Sounds like Arizona, too. Pretty much the whole US is comprised of car brained citizens. It’s really by design for the auto industry. Every street corner are gas stations, fast foods, oil changes, tire shops, accident law firms. More people need to be on bikes or using their legs. It’s honestly sad and makes me want to move overseas.
Yup. I live in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. A lot of the towns have been around since the VERY early days of this country and they were made for trains. In fact the street I live on used to have an electric tram line that went straight through the town and across to 5 different cities/towns. It’s truly a different era we’re in now, most of that stuff was torn down.
People in cars are lazy, just to go to a supermarket not to far away, it's rediculous. Then you got a whole lot of foreigners driving cabs sitting and driving around and they keep hiring more of them.
An acquaintance from college was doing a cross country (north/south) bike tour and got hit at 60+ mph in California and was hospitalized. Observers said the guy swerved into the shoulder.
I just got hit on my bike when the car ran the yellow light claiming he didn't see me.. this is my second time getting hit by a car. It's a calling for me to switch careers into urban planning. If I can't bike in peace in US, I'll hell make sure my city is a bike heaven for safety.
@@jamesb9303 Many decades ago my wife was an Urban Planner for Santa Monica. She hated the job because of the politics and eventually left even though she was living close to the beach at that time.
I'm born and raised in Southern California, most of it 4 blocks from the ocean. I was expecting some sort of anti-California rant from you but no.....what you say is 100 % true of current conditions. What were safe roads when we were in our 20's are not anymore. Bike paths are still great, except those with large homeless encampments. And they are many. Gravel riding is what most roadies have turned to after having a Mercedes or BMW go flying past you at 75 mph 3 feet away. And sure gravel routes can have rattlers sunning themselves in the morning for you to dodge, not to mention the other "food chain issues" we have to occasionally deal with. But those we can live with. Good video.
I live near the Rose Bowl, but drive out to Marina del Rey to jump on to the 22-mile long Marvin Braude bike trail along beach between Will Rogers State Beach (Pacific Palisades) at the north to Torrance Beach (near Palos Verdes) at the south. The 44-mile out-and-back is a very sweet ride, with only a very short distance on Washington Blvd. where the bike path is interrupted. The 5k Rose Bowl/Brookside Golf Course loop is also very popular for walking, jogging, rollerblading, and cycling training rides. A lot of large group weekend rides on wide streets around my area. And, just to the north are a lot of great mountain biking trails in the San Gabriel Mountains, some ascending up to Mt. Wilson, and to the west are the famous Santa Monica Mountains for some great mountain biking (near UCLA).
I live in Irvine, CA for grad school. I encounter some of both the best and worst possible bike riding scenarios within a couple of hundred yards from each other. I can go straight from a beautiful bike path that goes through a bird sanctuary along the Newport Beach Back Bay and then end up on Jamboree Road, a massive stroad that has like a 60 mph speed limit and a narrow bike lane. As for the 1...just like you said, there's areas with great views and nice riding, like in Crystal Cove where you're on a separate bike path, and then there are terrifying sections with no bike lane and a 55 mph speed limit.
I remember planning a bike ride from Crystal Cove to Irvine train station as a day trip and was blown away by Irvine's bike paths. I didn't really look at the routes beyond "yeah it's separated bike paths most of the ride". So much better than most of San Diego County. I can't even bike in my part of the county since it's just painted bike lanes on stroads. But that Jamboree "Rd" looks like a literal highway. San Diego has a similar problem of painting bike lanes onto local expressways, like Fairmount, that are just asking for bikers to be hit.
I almost got in a fight with a few drivers…. They honk and scream for no reason… and they will try to run you over if you press the wrong button… and majority of the cycle roads have homeless, crazy folk that sometimes will grab a stick, a tool and threaten you … even in the nicest cities like vista playa del Rey …
When are all these people coming after you you should ask yourself if you are doing something wrong. You might be over-reacting and making yourself look weak and inviting aggression.
I lived in Chicago until I was 27 and cycled year round. Commuting, recreation, general transportation. All of it. I moved to LA and basically stopped riding after about 6 months. Drivers just seemed to really believe they owned the road and didn’t care if you died. I left 4 years ago just before I turned 40 and moved to Virginia and started riding again. I miss California for a million reasons but LA is a terrible place to ride on roads.
The glass situation on sides of roads, bike lane or not, even sidewalks in CA is VERY REAL. (San Jose) I quit commuting to work due to flats. It was infuriating. Need to get a wheel setup to negate the glass
I cycle daily in Honolulu. It's pretty dismal to be quite frank. The weather is beautiful and a lot of nature to see within city limits, and the city is pretty small so getting around is easy. But sadly most of the city is a car infested dump. A lot of impatient, distracted drivers. Dedicated biking infrastructure is pretty crap here too. Dirty and unkempt but usable enough I suppose. We could have a great cycling city considering the weather and the short distances, but people here are too stuck on their cars here. A pickup truck is practically a status symbol in Hawaii. However, the city has a promising looking plan to improve cycling and pedestrian infrastructure and improve transit. I can only be hopeful for the future.
