What are your experiences cycling abroad?

Crock Rock

I'm an occasional cyclist here, I've been clipped with wing a mirror once and have had abuse shouted at me once here, mostly pleasant in Ireland apart from poor infrastructure. I have had people ask me why I wasn't wearing a hi-vis when I mention about being clipped.

I've only cycled in:

Arnhem to Nijmegen in The Netherlands: Excellent all round. Very little to complain about.

Jersey (the Channel Island, not NJ): Much the same as Ireland but traffic wasn't as hasty or aggressive.

Naples, Italy: Enough said, never again.

Florida: Occasional careless driving but nothing too bad.

Cyclical Apocalypses

Not much experience cycling abroad. Unfortunately, however, a few years ago I went cycling near and around Bordeaux and slightly further afield in Arcachon I found the experience great French drivers seem to be more calm and considerate than us Irish and the roads were fabulous, nice and smooth and didn't find them frightening, especially as someone fairly new to the sport.

Bot1

Cyclical Apocalypses wrote: »

Not much experience cycling abroad. Unfortunately, however, a few years ago I went cycling near and around Bordeaux and slightly further afield in Arcachon I found the experience great French drivers seem to be more calm and considerate than us Irish and the roads were fabulous, nice and smooth and didn't find them frightening, especially as someone fairly new to the sport.

Second that. I think they are much more respectful and mindful of cyclists in France.

Probably because they love cycling so much and so many of them do it.

Infrastructure is better also.

Crock Rock

Is it a chicken and egg situation then?

Sh1tty infrastructure because no one cycles and no one cycles because of the sh1tty infrastructure.

caff

Bot1 wrote: »

Second that. I think they are much more respectful and mindful of cyclists in France.

Probably because they love cycling so much and so many of them do it.

Infrastructure is better also.

Depends where in France, some nutters around Antibes

ednwireland

did a few cols in the jura when i was fitter a few years ago had no problems at all great road surfaces for the most part

PringleDemon

caff wrote: »

Depends where in France, some nutters around Antibes

Oui , the south coast has a lot of migrant residents . Their attitudes to cyclist are not the same as the rest of France .

greenspurs

Did a bit around Salou in Spain.
An amazing experience really, but it did really show how bad the majority of Irish motorists are in comparison.

Lovely smooth roads, beautiful scenery, patient drivers that don't 'squeeze past' ….

I loved it !

De Bhál

I've done some cycling in Italy. No issues really, found it no worse or better than here.

Driving on the other hand is an eye opening experience. I found Italians to be overly aggressive with constant tailgating, speeding and taking crazy chances.

Driving in Ireland is a lot more pleasant.

Weepsie

England: Yorkshire to be precise. Not long after TdF started there and cycling is being pushed. 100 mostly fine km, but I did end up on the A59 which was incredibly busy and a bit nerve shredding at times as there's not much of a hradshoulder. It's what I imagine the N11 would be like without a shoulder. Scenerey was good though.


Spain: Girona. No complaints whatsoever. Full of cyclists and cycling brings a lot of business there. Drivers are very corteous.

Portugal: Cascais. Again as above. Mostly on a quiet weekend mind and I went out very early the day I went to Sintra so was never going to be troubled.

Edit: Scotland too. But mostly offroad, but last 10 kms were on a main road. December, getting dark, and drivers were great. Again was in an area in which cycling brings a bit of business locally so I think it matters.

Chips Lovell

Have cycled a lot in France and Spain (in France right now in fact). Very positive experiences, not too dissimilar from home. There's some drivers in France who'll toot at you if you don't use parallel cycle tracks, but that's about it. Spain, you'll get the odd driver who gives you a close pass.

The driving in Italy is somewhat hair raising as someone mentioned earlier, though they do seem to know how to act around cyclists and mainly confine their exploits to other motorists.

TooObvious

The Pyrennees - Didn't notice drivers being any friendlier or mindful then Ireland, have one particular memory of a car pulling out in front of us as we descended the Tourmalet on one of the faster sections - evasive action at about 90kmph was not very enjoyable.

Sierra Nevada - Liked cycling in the spanish mountains, don't recall any skirmishes and got a friendly beep for deadly descending.

