Groningen: An inspiring city
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United bikers
It is a common believe that when people unite, they are more powerful. History has shown that what is almost impossible to reach for a single person, it can be done when dozens, hundreds or millions join together. The biking movement is not an exception. Organizations like BiciRed México or Conbici are clear examples at country level. The first one represents the bike throughout Mexico. Not only does it promotes people moving in a sustainable way, but also launches campaigns to improve human health and environment. Who would deny slogans like “more human cities” or “let’s reduce death in roads”? These messages aim to realize people the benefices of bikes in a friendly, universal way. BiciRed México, Conbici as well as other national associations coordinate movements of smaller, usually local associations. Conbici is the Spanish coordinator of dozens of smaller associations. Sometimes there are more than one association by city. It acts as a catalyst of the main tendencies in biking and defends bikers rights against undesirable law changes. And finally, the more we are, the more power we have.
Bike line or street?
There has been a recurrent discussion among bikers who live in large cities regarding which infrastructure is the best to ride. On the one hand, we have bike line and on the other one the whole street. Both sides offer points in favor and against. Cyclists who ride on a bike line enjoy a dedicated space for them which is respected specially in the cases in which it is separated by a physical barrier from pavement and car lines. They feel this separation as a privilege with a potential effect on avoiding traffic accidents. This fact encourages those who are learning to ride and makes bikers who do not want to ride at high speed happy. It seems to say “Hey, we drive a vehicle, but we live in a peaceful manner not as the pollutant cars”. On the contrary, pro-street bikers say “Hey, we drive a vehicle, so we are traffic and must share the street”. They feel traffic has to be calmed down, not by cornering them but by forcing cars to reduce speed as bike do not usually reach high speeds as cars do. This type of cyclists often complain about the facts that bike lines often zigzag and their surface imply deficiencies, whereas streets often follows direct lines with better asphalt. Which position is the best? Neither, it all depends on the particular circumstances of infrastructures and the way of thinking of every biker.
A funny and possibly effective way to protect your bike
Sharing traffic, main problems in Valencia (5/5)
Distraction is the last main traffic problem in Valencia. They can affect to every driver whether they drive a car, a bike, a truck, a motorcycle, etc. Causes are variate like the mobile phone, radio, disc reader, gps, you name it. In this post, I am going to center in the distractions due to exclusively the road. In the next picture, one can see a cross with the cars coming from a one-way road.
The problem here is that the bike-line is bidirectional and car drivers often forget to see to both sides. As a result, car accidents have occurred here.
Another example is given in conjunction with multiple traffic problems I have explained in this series. If we mix distractions plus high speed plus amber traffic-light, we have the next photos.
Cars come with excessive speed from the avenue named dels Tarongers. They can see the amber traffic-line, but they do not stop unless a pedestrian or a bike is really close. Nor do they see on both sides and as a result of bike reaching speeds of 10-20 km/h it is a miracle that there had not been any death biker at this point.
Sharing traffic, main problems in Valencia (4/5)
Excessive cars speed is a constant problem within Valencia. Speed limits range from 30 to 50 km/h depending on the city zone. Most car drivers do not comply in respecting them. Police efforts are inefficient and thus it is common to see cars driving at 70, 80, 90 or even 100 km/h every day. Drivers do not become aware this awful way of driving puts into risk their lives and those who surround them. This fact also translates into risk for bikers quite often. Crossings in which bike-lines are involved are in dangerous due to this. Apparently quiet roads like in the photos become problematic. It is usual that cars pass the traffic-light line as they drive with excessive speed. Moreover high speed provokes a reduction in the time drivers have to adapt to an unexpected event like a bike crossing a road on a bike-line. If they drove according to the law, there would be no problem of this nature. On the contrary, high speed appears as a key factor in every study on the main causes of car accidents not only in Valencia, but also in the rest of the Spanish roads.
Sharing traffic, main problems in Valencia (3/5)
Awful bike-lines are located in several zones of Valencia. Although the new government is making efforts to eradicate them, there is still a long way to do. One of these is the infamous bike-line in the El Puerto avenue. It was built some weeks before the America’s cup back in 2007.
The set is discouraging as you can see in the photo.
Not only forces you to make an unnecessary turn, but also this particular point presents additional problems. Instead of following a logical path marked by the red line, bikers must also deal with reduced visibility thanks to the stand and some distracted pedestrians as this bike-line goes on the pavement.
Another example of a bad bike-line is shown next.
In this case, there is not enough distance between it and the parked cars. It can be that if a co-pilot does not realize a bike is approaching from the right or the left, an accident is guaranteed.
Sharing traffic, main problems in Valencia (2/5)
One common problem for cyclists in Valencia is the existence of light-traffics in amber. I am not talking about the traditional cycle of green-amber-red, but rather amber or no-light specially in turns to the right. According to the Spanish law, cars should extreme attention in this circumstance. The point is the opposite to what should occur. Most car drivers do not take it into account and hence crash happens sometimes causing deaths. What is more, these signals are put next to zebra crossings while the bikes and pedestrians traffic-light is in green. In the next pictures you can see a classic example.
In some other parts in the city in which no bike-line is involved, riding on the road is also dangerous with amber light-traffics:
In this case smart assess try to overtake you by accelerating their cars while you are starting to ride. This causes a dangerous situation because most of them are idiot who do not care imperil their lives and those of people surrounding them.
Sharing traffic, main problems in Valencia (1/5)
There is a curious infrastructure in Valencia which I rarely see in any other great city in Europe or at least in the most advanced European countries as it comes to sustainable mobility. They are the “urban highways”. In other words, I am referring to avenues with three, four, five or even six lines in each direction. This causes a lot of pollution and noise. One secondary effect consists of cars not respecting the traffic-light line. In the next figures, you can clearly see them on the road.
And still lots of cyclists have had fights with cars and motorcycles which have not respected it. It is just a matter of time that a crash occurs.
Sport and urban cyclists
There is almost a unique way of biking as bikers are. Each person has its own riding style. Some people prefer doing it slowly while enjoying the travel. Others are in favor of speed and adrenaline, and do not hesitate in counting how many time they spend on the streets without paying any attention in what surrounds them. This points is the main source in distinguishing cyclists in broad strokes.
We have sport cycling as a valid exercise which can be done within a city or a village. These cyclists are dressed in highly colored, fashion maillots, commonly in accordance with the official strip of a particular cyclist team. They also wear helmet even in places where it is not compulsory and ride so fast that can overtake cars. In front of this view, we see the urban bikers.
There is a myriad of them who are characterized by riding not so fast and most of the time in a friendly way. They use the bike to go to work, carry children to school, go out with friends, etc. Similarly as pedestrians, the garment they wear is variate. It does not matter whether you wear jeans, smart dresses, scarfs, tracksuits, you name it. Usually the bikes are not so expensive as in the case of sport cyclists and the bikes they use can be more than 30, 40 or 50 years old. The natural place of sport cyclists are the streets whereas urban cyclists prefer bike lines or also streets. I will talk more about this point in the future.