It's always been so odd. How do you live on an island with great weather and some of the most beautiful views on the planet, and yet you want to speed through it, isolated in a metal box with wheels? Genuinely hope y'all stay safe and get some meaningful cycling infrastructure and public transit progress in the future
@@mysticsamus The city is actually building some protected dedicated bike lanes on the street I live on as I type this, so that's nice at least. But yes, you're right. Unfortunately most people here are more concerned with being "too sweaty" and they think 4 miles is an unimaginable distance to bike because most people have never been to the mainland. A lot of the people here don't know how good we have it and would rather ride around in metal boxes.
I traveled up and down California on a rv trailer and cycled all over. I also cycled other states and countries. California has the best topography in all the states. You just need to get out to the rural areas and smaller towns. I love going to Graegle, Morro Bay, Clovis and Napa for some great road cycling. Other states don’t compare and I wouldn’t live anywhere else as a cycling enthusiast.
I am pretty sure you described almost all US drivers, at least all of the places I have been. A car brain habit I see a lot is the need to immediately pass a bicycle no matter the road conditions or hazards.
As someone who has lived and lives in the Bay Area, near Apple Headquarters, and been commuting by bicycle to work for at least forty years, I totally agree with Zach. I love riding here anyway. It's become worse overall. Alcohol and other substance abuse is one thing. Trash, garbage, and constant construction strew things all over the place. Dead animals on the roads. Smart phones and other distractions seem irresistible to the vast majority of drivers. Road conditions are incredibly inconsistent. Bike lanes and other infrastructures supposedly intended to aid cyclists are often disappointments, cost incredibly large sums of tax money, aren't maintained effectively, and usually disappear, especially at city borders. Urban intersections tend to be huge battle grounds for space where bike lanes basically vanish and suggest to drivers that cyclists do not belong there, aren't there, and are invisible. Whether an intersection senses a bike waiting for a green light or not is a coin toss. If a cyclist tides on the sidewalk to press the pedestrian call button, then they are out of bounds, ans and if they attempt to move across the intersection when the walk sign is lit, they are in the highest danger of being hit by a car. Garbage days are every day and garbage cans are in the bicycle lanes. Car drivers generally see speed limits as the lowest speed allowable, and take the posted limit as about half of the speed they intend to drive. Overlaying all of that are drivers sociopathological behaviors. The endless competition driving behavior is predominant. The various behaviors of cyclists are inconsistent to the point that cyclists are impediment law breaking squirrels and illiterate brain damaged road furniture. There was once less garbage. Today the road sides are apparently good places to be despised.
Cupertino is the only place I’d bike. The biking infrastructure around Apple is pretty neat and it’s relatively clean. Cupertino drivers are absolutely Braindead though. Cycling in any other part of the bay is beyond rough though.
When I lived in Vegas I experienced the same exact thing. It was nerve racking. Moved back home to Florida and I’m more in the country and although the biking infrastructure is non existent, the drivers are WAAAYYY more respectful and haven’t had any issues after almost a year. I can’t speak for Orlando or Miami I’m assuming it’s the same like Vegas out there lol.
Only time I've been hit by a car while biking was in California. Not to mention the aggressive swerving at me or throwing trash at me just for having the audacity of trying to live without a car.
If you live in the central valley of California, I recommend getting a gravel bike or at least a bike with decent tire clearance you can take off road. I live on the edge of my central valley city, and I ride my gravel bike out to the agriculture fields and ride on the nice dirt and gravel roads that go along the outside or through the ag fields. The workers that see me dont mind, they even wave at me as I ride by them. I dont have to worry about crazy California drivers this way, and I can ride for miles. I can even ride to other nearby towns just by riding through the ag fields.
biking in US and Canada suck so much. it's dangerous, awkwardly undefined, toooo many dangerous drivers and laws which enables driver to bully every one outside a car. I don't know how we can fix it. it's been many years I don;t even think it's going to be fixed
I switched from biking to running once ebikes and scooters really got into the mix. There’s just too many things to consider traffic-wise to actually relax. Careful out there!
One neighborhood can be at European standards over a few blocks (usually around schools), and the next will be a death zone. It is very inconsistent, thus you can’t really go anywhere safely.
There’s another thing, I’m staying at my sister’s place near Malibu and just to ride the 1st mile it’s a 200 ft drop out of the house & 200 ft climb back. I lived in Lancaster county PA before which is one of the best riding areas.
