Where I ride, the roads are honestly in bad shape. There are potholes everywhere, random speed breakers, and uneven patches that make it unsafe at times. It feels like you’re always dodging something instead of enjoying the ride.
But when I look at cycling videos and photos from other countries, the roads look so smooth and well-paved. Some places even have proper cycling lanes and clear markings. It makes me wonder how different the experience is for riders in other parts of the world.
So I’m curious. What’s it like where you ride? Are your roads really that good? Do you have separate cycling paths or lanes? Or do you face the same problems with potholes and bad roads?
Share your experience and where you’re from. I’d love to know how cyclists in other countries deal with their roads.
by ZaldrizarVelo
10 Comments
Roads are very good. No real cycling lane but they are quiet roads with a decent shoulder which I even prefer.
There are also 20ish miles of dedicated paths immediately accessible. There are maybe 2 hazards on the whole thing.
New York (state not city)
I have ridden bikes in many countries now, and the smoothest roads for cycling imo have been in Germany, Denmark (Copenhagen), and the U.S. But this mainly applies to very populated areas, main roads, and nicer sides of town. Every place has shitty roads, just have to find a good area to ride. I think the nicest overall has been places that are friendly to cyclists, regardless of road quality….Copenhagen, Spain, parts of Asia, France, all have infrastructure and culture that respects cycling. It’s so nice…
And honestly I was surprised how much I appreciated U.S. roads after I rode around in other areas. I want to be clear, I’m talking about the road quality, not the attitude towards cyclists…as far as I’m concerned the U.S. is the most unsafe when it comes to other vehicles not giving a fuck about you.
Do keep in mind that the videos you see are curated. People generally won’t film the bad parts.
As for where I ride, namely Central Europe, the roads are generally good. The bike paths in the city are poorly planned where they are specifically designed, and you end up either mixing with traffic or with hordes of tourists, but there are tonnes of alternate routes that are pretty good.
Outside of the city the bike paths are excellent and non existent. Some villages might create a bike path but it’s more trouble than it’s worth, as you ride for a kilometre on perfect surfaces and then once you leave the village you’re back on the road so you keep zig-zagging. We just stay on the roads because when you ride 100+km it’s not feasible to keep doing that.
But the road network is dense and the secondary or tertiary roads are in fairly good shape and with low traffic.
Small town, Eastern Ontario, Canada here. We have hundreds of kilometers of snowmobile and ATV trails that are mostly packed gravel with some asphalt sections when going through towns/villages. (Former railroad track) Very fortunate that we can ride for hours and only cross minimal busy roads with vehicles. Most of our country side roads are quiet with shoilders, but the winter tears them up so we have to be alert for potholes and craters.
Jacksonville FL. Roads are good, but cars are everywhere
I’m in suburban DC (Virginia) — lots of shitty cheap asphalt roads that are pitted and potholed with almost no real usable shoulders and shitty / non-existent bike lanes and bad — like, catastrophically bad, drivers.
I live on the border of three UK counties and the road conditions in two of them are ok (bearing in mind heavy agricultural use in the rural sectors) and in the third it’s absolutely shocking. Sometimes you wonder if you left the road.
I’m a UK cyclist and the roads are generally OK.
I’m intrigued though, where was that photo taken?
Ottawa/Gatineau (Canada). The roads are mostly cracks and pot holes and sunk or elevated sewer grates. The MUP segments are always in better conditions, but they are too often not well inter-connected or make a long detour from where you would like to go. And they often are ‘like a sidewalk’ so where the road cross it there is always a bump because of the curb in the ‘entrance’ of the segment.
You need at least a gravel bike and maybe a XC
Looks like Grassroots Gravel but with different vegetation. Looks fast