Bike-Friendly Cities

A couple months ago, I hosted a survey about which U.S. city was the best city for bicycling.

I didn't get much of a response. I think one possibility for the apathy is that many people  do not equate "trails" w/ "cities." There's an attitude that trails have to be out in the country to be tranquil and scenic.

I'll admit, I used to think that way too. But it ain't so, my friends!!

Some of my favorite biking trails go through urban as well as rural areas.

I'm not alone in this assessment. National Geographic Traveler magazine published an article called "Great Bike-Friendly Cities." In that article, the following cities rated high for their bicycle culture and environment. Some of the cities that rated high included:

Mt. Vernon Bike Trail w/ the Washington
D. C. monuments in the background.

• Portland, OR
• New York
• Chicago
• San Diego
• San Francisco
• Montreal
• Washington D.C.

Some of those cities may have surprised you, but they owe their place on the list to recent improvements in bicycle trails, bike lanes, and general biking accessibility, safety, and promotion.

Bike-Friendly Cities

Lookin' for Some Southern Trails

As you can see by my Winter Trails post, I appreciate a good, brisk trail outing as much as the next guy. Come November, December, even into January, I enjoy slapping on some warm clothes (I'd say muckalucks, but I have no idea what those are.), donning a pair of warm boots, and sliding along a scenic cross-country ski trail or plowing through hip-deep snow atop a pair of old fashioned snowshoes.
But we're coming to the end of January and sailing full tilt toward February and guess what. The novelty of  fresh powder and crisp air is wearing thin. Unhitch the dogs from the sled, it's time for some warm weather. I'm longing for a warm day on a sunny southern trail.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to visit the Ashuelot Rail Trail in New Hampshire, the Hiawatha Trail in Idaho or the Boulder Creek Path in Colorado. But not now. Not in the midst of winter. I want sunshine, shorts, and a hankerin' for an ice-cold root beer rather than a pipin' hot cocoa.
The worst part is, I'll probably have to wait over two months for my dream to come true. In March, I fly into Birmingham, Alabama to check out trails in Georgia and Alabama.  Then in April, I'm off to New Orleans to try out some Louisiana trails & Mississippi paths. I look forward to it, but I'd prefer not to be looking forward to it with binoculars. March and April seem to be a long ways off.
Let's see.... the bright side?  Oh yeah, I have plenty of time to research. So if any of you have any ideas for great trails down south, please leave a comment/post/suggestion on this blog. I'm dyin' to hear from you. I'd just to prefer to be dying of heat frustration rather than hypothermia about now.

Lookin' for Some Southern Trails

"On your left"

What do you say when you approach another trail user from behind?
According to the politically correct trail monitors, you're supposed to announce yourself with a firm, "On your left."
But I have some problems with that.
First, from my own experiences, that does more harm than good. When I'm quietly and peacefully walking or riding on the trail, and someone comes up behind me and blasts out, "On your left," it (in the words of my college literature professor) "scares the bejasus out of me!" I'd much prefer that people just ride by. Of course that may be because I always stay to the far right and don't feel compelled to take up the entire trail.
And whenever I pass someone and say, "On your left," they either ignore me, get the bejasus scared out of them, or hear the word "left" and move in that direction thereby making matters worse.
So I thought I'd solve that little problem by installing a little bell on my bike and unobtrusively ringing it as I approached a pedestrian or slower bicyclist. (There aren't many of those.)
Well boy was I ever upbraided. About the second person I came to was a lady walking her dog. Upon ringing my bell, she moved to the opposite side of the trail as her dog, held his leash about neck-high and asked, quite sarcastically, "Did you want to go by?" I guess she felt the bell was not an acceptable way of begging her permission to pass her. She wanted me to say the exact magic phrase (perhaps "on your left?") before she could grant access to half of the trail.
So I said, "No! I just ring the bell to see what kind of Pavlovian reaction I would get out of you and your dog."
Okay, so I didn't actually say that, but thought of it about ten minutes later. I never think of good retorts until about ten minutes after the fact and far away from the intended target. I'm a delayed-release smart mouth.
So here's my point: Is there really any good way to pass people on the trail? It seems like no matter what you do, it's wrong about 50% of the time.
Now it's your turn. Let us know what you do when you pass people on the trail. Does it work?

"On your left"