You'll be surprised. I brought my fixe there one time and rode with the chaotic traffic. Motorcycle would be on the bike lane but they still ride slow. I have obnoxious headlight and tail light and speed with traffic 27mph on straight aways. People there would give way to me on roads than drivers here in US
I did a 2 week hobo tour on highway 1 about 7 years ago. It was awesome. I definitely did not feel safe while riding though. I was doing one of those winding roads up a mountain with one lane each way, riding along the shoulder, and a huge truck with a double wide mobile home came speeding towards me and i couldnt move anywhere because if i moved left, the trailer would have hit me, and if i moved right, a large chunk of road was missing, so i would have crashed. So i took my chances with the chunk of missing road, my bike flipped forward, and thank god i was wearing clipless shoes, because my leg and bike got caught on the railing and stopped me from flying into the pacific. I walked for a few miles after that lol
Insane lol. I lived on the east coast for 35 years. Now I live in SF. I can literally walk out my door and hop on a bike lane and be on the Marin headlands in 15 mins. This even beats Girona. But I’ll admit. Most places here are pretty car heavy. So everyone be safe.
Speaking of Sac in particular, I find that Google’s bike layer vastly overstates the bike friendliness of most streets. On the map it’ll look like a bike lane, but in person it’ll be a shoulder full of debris.
I would agree with you on on your points, but as a person that spent most of his life in California and now lived in other places, California is hands down the best place to live for cycling. Better than Portland, better than Minneapolis, better than New York. And the single biggest reason is the weather. In CA, you don't have to wake up and think if I can or can not go out today. That just never happened, I just woke up, put on my gear and off I went. No so in places that have seasons.
Cali is busy af the coast hwy is amazing to cycle, but soo busy and sketchy in many areas …to be fair there’s definitely some chill places like Davis, S.L.O, Arcata, Tahoe bike paths etc…the big city’s like Sac, SF suck but L.A area is the worst by far..imo
This video is a great example of why I can't find any issue with riding with headphones in. There are no "noise canceling" headphones that can cancel out the roar of a car approaching you from behind
@bonbonflippers4298 at speed, which is ~100% of the time in California, electric cars are far louder than similarly sized ic cars, because they're so much heavier. Unless you have an actively stupid car, the main source of car noise when a car is moving is the tire noise, and that's directly related to its weight. If they're moving, teslas are far louder than toyotas.
@tay-lore not from my area the speeds they go around here they are quiet. I can hear gas powered vehicles just fine. Electric cars on the other hand I don't hear them as well especially at slower speeds in routes I take.
@bonbonflippers4298 I've never had a problem hearing a tesla, but if driving speeds are that slow on your route, you really just don't need to worry about cars in general. That sounds really nice. Low car speeds are the best safety measure for bicyclists!
Gosh. I'll be bicycling through Yellowstone National Park the first week of July. After watching your video, I'll be more scared of oncoming vehicles than I will approaching wildlife.
You should of tried to go lower around Huntington beach/irvine. Its alot better and safer with wider shoulders. I don't even try to ride around LA closest area ive ridden was long beach.
Here in philly you gotta watch for cars coming out the side streets, and people walking out into the street. The trails are good tho only problem would ve joggers and people walking and they'll turn around out of nowhere and people walking in a group across the whole trail. But almost had a close call twice with this moped driving on the trail although the road is right next to it.
I just picked up a Specialized from Kinetic Cycles and would like to do some riding with you Zach. BTW it’s called South Sac Iraq for a reason. Ride Safe guy.
For riding around South Sac I would say avoid riding around the 99 by about 2 miles and don't ride East of the 99 almost ever cuz its mostly industry so lots of large trucks and even larger potholes.
Native Californian here: I think it’s OK. I think it depends on your route. I’ve gotten out of completely urban fixed gear riding into gravel cycling and country road riding. The city is always more dangerous. People are good drivers, but they’re so aggressive and distracted, not a great combination.
As someone who lives in Vallejo , I gotta say I would have to agree about it not being the best to ride around. Esp in the Bay Area / Sacramento. I mean it’s fine but it sucks also haha. Depends what city you’re in as well as what side of town you’re on too. It can be annoying. Hate dealing with Vallejo drivers they’re a pain. Definitely always in car brain that is a great way to explain it haha 🤣 😅. People In Vallejo drive 45-100 on the 25 mph places in Vallejo. It’s insanely annoying just because no other reason not even getting chased by a cop and they never stop at the stop signs.
We have the best roads in the world... for cars. We could learn a lot about developing our cycling infrastructure from other countries such as the Netherlands who've managed to seamlessly integrate cycling into their society.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1997. I was in France before. I have completely given up road biking after a couple of years of trying (and surviving it obviously). Bad roads, bad drivers, agressive drivers, and too many of them. Just do mountain bike, guys, road bikes have lost the battle, here. Public transportation has lost as well, and with EVs coming and potentially very very low cost per mile for driving, traffic will only become worse.
@@arthurkatahdin9502 Full disclosure: I don't actually ride a fixie, I have a road bike and a mountain bike. Zach Gallardo makes such good videos, that even a non-fixie like me enjoys them very much. Cheers!
