More bike commuters?

[Trevize1138]

I've been riding my bike a lot more lately for things I used to use a car.

Because of this, I don't know if I'm just noticing more people out obviously commuting by bike or transporting themselves/stuff by bike or if there's a general trend this summer toward more of that.

Take a ride up Nicollete Ave. on "Eat Street" between 29th St. and downtown sometime. I swear the car traffic is moving slower than other summers because there are so many bikes using the street! :banana:

Anyone else out there got an observation on this? I'm guessing it's more than just my perception and that people really are travelling by bike more this summer than before.

[syntaxjunkie]

Absolutely. I can report from the downtown Minneapolis/commuter paths angle that ridership is higher than at any point in the past three years. In the microcosm of my office, I'd say that a half-dozen people have started riding in at least a few days a week this year.

Unfortunately, the increase in ridership has yet to result in a commensurate increase in pedestrians and drivers actually paying attention to where they're going and who else might be sharing the road with them. Can't have it all, I guess.

[Aaroneous]

Definitely more bikes around this year than last.

[Trevize1138]

What I've discovered with myself is how much it helps to make transit and errand-running via bike more convenient.

Last year I went to get groceries via bike only a couple times. To do so I'd have to wear some sort of bag which was just uncomfortable for riding and crushed things like bananas or bread.

I thought about using my BoB trailer but navigating that thing out of my garage and then locking it up with the bike at the store was enough of a pain to make me say "Ah, I'll just drive."

What's interesting is how little of a hassle using a BoB trailer is yet that basically made me "dependant" on a car for getting two bags of groceries. All it took to get me past that was the pannier idea. Now it's almost as quick and easy to bike as it is to drive.

That and full-coverage fenders. Can I get an amen, brotha Aaron???!!!

[Aaroneous]

Can I get an amen, brotha Aaron???!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-men!!

[stoneage]

Can't have it all, I guess.
Patience my boy, patience.
I'll second the amen.

[dostoy]

Unfortunately, the increase in ridership has yet to result in a commensurate increase in pedestrians and drivers actually paying attention to where they're going and who else might be sharing the road with them. Can't have it all, I guess.

I don't know if I'm just lucky or what, but I've been commuting through downtown Minneapolis by bike since about February, and I've had only one or two conflicts with drivers. In general, I find the drivers in downtown to be pretty respectful. If anything, I have problems with drivers going out of their way to let me by when I'm just trying to move with the flow of traffic.

But yeah, I'm seeing a lot of people on bikes. I'm practically tripping over them at work. Pretty cool.

[Trevize1138]

Just more thoughts on the whole panniers/metal baskets/cargo space/full fenders thing ...

It's amazing to me how having panniers vs. a BoB trailer on my bike means the difference between always thinking "Ah, I'll just drive" and finally viewing a ride to the grocery store as simple and easy. I can't be alone in this kind of case and I'm sure a lot more people out there would bike instead of drive if just one, seemingly unimportant thing were changed.

So, anybody else got some ideas about some very simple things people can do that can put someone over the edge toward biking a whole lot more? Here's my list including items already discussed:

* Have more than one bike: Off-road bike, road bike, grocery getter bike ... make it so you just grab the right bike for what you want and you'll bike more

* Full fenders: I used to not ride if the roads were wet even if it wasn't raining because I didn't want to get splashed. Full fenders fix that nicely.

* No worries about theft: I never transport myself someplace where I have to lock up my $1,400 StumpJumper. Instead I take my late '80s LeTour or less-expensive '99 RockHopper. I figure every lock can be cut so I make sure the bike I'm locking up doesn't scream "steal me!"

* Take it slower: I do this more and more myself. Rather than racing to wherever I'm going and showing up all hot and sweatty I take my time. Especially if you're going somewhere within your own city limits you're not getting anywhere faster than a few minutes, so don't sweat it. Heh heh ... I'm so clever.

[LightWeight]

Funny... I'm seeing a lot LESS commuters in the last month or so. Maybe it's like New Year's resolutions: End of spring/beginning of summer is packed at the bike racks just like January is at the health clubs. Oh well, their loss...

[gopherhockey]

Funny... I'm seeing a lot LESS commuters in the last month or so. Maybe it's like New Year's resolutions: End of spring/beginning of summer is packed at the bike racks just like January is at the health clubs. Oh well, their loss...

Could the heat be playing a part in this? Or maybe everyone is on vacation like at my work... ;)

[BikerKitty]

I was thinking about this thread, and some of the other ones that are talking about commuting right now, on my way in this morning.
I ride up Nicollet from 28th Ave S to downtown anywhere from 7:15-7:45 every morning. Today, there were FIVE of us bikers that ended up at the same stoplight (Franklin). It's great to see so many people bike commuting, but when are we gonna get passing lanes for bikes? ;) I coulda used one...got behind some real slow-pokes (my bike won't even COAST that slow) and couldn't get around 'cause of traffic.
But it was great 'cause you could tell the cars and pedestrians were totally thrown off their game.
:banana:

[Trevize1138]

But it was great 'cause you could tell the cars and pedestrians were totally thrown off their game.
:banana:

Cool! That's basically the effect I see all the time on Nicolete Ave. because there's so much bike traffic. What I liked was how that street has a lot of Vietnamese restaurants and businesses and it already feels like "Little Saigon" to me. Now that there's a noticeable increase in two-wheeled traffic it's feeling even moreso.

Of course, you'd need to flip the ratio of two wheelers to four wheelers to be 100% accurate to Saigon's traffic conditions. :)

I'm sure there's also a decrease in some ways due to both the whole excitement of riding your bike early in the summer and recent heat wave, but I do think overall bike commuting and travel is up. In fact, that's the word I keep hearing from Jamie at Sunrise Cyclery. He finally hired on a part-time guy to help with the workload and they just keep getting busier. Every time the gas prices go up their work goes right up with it.