Phil (ascentale)

Welcome to #BikeNite (similar to #BikeSchool on the other site). Thank you for following along, and I hope we all enjoy chatting about bikey stuff! Feel free to answer whenever at your convenience. Anyone can join, now or later.
We'll start out with an introduction as usual.

Q1. Where are you posting from? People join #BikeNite from all over. What is something unique about riding in your area?

#BikeNite #BikeNiteQ

Sep 15, 2023 at 11:00pmWeb
Show threadPhil (ascentale)Sep 15, 2023

Hi #BikeNite, I'm in Oakland, CA as usual. I think there are a couple of things about riding here. 1) We are close to water (bay/ocean) and hills, so there is a good variety of scenery here. 2) The weather is usually temperate, so it is easier to ride a cycle for much of the year.

#BikeNite

Show threadWeldon BradstreetSep 15, 2023
@ascentale
A1. Posting from Berkeley. I guess something unique about riding in Berkeley is that we have a lot of street diverters that force traffic to turn at certain points, where bikes are allowed to proceed through the diverters.
#BikeNite
Show threadPhil (ascentale)Sep 15, 2023
@Heyweldon I appreciate the diverters!
Show threadWeldon BradstreetSep 15, 2023
@ascentale
Same here! I like the temporary break from car traffic they give you.
Show threadShadowsforbarsSep 15, 2023
@ascentale A1 Edmonton Alberta. Our bylaws allow bikes with wheels with a diameter of less than 50 cm to ride on the sidewalk. Ebikes can be ridden wherever a regular bike can go. Hence a Brompton electric can be ridden on the sidewalk.
Show threadMarc HedlundSep 15, 2023
@ascentale A1. San Francisco, this week. Car-free JFK (https://sfrecpark.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=710) is an incredible space for biking, walking, and enjoying time outside. It makes me want to fight far harder for many more spaces like that. #BikeNite
Board of Supervisors Approves Mayor Breed's Legislation to Make Car-Free JFK Permanent

Lawmakers approve dozens of improvements to improve access, equity, and ease of travel.

San Francisco Recreation and Parks, CA
Show threadnothingfutureSep 15, 2023
@ascentale A1: I’m just outside Boston, Ma. The mountain biking here tends towards ancient hiking trails, so slow, awkward, and deeply technical. #bikenite
Show threadAxel 🚴😷🐧🐪⌨ | #WeAreNatenomSep 15, 2023
@ascentale #BikeNite A1: Posting from #Zurich, Switzerland's biggest city. Nevertheless, with just close to 430'000 inhabitants, it's a rather small city in the global scale. Hence it has all the amenities of a cosmopolitan city (except in #bicycle infrastructure 😖), but everything is still easily reachable by bike, including a lot of green and rural areas—at least, if you don't mind hills: The city's ground level varies between 392m and 870m above the sea, but most urban areas are below 500m.
Show threadDaigoro Toyama (he/him)Sep 15, 2023
@ascentale A1: Posting from Seattle, WA, USA. We have hills and rain, which individually may not be all that unique, but the combination in the winter can make cycling a challenge! I just bought the Storm Shield mini for the e-bike. We are ready! #BIkeNite
Show threadpanasaurusrexSep 16, 2023
@daihard @ascentale #BikeNite A1. Also chiming in from Seattle, and hills were the first response I thought of too!
Show threadDemianSep 16, 2023
@panasaurusrex @daihard @ascentale Also from Seattle. The green and water views are especially nice here.
While it's often damp, it rarely rains hard so I don't find it that onerous to ride year round. I can appreciate the Storm Shield for the kiddos though. Looks like an awesome ride!
Show threadDaveography 🇨🇦Sep 16, 2023

@ascentale

A1: Hailing from #yeg / #Edmonton

Not sure what's unique about riding here since I have very limited experience riding in other places.

I guess maybe the hills here can take you by surprise, mainly because our city is generally pretty flat and situated on the prairies. So if you're not expecting it, finding yourself in the valley and trying to get out again might try your legs and your lungs a bit.

#yegBike #BikeNite

Show threadDaveography 🇨🇦Sep 16, 2023

@ascentale

A1.1: Actually I guess on that note it might surprise some how good the singletrack trails are here throughout the valley. We have some surprisingly technical and challenging trails.

Unfortunately, though, they are also very prone to disappearing due to erosion thanks to our geology here.

#yegBike #BikeNite

Show threadPhil (ascentale)Sep 16, 2023
@Daveography I thought I'd seen some winter #BikeBus videos from Edmonton? Can't remember for sure now. If so, I thought that the views while riding across bridges looked really nice.
Show threadBrownian_motionSep 16, 2023
@ascentale Tonight I'm joining from tiny Cromwell, MN, USA, last night of #RideMN1 for 2023. Today on the ride we noticed people on the shore of a small lake almost hidden by the tall grasses of Wild Rice.
Show threadRik @ bikescape.orgSep 16, 2023
@ascentale Posting from Provincetown, the best bike town in the US ranked #1 by the PeopleforBikes City Ratings! (and #2 in the world after The Hague, NL)
Show threadIdealistic Pragmatist Sep 16, 2023

@ascentale

A1: Joining you all the next morning this time, from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Something unique about riding in urban central Edmonton is that we had an enormous grid of separated bike lanes open up almost overnight in 2018! It’s not perfect, but it’s a whole lot better than what was there before, and it got a lot more people cycling at once (you might notice that there are lots of other Edmontonians who do #BikeNite—that’s at least part of why).

https://www.thestar.com/edmonton/cycling-popularity-sees-drastic-rise-in-year-since-bike-lane-launch/article_ce08e896-f067-5868-9543-14579f15f96f.amp.html

Cycling popularity sees drastic rise in year since bike-lane launch

<p>Monitoring website says ridership has increased 81 per cent since protected paths were unveiled in city</p>

Toronto Star
Show threadKinetixSep 16, 2023
@ascentale A1. Posting from Kamloops, BC as usual. I don't know if there's much that's unique about riding in my area. We are a semi-arid desert area that has two adjoining valleys and piles of hills. We do have a ton of mountain bike activity and trails, including a bike ranch (trick park at the top end of a good sized gulley/gulch just below one of our hilly neighbourhoods). City riding has not had enough attention on it until very recently, and the busiest car traffic areas of town unfortunately have the least cycling infrastructure of all. We get pretty regular winter snow that stays generally for months up in our hills, and not enough city budget to actually remove snow, so any painted bike lanes on the sides of the roads disappear, and I generally won't ride in the road space that remains. I may be tempted to try sidewalk riding down the hill to where cleaned paths exist at times this winter.

While there are many legacy issues for cycling in our city, there's at least city staff that exist these days that are trying to make the appropriate changes. So for a small city that's way behind, they're working to make things better and progress.

#BikeNite
Akkoma