It boils down to our having too many people and too many cars. Some fret about outbound migration and a population decline, but I frankly would not mind seeing more people leave California. It still won’t address the hooligans that like to bully cyclists, but they seem to exist everywhere in this uncivil American society of ours. I live in a beach community in Orange County, and the roads are mostly flat and the lanes are quite wide. However, I still avoid riding on PCH and the surrounding streets as there are way too many cars and frequent hit-and-run accidents involving cyclists. Fortunately, we have beach bike paths and river trails that are safe from cars. To avoid day-time beach crowds during the summer, I like to ride at night when it is peaceful with perfect temperatures for cycling. The rest of the year is heavenly for both cycling and hiking, especially during the weekdays.
Bay Area drivers are built different, I fear for bikers, most bikers that are here express anger and it's well warranted to. On the other hand, some bikers take it a little far and "pretend" to be like cars in dangerous road situations.
I wear a GoPro on my helmet. It helps drivers see they could be recorded if they try anything dangerous. Shame I have to do this to get some sense of safety.
Please please come to singapore 🇸🇬 we have quite a fixed community too , road and side walk are smooth too. If u consider coming to singapore do let me know so i could bring u places to ride
vomit, feces, glass...lots of glass and the occasional nail/screw. its pretty much a flat-out check on the daily for bikes in california. I don't even have problems with cars, its the homeless that purposely get in the way for some odd reason.
I’m an sf cyclist and I do DoorDash and shit. In the past 2 months I’ve gotten hit by two cars, both of them were texting. Luckily I didn’t break anything but the pure lack of regard for human life is gross. Please don’t drive like a Californian.
cali is fucked yeag, i dont bike but i motorcycle around, and i always just feel so bad whenever i see a cyclist on the side of whatever 1 lane no shoulder road i happen to be on
So? It's still a well used term outside of that sub. As a car driver, I would only want to drive a car on weekends, and leave it in the garage for the regular commute. At least I am 70% there. folks who drive their suburban or jeep just to get to their keyboard typing white collar work should be called out.
It’s pretty bike friendly. Some basic route planning is all it takes. Sure, it’s a car centric place, but there’s a lot of great bike infrastructure in the cities and it’s getting marginally better all the time. Also, why do a video on a busy street at a busy time of day? Who’s riding there at that time? But yep, CA is a big place. Big places have varied circumstances. Inject yourself into the circumstances that make sense for you, and it’s not hard to go from a 6/10 to an 8 or 9/10. Get out and ride!
I've lived in Sacramento for almost a decade now, and I just recently found out about the American River bike trail having just recently gotten into biking. I must say it's so peaceful I don't ride anywhere else anymore lol i just avoid the route going to downtown sac though. You already know you're approaching that area 😂
Why do I feel tense now, LOL. When cyclists freak out about riding conditions I tend to blame the cyclist, because, what do you expect, red carpet and velvet ropes? Ride good routes, get good skills, read traffic, be polite, be visible, and you'll be ok. Riding In Cali can be heavenly if you can go with the flow.
Sounds like Arizona, too. Pretty much the whole US is comprised of car brained citizens. It’s really by design for the auto industry. Every street corner are gas stations, fast foods, oil changes, tire shops, accident law firms. More people need to be on bikes or using their legs. It’s honestly sad and makes me want to move overseas.
Yup. I live in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. A lot of the towns have been around since the VERY early days of this country and they were made for trains. In fact the street I live on used to have an electric tram line that went straight through the town and across to 5 different cities/towns. It’s truly a different era we’re in now, most of that stuff was torn down.
People in cars are lazy, just to go to a supermarket not to far away, it's rediculous. Then you got a whole lot of foreigners driving cabs sitting and driving around and they keep hiring more of them.
An acquaintance from college was doing a cross country (north/south) bike tour and got hit at 60+ mph in California and was hospitalized. Observers said the guy swerved into the shoulder.
In the last four decades I've had far to many of my cycling club friends killed by cars in California between drunk drivers, texters and road rage.
I just got hit on my bike when the car ran the yellow light claiming he didn't see me.. this is my second time getting hit by a car. It's a calling for me to switch careers into urban planning. If I can't bike in peace in US, I'll hell make sure my city is a bike heaven for safety.
@@jamesb9303 Many decades ago my wife was an Urban Planner for Santa Monica. She hated the job because of the politics and eventually left even though she was living close to the beach at that time.
I'm born and raised in Southern California, most of it 4 blocks from the ocean. I was expecting some sort of anti-California rant from you but no.....what you say is 100 % true of current conditions. What were safe roads when we were in our 20's are not anymore. Bike paths are still great, except those with large homeless encampments. And they are many.
Gravel riding is what most roadies have turned to after having a Mercedes or BMW go flying past you at 75 mph 3 feet away.
And sure gravel routes can have rattlers sunning themselves in the morning for you to dodge, not to mention the other "food chain issues" we have to occasionally deal with. But those we can live with. Good video.