Copenhagen - Cycling with the wife, she kept on stopping her bike in the middle of the bike lane to look at stuff - morto for me and her. The abuse she got from other cyclists! Fully deserved

AxleAddict

When I've cycled in Portugal and Spain my general experience has been that, mostly, motorists were much more accommodating of cyclists than back home. Indeed, I found oncoming traffic much more forgiving if meeting another vehicle out over the white line because they're passing a cyclist - back home the headlights would be flashing and horn beeping and a game of chicken would ensue as the oncoming vehicle feels their personal space has been violated and they must continue at their present speed until the very last second as if to 'teach people a lesson' - heaven forbid you'd have to slow down slightly for a second or two! That said, I did find that the Portuguese and Spanish drivers attempted passes much closer to corners than we might do back at home.

Have only ever been shouted at once in Spain, and that was by an English driver!

JMcL

Cycled in a lot of different parts in France over the years, and it's been an almost universally positive experience. Some regions are better than others - I found a lot of impatient drivers down around Bordeaux, and Bretons could be better, though not at all comparable to here.

I've spent a fair bit of time around Nantes and it's heaven. First class cycling infrastructure and drivers that will cede to cyclists and pedestrians. The one thing about French roads is that while the minor roads are heavenly, departmentals (Dxx) can be busy, narrow, and don't have a concept of a hard shoulder (30-40cm of grass followed by a deep ditch), but drivers are still usually patient - the occasional bell ends are frequently driving Parisian registered cars

Tombo2001

I cycled a fair bit in rural China in the late 1990s when there were very few cars on the road. It was a fantastic experience.

Tombo2001

I know its slightly off topic but I've encountered really loud, mouthy cyclists in Stockholm and in Amsterdam when I wandered onto cycle paths as a pedestrian.

Cyclists clearly have a very different position in society in these countries.

patmahe

This could be controversial one depending on what you consider to be abroad, but only a couple of weeks ago I had a go on a route in Northern Ireland, this one to be exact http://www.cycleni.com/77/lagan-and-lough-cycle-way/

You start out by the sea (the mouth of the lagan I guess) and from there you got through the city and down to Lisburn following the banks of the Lagan. This specific route is mainly off road but paved (roughly in spots) but the changing scenery makes it a lovely interesting leisurely route. I did the full thing there and back, you are largely kept away from traffic except for one or two short stretches in the city.

I'd highly recommend it and I'll be looking at more routes in the North in the future.

DaveyDave

Tombo2001 wrote: »

I know its slightly off topic but I've encountered really loud, mouthy cyclists in Stockholm and in Amsterdam when I wandered onto cycle paths as a pedestrian.

Cyclists clearly have a very different position in society in these countries.

I've read a lot of Dutch people talking about this. It's no different than aimlessly walking onto the road and standing in the middle of a lane with cars coming towards you.

I only passed through Amsterdam on the train so haven't seen them but is it difficult to differentiate between the bike lanes?

godtabh

I’ve cycled in the US, UK, Holland, Belgium, France and Hungary. Had no issues any where.

The US was interesting. Cycled around SAN Francisco a few times, Santa Cruz and Lake Tahoe. All very different but I was warned about Lake Tahoe and the bears! Wasnt expecting that

Officer Giggles

I've cycled in a group in Croatia (magnificent country), Slovenia, Italy (Venice and Sicily) and Greece without any issues. Found drivers to have alot more patience.

fat bloke

In short. IMO. Everywhere else is better than here.

nak

UK, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, South Africa, Argentina, US.

All have been ok for the most part. Cycling in Buenos Aires was really enjoyable - loads of cycle lanes. South Africa was interesting with baboons sat in the middle of the road and cobras on the trails. Makes a change from sheep.

Cetyl Palmitate

Netherlands - so good I would move there to avail of the facilities regardless of anything else.

San Diego - generally poor cycling specific infrastructure. Very much car centred. Hard to get from one part of the city to another without hitting some form of highway with lots of car lanes and high speeds. That said, inner city roads tend to be wide with lots of space and drivers are generally accomodating. City buses have a bike rack on the front bumper with space for 2/3 bikes. Always found that funny.

Mexico city - pretty good once you stick to smaller roads. Bikes not uncommon. vehicular traffic can often be so bad that travelling by bike is quite safe ironically enough! Generally low speed limits all over the city which are well enforced. No amber gamblers due to licence plate readers at almost every traffic light.

All of the above generally urban cycling as a mode of transport rather than long spins on a road bike.

Cetyl Palmitate

Cetyl Palmitate wrote: »

Netherlands - so good I would move there to avail of the facilities regardless of anything else.

