohibitive to people… the car has spoiled us so much…. and if it is really far to the stop… or takes too long then this is a *perfect* situation for using a short bikeride to fill in the gaps….

Anyway, I’m rambling.

Thanks Will! Stay safe, and maybe I’ll see you out there on the streets soon.

(Your blog MetroBlogging LA is excellent, by the way!)

-cvj

What you need to do is write a letter to the train company and ask them to make such provision. Get your friends to do it too. If there are enough people doing that, they’ll consider changing their policy.

Or -Welcome to the folding bike revolution! Unchain yourself from the good will of the rail operators… You get around these restrictions the way I and hundreds of others do. Get a folding bike. You cover it after folding, and they can’t tell wehther it is a bike or a large bag. Have a look around you in London, you’ll see Bromptons everywhere….. folders are on the rise, and Bromptons are apparently the single most common manufacturer (or close to it) in London now…. all of this canged in the last few years…. By word of mouth alone.

On the danger perception you mention (crazy london cabbies and the like):- bear in mind that it is a perception mostly. I recall thinking the same thing here in LA before I just got on a bike and found that a lot of the perceived fear came from what people were saying about it (out of ignorance mostly, or unfortunate experiences such as Andy mentioned above) and also how it looks from the point of view of a pedestrian or of a motorist. Once you are on your bike, and if you take care to be vigilant (using some of the ideas I talked about in the psot) you will rapidly see that it is just not that terrifyingly dangerous.

Please try it for a week before just writing it off.

-cvj

There’s a nice link here to a report by the Danish Road Directorate with a *lot* of facts and statistics including accident risks.

http://www.cities-for-cyclists.org/dokumenter/cyccon.pdf

Of course one of the reasons that everyone cycles in Denmark is that tax rates are so high and cars cost 3x as much as in the US (there is over 200% duty and tax on a new car) so many have to cycle (or use public transport) whether they like it or not.

I am disturbed by commenter Andy’s opinion but won’t waste time trying to disuade it or allay his extrapolated fears. Instead I’ll just counter his blanket assessment of the state of aggression towards cyclists on the streets with my own personal experiences. As a cycling advocate who’s logged an average of 1,000-plus urban L.A. miles a year since 2000 — including 1,800 this past year and a resolution to do 2,000 for 2007 — I can honestly say I do not see the anger that Andy’s so adamant about.

I’m not sporting a pair of rose-colored Oakleys here, bikers suffer injury or death all to regularly and to a certain degree I agree in principle with him that city cycling is an “unsafe activity,” but then I also must note that Andy’s walks to and from work also carry with them a certain level of risk. And from the almost 9,000 miles I’ve logged all around Los Angeles this past seven years I have encountered road rage far more often from the cab of my truck than I have in the saddles of my bicycles.

That’s not to say I haven’t suffered countless episodes of drivers’ absolute indifference or disregard for my safety or my right to share the road, but I don’t let that stop me from doing something I love and I ride in a heightened state of awareness according to my credo that I’m only as safe as the worst driver I encounter.

Andy’s proposal that car-free commute windows be legislated made me laugh. What doesn’t is that defeatist attitude he apologizes for. I find that mindset “inherently unsafe.”

Personally I’m not out on my bike to change the status quo. I do it because it’s enjoyable and because I have to take personal responsibilty for the world I live in. If while pedaling somewhere some four-wheelers see me riding and a lightbulb goes off that says to them that they can do that, good for them.

Ride safe and ride on Professor.

On the contrary!!! Check out the paper “Safety in numbers: more walkers and bicyclists, safer walking and bicycling” (P L Jacobsen). Jacobsen found that as the number of bikers and walkers on the roads increases, the probability of any given biker or walker being in an accident falls. I don’t think he proves causation, but his work is very suggestive. Also, check out this article.

I’m sorry to hear about that. But I still disagree with you. If you read the news, you’ll also hear about experienced motorists and pedestrians involved in horrible accidents. Many of them die. It is sad, sure. Does that mean that we should just stop those activities as well? in fact, there are quite a few stories of people never leaving their homes and bad things happen to them. So what are we to do?

There are lots of local journeys on the bike that can be made which are no more dangerous than walking the same route. Why can people not do those at the very least? And there are far more journeys that thousands of cyclists take every day all over California. There is risk involved, but there is risk involved in getting into your car and getting on the 405 too.

I can help to change the status quo with my bicycle, actually. It is already changing, because lots of individuals are making new choices. And word of mouth is a powerful thing. The little changes begin to happen, and gather momentum and then the legislators see what’s happening and they listen (if only to save their political skins), helping to produce big changes that would never have happened were it not for the little changes. Your argument that no one person can make a difference is akin to claiming that no one person’s vote can make a difference to an election. It all starts with the individual citizens. I see more people cycling. I see more people on the bus going to work and to school. The city responded with increased frequency on some bus routes, more cycle lanes, double-sized express buses, and more express bus routes. There is increased urgency to get the subway extended. I’ve done posts on all of this. I can give you links if you like. This is all due in no small part to people voting with their feet, making new choices and not accepting the status quo.

Now I must dash… I’m jumping into my Hummer to nip to the shops to buy a pint of milk… Later.

-cvj

I simply don’t agree with your rather defeatist and (with all due respect) highly ill-informed argument for the status quo.

-cvj

If risk of cycling is bothering you, then your time is much better spent on reducing the risk of heart attack e.g better diet or taking up some exercise…such as cycling.