I live near the Rose Bowl, but drive out to Marina del Rey to jump on to the 22-mile long Marvin Braude bike trail along beach between Will Rogers State Beach (Pacific Palisades) at the north to Torrance Beach (near Palos Verdes) at the south. The 44-mile out-and-back is a very sweet ride, with only a very short distance on Washington Blvd. where the bike path is interrupted. The 5k Rose Bowl/Brookside Golf Course loop is also very popular for walking, jogging, rollerblading, and cycling training rides. A lot of large group weekend rides on wide streets around my area. And, just to the north are a lot of great mountain biking trails in the San Gabriel Mountains, some ascending up to Mt. Wilson, and to the west are the famous Santa Monica Mountains for some great mountain biking (near UCLA).
I live in Irvine, CA for grad school. I encounter some of both the best and worst possible bike riding scenarios within a couple of hundred yards from each other. I can go straight from a beautiful bike path that goes through a bird sanctuary along the Newport Beach Back Bay and then end up on Jamboree Road, a massive stroad that has like a 60 mph speed limit and a narrow bike lane. As for the 1...just like you said, there's areas with great views and nice riding, like in Crystal Cove where you're on a separate bike path, and then there are terrifying sections with no bike lane and a 55 mph speed limit.
I remember planning a bike ride from Crystal Cove to Irvine train station as a day trip and was blown away by Irvine's bike paths. I didn't really look at the routes beyond "yeah it's separated bike paths most of the ride". So much better than most of San Diego County. I can't even bike in my part of the county since it's just painted bike lanes on stroads. But that Jamboree "Rd" looks like a literal highway. San Diego has a similar problem of painting bike lanes onto local expressways, like Fairmount, that are just asking for bikers to be hit.
I almost got in a fight with a few drivers…. They honk and scream for no reason… and they will try to run you over if you press the wrong button… and majority of the cycle roads have homeless, crazy folk that sometimes will grab a stick, a tool and threaten you … even in the nicest cities like vista playa del Rey …
Sounds like a bad zombie movie...
When are all these people coming after you you should ask yourself if you are doing something wrong. You might be over-reacting and making yourself look weak and inviting aggression.
I lived in Chicago until I was 27 and cycled year round. Commuting, recreation, general transportation. All of it. I moved to LA and basically stopped riding after about 6 months. Drivers just seemed to really believe they owned the road and didn’t care if you died. I left 4 years ago just before I turned 40 and moved to Virginia and started riding again. I miss California for a million reasons but LA is a terrible place to ride on roads.
The glass situation on sides of roads, bike lane or not, even sidewalks in CA is VERY REAL. (San Jose)
I quit commuting to work due to flats. It was infuriating.
Need to get a wheel setup to negate the glass
Someone in a car threw a steel pipe at me in Morgan Hill when i was in high school. Trails are pretty safe, roads not so much.
I cycle daily in Honolulu. It's pretty dismal to be quite frank. The weather is beautiful and a lot of nature to see within city limits, and the city is pretty small so getting around is easy. But sadly most of the city is a car infested dump. A lot of impatient, distracted drivers. Dedicated biking infrastructure is pretty crap here too. Dirty and unkempt but usable enough I suppose. We could have a great cycling city considering the weather and the short distances, but people here are too stuck on their cars here. A pickup truck is practically a status symbol in Hawaii. However, the city has a promising looking plan to improve cycling and pedestrian infrastructure and improve transit. I can only be hopeful for the future.
I went to Hawaii for vacation thinking it would be a cycling paradise. Honolulu might possibly be the worst city I have ever been to to ride a bike.
It's always been so odd. How do you live on an island with great weather and some of the most beautiful views on the planet, and yet you want to speed through it, isolated in a metal box with wheels? Genuinely hope y'all stay safe and get some meaningful cycling infrastructure and public transit progress in the future
@@mysticsamus The city is actually building some protected dedicated bike lanes on the street I live on as I type this, so that's nice at least. But yes, you're right. Unfortunately most people here are more concerned with being "too sweaty" and they think 4 miles is an unimaginable distance to bike because most people have never been to the mainland. A lot of the people here don't know how good we have it and would rather ride around in metal boxes.
I traveled up and down California on a rv trailer and cycled all over. I also cycled other states and countries. California has the best topography in all the states. You just need to get out to the rural areas and smaller towns. I love going to Graegle, Morro Bay, Clovis and Napa for some great road cycling. Other states don’t compare and I wouldn’t live anywhere else as a cycling enthusiast.
I am pretty sure you described almost all US drivers, at least all of the places I have been. A car brain habit I see a lot is the need to immediately pass a bicycle no matter the road conditions or hazards.
