More pleasant?:Seeing your city/area by bike.

[shootingstar]

For tourists and visitors, would cycling in your city /local area be more enjoyable on bike?

[Biciclista]

mostly because traffic here is so awful, it's more fun to see stuff here on a bike

[Koronin]

In the beach areas, I'd say most likely, but here there's not much to see and you're a good 45 minute drive to a beach. Closest beach is 30 minute drive, but only if you have base access.

[shootingstar]

I agree Mimi after cycling around in Seattle several times. :)

I'm not familiar with Jacksonville, NC, Koronin. I would need to consult a map!

It's hard enough for me to answer my own poll...but true, that one would get to more interesting corners of Calgary here. But I would not be rating it in the same way as Vancouver, BC, that's for sure.

[Crankin]

My town is actually beautiful enough to appreciate in a car, but you just see more on a bike! There's no special cycling infrastructure, except for the cafe that has a bike pump and a set of tools chained to the wall outside where cyclists often sit and eat; the tools are there for anyone to use.
It's suburban-rural cycling, so there are not huge traffic issues. There are lots of cyclists around here, both local, and the huge amount of people who ride to Concord as a destination from the city. Sometimes, I actually avoid our town center on the weekends because of this, as the potential for bike-pedestrian-car altercations rises significantly.

[skhill]

Around here (Lexington, KY) it's not so much about the bike infrastructure, although there is a good bike/etc path out to the Horse Park. It's more that if you're looking to look at the horse farms and countryside, there's no better way than by bike. There's plenty of quiet, low-traffic country roads winding their way past beautiful farms. Good stuff, as long as you can handle some hills!

[zoom-zoom]

We're lucky to live in a relatively rural area with roads that are equally friendly to cars and bikes. And, for the most part, drivers are courteous.

[shootingstar]

Any one else?

[jyyanks]

In NYC, you can see a lot more by bike if you're willing to brave the traffic/road and crazy cabbies!

[Koronin]

I agree Mimi after cycling around in Seattle several times. :)

I'm not familiar with Jacksonville, NC, Koronin. I would need to consult a map!

It's hard enough for me to answer my own poll...but true, that one would get to more interesting corners of Calgary here. But I would not be rating it in the same way as Vancouver, BC, that's for sure.

Basically Jacksonville, NC is a beach city with a large Marine Base that actually sits on the beach, hence the reason for no direct beach access. I'm still not fully familiar with the entire area. There are some bike "paths" however the majority of those are on somewhat busy two lane roads with speed limits at 45 mph. There are a couple of small parks down town.
On the other hand the beaches, both the Crystal Coast (Emerald Isle, Atlantic Beach, and several other beaches) and Topsail Island are definitely doable by bike. Well the Crystal Coast would depend on how far you want to ride as it's a pretty long island.

[Kiwi Stoker]

I have just moved to Melbourne, Australia and having a fantastic time riding the off-road shared bike/walking trails here.

They are mainly designed as routes for communters and connect parks, rivers, streams etc. People are pretty tolerant of cyclists, you are supposed to ring a bell and the walkers all move to one side. The paths are great to take your kids riding on and most are concreted.

Yes, I have been able to see the Yarra River in all it's glory, the rowing teams, kayakers and beautiful houses. One path suspends itself underneath a freeway over which is a whole river is hidden beneath.

I would say it's been great to see wildeness areas and parks- lots of free flying cocktoos, parrots and magpies and more. But as a way to see tourist places.... hmmm it really doesn't do that so well. It's either retrofitted into an area or designed from the start and most historic areas would be hard to link by off-road bike paths. Leaving on-road ones and tourists are not so keen on that.

However from the biking culture here (bike shop cafes, mobile wash your bike trailers outside cafes, everyone riding for fun and communting) the cycling setup here is part of the reason that Melbourne is the most livable city in the world.