Riding the City
Traffic Signals Were Timed for Cars and Riders Pay the Difference
Signal timing assumes a vehicle that accelerates hard and detects reliably. A bicycle does neither, which is why a city can feel…
Riding the City
What makes a city rideable, and how riders cope with the ones that are not.
20 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
Riding the City
Bridges and Tunnels Are Where a City's Cycle Network Runs Out
A route can be excellent for five kilometres and then meet a river. What happens at the crossing decides whether the whole route is…
Riding the City
Learning the Back Streets Beats Learning the Main Roads
The road that gets you there is the one you already know from a car. The one you will enjoy is usually a street over, and nobody…
Riding the City
Wayfinding Is the Cheap Fix Most Cycle Networks Skip
A route nobody can follow is a route nobody uses. Signs cost a fraction of the infrastructure they connect and are usually the last…
Riding the City
Who Rides Tells You What a City Got Right
Count the riders and you learn little. Look at who they are, and you learn almost everything about how the conditions actually feel.
Riding the City
Roadworks Are Where a Cycle Route Quietly Disappears
A closed lane sends drivers around it and riders into traffic. Temporary arrangements are where most cycle networks fail, and…
Riding the City
Grid Cities and Grown Cities Ride Nothing Alike
One offers a hundred parallel routes and a junction every block. The other offers three ways across town and no way to guess which…
Riding the City
You Breathe Less Traffic on the Bike Than in the Car Behind It
A sealed cabin sitting in a queue collects what the vehicle in front is producing. Where you are in the traffic matters more than…