As someone who has lived and lives in the Bay Area, near Apple Headquarters, and been commuting by bicycle to work for at least forty years, I totally agree with Zach. I love riding here anyway. It's become worse overall. Alcohol and other substance abuse is one thing. Trash, garbage, and constant construction strew things all over the place. Dead animals on the roads. Smart phones and other distractions seem irresistible to the vast majority of drivers. Road conditions are incredibly inconsistent. Bike lanes and other infrastructures supposedly intended to aid cyclists are often disappointments, cost incredibly large sums of tax money, aren't maintained effectively, and usually disappear, especially at city borders. Urban intersections tend to be huge battle grounds for space where bike lanes basically vanish and suggest to drivers that cyclists do not belong there, aren't there, and are invisible. Whether an intersection senses a bike waiting for a green light or not is a coin toss. If a cyclist tides on the sidewalk to press the pedestrian call button, then they are out of bounds, ans and if they attempt to move across the intersection when the walk sign is lit, they are in the highest danger of being hit by a car. Garbage days are every day and garbage cans are in the bicycle lanes. Car drivers generally see speed limits as the lowest speed allowable, and take the posted limit as about half of the speed they intend to drive. Overlaying all of that are drivers sociopathological behaviors. The endless competition driving behavior is predominant. The various behaviors of cyclists are inconsistent to the point that cyclists are impediment law breaking squirrels and illiterate brain damaged road furniture. There was once less garbage. Today the road sides are apparently good places to be despised.
Cupertino is the only place I’d bike. The biking infrastructure around Apple is pretty neat and it’s relatively clean. Cupertino drivers are absolutely Braindead though.
Cycling in any other part of the bay is beyond rough though.
When I lived in Vegas I experienced the same exact thing. It was nerve racking.
Moved back home to Florida and I’m more in the country and although the biking infrastructure is non existent, the drivers are WAAAYYY more respectful and haven’t had any issues after almost a year.
I can’t speak for Orlando or Miami I’m assuming it’s the same like Vegas out there lol.
Only time I've been hit by a car while biking was in California. Not to mention the aggressive swerving at me or throwing trash at me just for having the audacity of trying to live without a car.
Agreed. Highway one scares the crap out of me lol. Gotta go at a weird time to feel safe.
I'm in Ventura. Highway 1 from here down through Malibu is sketchy as hell. Not worth it.
If you live in the central valley of California, I recommend getting a gravel bike or at least a bike with decent tire clearance you can take off road. I live on the edge of my central valley city, and I ride my gravel bike out to the agriculture fields and ride on the nice dirt and gravel roads that go along the outside or through the ag fields. The workers that see me dont mind, they even wave at me as I ride by them. I dont have to worry about crazy California drivers this way, and I can ride for miles. I can even ride to other nearby towns just by riding through the ag fields.
biking in US and Canada suck so much. it's dangerous, awkwardly undefined, toooo many dangerous drivers and laws which enables driver to bully every one outside a car. I don't know how we can fix it. it's been many years I don;t even think it's going to be fixed
Was this prompted by Phil Gaimons video? Lol
*Edit* Mitch Boyers video ft Phil Gaimon
Zach, the way you went off in this video makes me feel like you're turning into the scotty Kilmer of the fixing world 😂
I switched from biking to running once ebikes and scooters really got into the mix. There’s just too many things to consider traffic-wise to actually relax. Careful out there!
San Francisco and Marine County are great for cycling. Amazing views, amazing bike lanes, crazy hills
come to the netherlands
One neighborhood can be at European standards over a few blocks (usually around schools), and the next will be a death zone. It is very inconsistent, thus you can’t really go anywhere safely.
Try Arizona. Cactus thornes & heat that will literally kill you. Cali is a dreamland compared to here in Phoenix.
There’s another thing, I’m staying at my sister’s place near Malibu and just to ride the 1st mile it’s a 200 ft drop out of the house & 200 ft climb back. I lived in Lancaster county PA before which is one of the best riding areas.
still a lot better than cyling here in our country Philppines. Roads are just not cylist friendly plus you add humid temperature and insane traffic.
You'll be surprised. I brought my fixe there one time and rode with the chaotic traffic. Motorcycle would be on the bike lane but they still ride slow. I have obnoxious headlight and tail light and speed with traffic 27mph on straight aways. People there would give way to me on roads than drivers here in US
I did a 2 week hobo tour on highway 1 about 7 years ago. It was awesome. I definitely did not feel safe while riding though. I was doing one of those winding roads up a mountain with one lane each way, riding along the shoulder, and a huge truck with a double wide mobile home came speeding towards me and i couldnt move anywhere because if i moved left, the trailer would have hit me, and if i moved right, a large chunk of road was missing, so i would have crashed. So i took my chances with the chunk of missing road, my bike flipped forward, and thank god i was wearing clipless shoes, because my leg and bike got caught on the railing and stopped me from flying into the pacific. I walked for a few miles after that lol
I’m from Sydney, Australia and this video is painfully relatable. People are nice here… until they get behind the wheel.
Insane lol. I lived on the east coast for 35 years. Now I live in SF. I can literally walk out my door and hop on a bike lane and be on the Marin headlands in 15 mins. This even beats Girona.
But I’ll admit. Most places here are pretty car heavy. So everyone be safe.
