Just tried commuting on my bike from Santa Monica to downtown Culver City today. I took the Exposition bike path, which was fine until I needed to get off of it to head south.
Google recommended I take National and–lo and behold–there’s no bike lane with cars flying past at 55mph+ on blind hills. That’s a death trap.
On the way home I left early to avoid traffic. I took Venice Blvd, since it has a protected bike lane all the way until McLaughlin which Google Maps called “bicycle friendly.” No bike lane, of course, with cars flying past leaving a foot of distance between me and death. One testy driver in a BMW didn’t want to wait the 15 seconds for me to pedal into the left turn lane to get back onto the Exposition bike path, honking and then flying by nearly killing me. Jeez lady, I’m not the city planner. Don’t kill me to save 15 seconds.
How does Culver City put zero bike lanes going north to south connecting to the Exposition path? How do these drivers maintain their licenses?
What’s a cyclist to do?
Use strava heat maps to find better routes.
I’ll check that out! Thanks!
Also, CyclOSM.org shows bike infrastructure.
Same in Victoria, BC. We’re lucky to have an old coal train line that was turned into a bike path but as soon as you stray off that path you’re likely hood of becoming chalk lines increases ten-fold. Incomplete cycling infrastructure is dangerous as it causes confusing situations when the bike-lane just… ends without any signage of what a cyclist should do. Usually I just hop on the sidewalk, if there even is one. It’s what I have to do if I want to get to a post-office.
As an aside: I’ve had people accelerate hard to pass me in my neighbourhood just so they could get home not even five seconds sooner. Maybe like three. They speed into the opposite lane, squish me between parked cars on either side as well as the other car waiting for me to pass. It really fucking insane sometimes.
