How to Cycle in Bike Unfriendly Areas December 12, 2024

[@oakspro2998]

I’ve been commuting in a suburban area with busy streets and nasty stroads going on three years. No bike lanes, no trails, and limited sidewalks. I sympathize with your fustrations! We’re designing infrastructure for machines, not humans.

[@Veloharmony]

Yes. It's very unfortunate because if they built the infrastructure, more people would cycle.

[@bb-r5710]

❤Agree with your assessment

[@Veloharmony]

Thanks for watching. I really enjoyed making this video.

[@sfreud2079]

Totally agree with your stance on cars, it can be very frustrating here in the USA. The raised walkway/bike lane over the road is such a great solution. Signs do not slow cars down...Speed bumps do. Not Just Bikes is a great channel by the way.

[@Veloharmony]

Amen. After finding not just bikes, I look at my town differently. It’s like taking the red pill in the matrix: I took the orange pill.

[@derrickewing99]

Awesome

[@JamesLerem]

Thank you for the vid. Here in CT, we have the East Coast Greenway. It stretches from Maine to Florida. It connects 15 states through over 450 cities and towns for 3,000 (4800+km) plus miles, yet many have never heard of it. I discovered it when friends of mine got me into cycling. And from where I live, I don't dare to bike ride to it because of the area i would have to take to get there. The good news is that they are expanding on it by connecting surrounding towns where i live. There's going to be a road ,that is rarely used by many, that will be converted and used as a connecting trail to the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail (which is part of the ECG trail).

[@Veloharmony]

Thanks for sharing! We need more of what you have up there. I just don't get why they don't increase awareness for the general casual cyclists to get to use the infrastructure.

[@basselal]

Hi there. Just stumbled on this video and I see it is about a month old. I live in Klein too and have been riding in the area for a few years for fitness (moved from running after hitting 50). I have a few neighborhood routes range from 15-40 miles that I feel I can do safely during appropriate times of the day. I remember seeing this trail on the map but couldn’t figure out how to get to it. Could you post a route map from the Champions Forest area? Highly appreciated.

[@Veloharmony]

Used to live in Bammel near the Sam Houston Tollway/ Beltway 8. I will create a route and post a link when I get a bit of time.

[@sharpironriders2698]

With respect to "stop the yelling" don't forget "car baaaaack!! car baaaaack!! car baaaaaack!!" A simple 'car back' would surfice.

[@Veloharmony]

Amen … could not agree more.

[@akmola1]

Good day, sir! Awesome content here. I have watched several of your videos and I have a question about stem angle. I have built a bike already, it’s a Cervelo Soloist in size 51. The frame size is right for me, and after two hours of fitting at the bike shop and 1.5 hours of my first ride with a loaner stem on it, we’ve determined that my stem is going to be 130 mm long, fully slammed (as it is now on my Cervelo Aspero gravel bike). Before I buy a permanent stem, I am trying to decide what stem angle I should have. I know that I can be much more aggressive than the standard -8 degree stem I have on my Aspero. Thinking about aesthetics, I believe the best looking stem should be as close to the flat looking appearance as possible (probably meaning nearly parallel to the top tube). I am concerned that if I go with a -17° stem, it is going to look like it’s looking down on a slightly sloping frame, 5° slope on the Cervelo Soloist… I would like to ask you,is it always the case with -17° stems that they create an optical illusion of looking downward on a sloping frame, in your experience? If so, would you suggest that I get a -12° stem instead? (From testing the bike once.- before we got snowed in here this past weekend- I do believe that -12° should be “ low enough” for me and I don’t necessarily need to go to the extreme -17°). Thank you in advance for your expert opinion and again, I am concerned more about aesthetics at this point.- creating a flat looking stem/handlebars appearance- rather than comfort necessary. P.S. I am asking and thinking about this question because, unfortunately, I did not have a chance to look or try a -17 or -12° stem. The loaner stem I got at the bike shop when they built my bike is a typical 6° stem which appears to be installed in the upright position right now...

[@Veloharmony]

I really don't do detail analyses off comments on the channel. You will be better served by contacting your bike fitter with those questions, since I didn't do your fit, I don't feel like it's worth the time to give you answers that you can't use. If you need my help, you can use our website and sign up for a remote fit session. www.veloharmony.com/product/remote-bike-fit/