Makes me sad man, got pepper sprayed yesterday for committing the crime off crossing the street I wish it would be better but sometimes I lose hope
Speaking of Sac in particular, I find that Google’s bike layer vastly overstates the bike friendliness of most streets. On the map it’ll look like a bike lane, but in person it’ll be a shoulder full of debris.
I would agree with you on on your points, but as a person that spent most of his life in California and now lived in other places, California is hands down the best place to live for cycling. Better than Portland, better than Minneapolis, better than New York. And the single biggest reason is the weather. In CA, you don't have to wake up and think if I can or can not go out today. That just never happened, I just woke up, put on my gear and off I went. No so in places that have seasons.
Always expect cars to do the dumb thing and you'll never be disappointed.
I love the rant 😂 I'm about 20 min from sacramento , and all of this is soo true 😅
3:58 couldn’t agree more I almost died to a driver in Cali back in 2015
Cali is busy af the coast hwy is amazing to cycle, but soo busy and sketchy in many areas …to be fair there’s definitely some chill places like Davis, S.L.O, Arcata, Tahoe bike paths etc…the big city’s like Sac, SF suck but L.A area is the worst by far..imo
Great video. Totally on point about here.
California is a garden of eden
A paradise to live in or see
But believe it or not, you won't find it so hot
When you're riding your fixie.
This video is a great example of why I can't find any issue with riding with headphones in. There are no "noise canceling" headphones that can cancel out the roar of a car approaching you from behind
Telsa would like a word. Here in California telsa is as common as toyota and ford/chevy
@bonbonflippers4298 at speed, which is ~100% of the time in California, electric cars are far louder than similarly sized ic cars, because they're so much heavier. Unless you have an actively stupid car, the main source of car noise when a car is moving is the tire noise, and that's directly related to its weight. If they're moving, teslas are far louder than toyotas.
@tay-lore not from my area the speeds they go around here they are quiet. I can hear gas powered vehicles just fine. Electric cars on the other hand I don't hear them as well especially at slower speeds in routes I take.
@bonbonflippers4298 I've never had a problem hearing a tesla, but if driving speeds are that slow on your route, you really just don't need to worry about cars in general. That sounds really nice. Low car speeds are the best safety measure for bicyclists!
Clearly you haven’t tried Bose Quiet Comforts lol
Gosh. I'll be bicycling through Yellowstone National Park the first week of July. After watching your video, I'll be more scared of oncoming vehicles than I will approaching wildlife.
unless you are cycling in mountains in WA, cars or road conditions are more likely to get you than wild creatures.
You should of tried to go lower around Huntington beach/irvine. Its alot better and safer with wider shoulders. I don't even try to ride around LA closest area ive ridden was long beach.
Here in philly you gotta watch for cars coming out the side streets, and people walking out into the street. The trails are good tho only problem would ve joggers and people walking and they'll turn around out of nowhere and people walking in a group across the whole trail. But almost had a close call twice with this moped driving on the trail although the road is right next to it.
I just picked up a Specialized from Kinetic Cycles and would like to do some riding with you Zach. BTW it’s called South Sac Iraq for a reason. Ride Safe guy.
Great vid Zach! Did you really need to butcher the outro with that ad for a mediocre bike?
For riding around South Sac I would say avoid riding around the 99 by about 2 miles and don't ride East of the 99 almost ever cuz its mostly industry so lots of large trucks and even larger potholes.
Native Californian here: I think it’s OK. I think it depends on your route. I’ve gotten out of completely urban fixed gear riding into gravel cycling and country road riding. The city is always more dangerous. People are good drivers, but they’re so aggressive and distracted, not a great combination.
As someone who lives in Vallejo , I gotta say I would have to agree about it not being the best to ride around. Esp in the Bay Area / Sacramento. I mean it’s fine but it sucks also haha.
Depends what city you’re in as well as what side of town you’re on too. It can be annoying. Hate dealing with Vallejo drivers they’re a pain. Definitely always in car brain that is a great way to explain it haha 🤣 😅.
People In Vallejo drive 45-100 on the 25 mph places in Vallejo. It’s insanely annoying just because no other reason not even getting chased by a cop and they never stop at the stop signs.
We have the best roads in the world... for cars. We could learn a lot about developing our cycling infrastructure from other countries such as the Netherlands who've managed to seamlessly integrate cycling into their society.
I live in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1997.
I was in France before.
I have completely given up road biking after a couple of years of trying (and surviving it obviously).
Bad roads, bad drivers, agressive drivers, and too many of them.
Just do mountain bike, guys, road bikes have lost the battle, here.
Public transportation has lost as well, and with EVs coming and potentially very very low cost per mile for driving, traffic will only become worse.
Your best video so far!
I now feel better about the sketchy cycling conditions here in Eugene, Oregon.
As a fellow fixie foo in Eugene, I can agree. Also I’d love to try and meet more people into fixed gear here if you’d want to ride or know a group.
@@arthurkatahdin9502 Full disclosure: I don't actually ride a fixie, I have a road bike and a mountain bike. Zach Gallardo makes such good videos, that even a non-fixie like me enjoys them very much. Cheers!
