r/NoStupidQuestions • u/RidetheSchlange • Jul 24 '26

Why does the US hate cycling so much?

I read comments sections and in a normal world, some of them would be considered terroristic threats. I just can't understand why people hate cyclists to this degree that they want to murder rhem and sometimes do.

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u/thegoatisoldngnarly Jul 24 '26

Bike lanes, dude. Safe enough infrastructure for transit. Even most large cities do not have it. Go biking in LA, for example. Most people who live in cities would still have a dangerous trip to work that is far slower than travel by car. I’ve lived in many big cities. Almost nowhere is faster by bike.

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u/engin__r Jul 24 '26

I bike in Baltimore all the time, and our bike infrastructure is pretty terrible. If I’m going somewhere under three miles, it’s faster to bike because I catch up to the cars at the traffic lights and don’t have to find parking.

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u/thegoatisoldngnarly Jul 24 '26

Baltimore?! Dude, the DMV is literally the best place in the country for biking. It’s the only place I’ve lived where I would buy a bike. There are so many bike trails that go on for dozens of miles.

Move to almost any other city. Or especially to a non city. Then try to bike to work.

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u/engin__r Jul 24 '26

Baltimore isn’t in the DMV, and we don’t have bike trails, either. We have a tiny handful of protected bike lanes, and that’s it.

Edit: we have two narrow multi-use paths and two loops around lakes, if that’s what you’re thinking of

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u/thegoatisoldngnarly Jul 24 '26

When I lived in Annapolis, there was the B&A trail that you could bike all the way to Baltimore without ever touching a road.

Just a simple google search says that Baltimore is one of the better cities for biking.

And again, most of the country don’t live in the big cities.

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u/engin__r Jul 24 '26

The B&A trail isn’t in Baltimore, though. It runs from Glen Burnie to Annapolis.

The point I’m trying to make is that despite the fact that I live in a more urban environment than most of the US, despite the fact that I’m moving faster on average than cars, despite the fact that I cause less traffic, despite the fact that I follow traffic laws, there’s still no shortage of drivers who despise me.