San Diego - generally poor cycling specific infrastructure. Very much car centred. Hard to get from one part of the city to another without hitting some form of highway with lots of car lanes and high speeds. That said, inner city roads tend to be wide with lots of space and drivers are generally accomodating. City buses have a bike rack on the front bumper with space for 2/3 bikes. Always found that funny.

Mexico city - pretty good once you stick to smaller roads. Bikes not uncommon. vehicular traffic can often be so bad that travelling by bike is quite safe ironically enough! Generally low speed limits all over the city which are well enforced. No amber gamblers due to licence plate readers at almost every traffic light.

All of the above generally urban cycling as a mode of transport rather than long spins on a road bike.

On this topic I read a book called Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne (Talking Heads) soon after it came out and enjoyed it.

cdaly_

Northern Ireland. Bank holiday weekend, loads of cars and motorbikes out. Every single one waited until they could cross to the other side of the road to overtake me. Even when I was climbing at 5kph! Heaven!...

Carawaystick

cdaly_ wrote: »

Northern Ireland. Bank holiday weekend, loads of cars and motorbikes out. Every single one waited until they could cross to the other side of the road to overtake me. Even when I was climbing at 5kph! Heaven!...

Found this up north also, loads of patience, even though in general the roads are a yard wider than here.

Same craic in Scotland, drivers would wait at a passing place on single track roads, even though I'd have said there was loads of room to pass

outfox

The sheer insistence that the cyclist must be overtaken NOW, regardless of visibility, speed, road width, weather, oncoming traffic, etc. seems to be a phenomenon unique to the Irish driver. I've never seen it abroad. This rumour about the relaxed way of life in Ireland is crap, if the drivers are anything to go by.

Tombo2001

DaveyDave wrote: »

I've read a lot of Dutch people talking about this. It's no different than aimlessly walking onto the road and standing in the middle of a lane with cars coming towards you.

I only passed through Amsterdam on the train so haven't seen them but is it difficult to differentiate between the bike lanes?

Well....


It is different.

Maybe the principal of it is the same. But in practice there is a bit of a difference between walking on a cycle path and walking on a motorway.

triggermortis

I’d echo all the comments above. I’m in Spain now and had no issues with drivers - even when I messed up. In Ireland drivers are in a hurry to be stopped at the next red light 100 yards up the road, and anyone in their way shouldn’t be!
I’ve ridden in Belgium, Holland, UK and Switzerland and it was nicer all ways, with the Swiss roads being by far the best

AxleAddict

cdaly_ wrote: »

Northern Ireland. Bank holiday weekend, loads of cars and motorbikes out. Every single one waited until they could cross to the other side of the road to overtake me. Even when I was climbing at 5kph! Heaven!...

Carawaystick wrote: »

Found this up north also, loads of patience, even though in general the roads are a yard wider than here.

Obviously I'm glad to hear of your positive experiences (that's how it should be!), although, as someone who lives and cycles regularly in N.Ireland, my experience has largely been the reverse of yours. I've been on plenty of sportives or group rides on narrow(-ish) country lanes where we've met oncoming cars, vans and 4x4's (with and without trailers) who show little or no sign of slowing down as they approach and pass within inches (or specifically their wing-mirrors do) - even when there's a lead car ahead of us with lights flashing warning drivers of the oncoming hazard.

Conversely, my experience in the Republic of Ireland has been much better (not perfect, but much better) - on similar roads where oncoming traffic meets a group of cyclists they tend to slow down, and in many cases pull in to the side and stick the hazard lights on until we've passed. In fact, the difference was so stark to me that I pointed it out to people as we cycled along. It's been 25+ years since I passed my driving test in the UK and don't recall any specific training regarding meeting/passing cyclists on narrow country roads - was curious if there is specific training for this as part of passing your driving test in the Republic of Ireland?

who_ru

Cycled around lake Garda recently. narrow, busy roads with lots of traffic and cyclists, mainly on mountain bikes for some strange reason. Not much different to here other than there are many many more cyclists on the roads, unlike here where cyclists are still relatively few if you ask me. But no incidents to report. There are quite a few long, and dimly lit tunnels around the lake. Certainly wouldn’t fancy cycling through one of them.

One reason I think for aggressive behavior or lack of respect for cyclists in this country is the fact that the people responsible live sedate lives, do little or no exercise themselves, and do not appreciate the visual reminder of seeing others doing some physical activity. Hence shouting at cyclists. That’s my theory anyway.

But cyclists must also act responsibly, no matter what I always stop at red lights. 100% of the time. I find I get a little more slack from drivers when taking off from the lights as a result.