The Fixie Guy!!!!
😂we don't even have a bicycle lane in my country. 100% chance a massive truck will pass by and i hate riding next to trucks
True words. I have biked in California, Finland, Sweden, Denmark. California is the worst, by a clear margin. Russia is probably similar.
It boils down to our having too many people and too many cars. Some fret about outbound migration and a population decline, but I frankly would not mind seeing more people leave California. It still won’t address the hooligans that like to bully cyclists, but they seem to exist everywhere in this uncivil American society of ours.
I live in a beach community in Orange County, and the roads are mostly flat and the lanes are quite wide. However, I still avoid riding on PCH and the surrounding streets as there are way too many cars and frequent hit-and-run accidents involving cyclists. Fortunately, we have beach bike paths and river trails that are safe from cars. To avoid day-time beach crowds during the summer, I like to ride at night when it is peaceful with perfect temperatures for cycling. The rest of the year is heavenly for both cycling and hiking, especially during the weekdays.
Bay Area drivers are built different, I fear for bikers, most bikers that are here express anger and it's well warranted to.
On the other hand, some bikers take it a little far and "pretend" to be like cars in dangerous road situations.
As a fellow Sacramentan biker, people don't give a f if you're on a bike.
I wear a GoPro on my helmet. It helps drivers see they could be recorded if they try anything dangerous. Shame I have to do this to get some sense of safety.
Thank you for demystifying. The vast majority of the world is still a car hellhole and really dependent on it.
Please please come to singapore 🇸🇬 we have quite a fixed community too , road and side walk are smooth too. If u consider coming to singapore do let me know so i could bring u places to ride
vomit, feces, glass...lots of glass and the occasional nail/screw. its pretty much a flat-out check on the daily for bikes in california. I don't even have problems with cars, its the homeless that purposely get in the way for some odd reason.
Damn... If that's a 6/10 I wonder what would be your rating in São Paulo ahahha
Sounds idyllic. California here we come.
Sacramento streets sound like they suck but at least the roads there are flat and nice for fixed gears
Guess I'll stay here in New Jersey 😂
Middleclass? Im workingclass
Should have been titled AD…for California
I’m an sf cyclist and I do DoorDash and shit. In the past 2 months I’ve gotten hit by two cars, both of them were texting. Luckily I didn’t break anything but the pure lack of regard for human life is gross. Please don’t drive like a Californian.
Come to WNC, it's the best
Well, that's not surprising but sad to hear.
HWY 1: take a motorcycle or convertible
Sorry about you having to live in Sacramento...
cali is fucked yeag, i dont bike but i motorcycle around, and i always just feel so bad whenever i see a cyclist on the side of whatever 1 lane no shoulder road i happen to be on
“Carbrain?” Bro is a r/fuckcars user
So? It's still a well used term outside of that sub. As a car driver, I would only want to drive a car on weekends, and leave it in the garage for the regular commute. At least I am 70% there. folks who drive their suburban or jeep just to get to their keyboard typing white collar work should be called out.
It’s pretty bike friendly. Some basic route planning is all it takes. Sure, it’s a car centric place, but there’s a lot of great bike infrastructure in the cities and it’s getting marginally better all the time. Also, why do a video on a busy street at a busy time of day? Who’s riding there at that time? But yep, CA is a big place. Big places have varied circumstances. Inject yourself into the circumstances that make sense for you, and it’s not hard to go from a 6/10 to an 8 or 9/10. Get out and ride!
He keeps on yelling at me :(
I've lived in Sacramento for almost a decade now, and I just recently found out about the American River bike trail having just recently gotten into biking. I must say it's so peaceful I don't ride anywhere else anymore lol i just avoid the route going to downtown sac though. You already know you're approaching that area 😂
California native Sacramento born and raised the road suck here but the American River bike trail is super nice
I was about to say! Haven't ridden anywhere else, it never gets old when you get to ride in peace!
@@lonelydriver1421 the trails are so peaceful and scenic too
Why do I feel tense now, LOL. When cyclists freak out about riding conditions I tend to blame the cyclist, because, what do you expect, red carpet and velvet ropes? Ride good routes, get good skills, read traffic, be polite, be visible, and you'll be ok. Riding In Cali can be heavenly if you can go with the flow.
Road Traffic going 40-65 mph. when at a biker Constant speed riding a bike in California at 15-35 mph on the road come on
@@kpusa1981uk So? That's reality and complaining doesn't change it.
Reality what the hell is that?
Zombie land... Big american boulevards...
I really wish Zach would call it "Cycling" vs "Biking" and "Cyclist" vs "Biker"
Didn’t he mention that he rides in leathers with colors on the back? “live to ride, ride to live”. 😅
😂
First comment!!!!
I think the only reason i had positive memories in Cali is for my family there. Otherwise Cali to me is starting to look like a third world country
love from singapore :>
LA is the slum pool, SF has fallen so low as well.
First comment!!!!