Traffic lights act more like loose guidelines for the flow of traffic, and with busy crowded streets, public buses are the most feared among bicyclists for their accelerator-happy feet.
A decade ago the city's main bicyclists were tattooed men with cantaloupe calves; thanks to the mayor's many new bike lanes, normal people cycle, too.
Bicyclists are expected to dismount, and trucks and cars to slow down, out of respect.
The stakes are high and getting higher: the WHO reckons road-crash casualties will increase by 67% from now until 2020, including a jump of 83% in low- and middle-income countries as more cars and lorries vie for road space with pedestrians and bicyclists.
With no conventional streets, there are only narrow paths for bicyclists and walkers.
The people of Portland, for instance, have been entertained over the past few days by a series of altercations between bicyclists and motorists.
A downtown Houston employee must travel an average 21 miles to get to work; bicyclists in America typically commute just 3.5 miles.
Cyclists jump red lights too, so often that when I stop at red lights (in my one-man campaign to mend relations between Londoners and bicyclists) I get shouted at by other cyclists who cannot get past me to break the law.To end with a pet peeve, I think there is a correlation between zebra-abuse and the size of a car.
The Capital Pathway, a network of more than 130 miles (220 km) of recreational paths throughout the metropolitan area, serves bicyclists and pedestrians.
Bicyclists can often benefit from a custom fit of their bike; often, lowering the seat slightly is sufficient to avoid critical impingement of the ITB against the femur, which occurs at about 30° of knee flexion.
Gateshead is the home of the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art (opened 2002) and the site of the Gateshead Millennium Bridge (2001), a tilting bridge for pedestrians and bicyclists in the shape of two intersecting parabolas.
