Cycling in Madrid; 2023/05/25

If you see something worth noting, leave a descriptive comment plus the time it occurs and I may add its timestamp to the index below. Note that due to the wide-angle field of view, speeds appear higher in the video than actual speeds. My typical cruising speed here on my two-speed Brompton folding bike is around 25 km/h or 15.5 mph. And you can tell from my comfortable speaking that I am making very little physical effort here. See Strava route at: https://www.strava.com/activities/9149206405 0:01:43 O Riding out of Plaza de Alamillo in La Latina section of West Madrid 0:02:26 O Right turn onto Calle de Bailén with curb-lane 30 bike lane 0:04:11 O Cycling past Royal Palace on the left 0:04:37 O Two-lane street, no 30 bike lane but speed limit still 30 km/h (because only one lane is going in each direction) 0:05:24 O Narrow, street with paving stones/tiles 0:06:34 O One-way, two-lane street with 30 bike lane 0:07:11 O One-lane, one-way street downhill with contra-flow bike lane going uphill on Calle Major 0:08:02 O Entering hybrid pedestrian space on La Puerta del Sol 0:12:42 - Two-way, segregated cycle track 0:13:33 - GHOST BIKE ON LEFT CORNER OF CYCLE TRACK; ONLY ONE I SAW IN MADRID! 0:13:42 + BiciMAD ebike share system station 0:15:44 O Four-lanes in my direction with Taxi/Bus, 30 Bike Lane, and two general travel lanes on Paseo del Prado 0:18:42 O Entering traffic circle (glorieta) at Atocha Train Station 0:19:30 + Motorway (freeway) on-ramp from center of the street; no diversion on outside lanes; avoids freeway features on a surface street 0:20:50 O Hanging out in left lane of one-way street looking for an opportunity to make a left turn; not using marked 30 bike lane 0:24:06 + Left-side bike lane on one-way street along parking; enough room to avoid the door zone 0:24:29 + Advanced stop line for cyclists provides some protection from left hook, as long as traffic signal is red 0:25:08 - Motor cycles using the left-side bike lane 0:26:12 + Advantage of side bike lane in congested traffic 0:26:40 + Side bike lane turns into 30 bike lane 0:32:02 O I discover another two-way, segregated cycle track 0:32:41 - Two-way cycle track ends on sidewalk with no connection to another bikeway 0:33:07 O Side bike lane with small buffer from door zone 0:35:17 - Potential drive-out conflicts across side bike lane 0:39:38 O Approaching Carlos V glorieta (roundabout) 0:41:09 + BACK ON 30 KM/H SHARROWED BIKE LANE ON EL PASEO DEL PRADO 0:45:19 + LANE SPLITTING BETWEEN 30KM/H BIKE LANE AND LANE TO THE LEFT 0:46:04 + PASSED BY TWO CYCLISTS DRIVING THEIR BIKES 0:47:07 - can't find 30km/h bike lane; maybe on right side of median? 0:48:02 + 30 KM/H BIKE LANE FOUND! 0:49:57 O Bus lane on LEFT side of roadway 0:50:23 + Advanced bike stop line allows me to get ahead of traffic before lane reduction 0:50:38 - passed on right by four-wheeled motorcycle 0:53:20 + Using advanced stop line to get ahead of red-signal traffic queue 0:58:09 - steel gratings in bike lane, may be slick when wet 0:58:56 ? Would Americans in U.S. cities like cycling like this, fully integrated into the traffic flow? 0:59:27 + I get in front of queued traffic despite lack of advanced stop line 0:59:41 + Chasing young woman on ebike with my two-speed acoustic Brompton 1:00:32 + YOUNG WOMAN ON EBIKE SHOWS HOW TO MERGE INTO RIGHT LANE TO PREPARE FOR RIGHT TURN 1:02:08 O Entering La Puerta de l'Alcalá glorieta (traffic circle) 1:02:52 + Conversation with cyclist in Spanish about bike system in Madrid and his ebike; says 30 km/h e-assist limit (should be 25 km/h) 1:04:43 + Incredible architecture! Wow, wow! 1:06:15 O I don't notice that for some reason there are TWO bus lanes here and 30 bike lane is on my left 1:07:27 - lots of congestion with buses; not easy to filter forward 1:09:26 O Entering la Puerta del Sol pedestrian space; sign says to walk bike when high density of pedestrians 1:09:50 La Puerta del Sol hybrid pedestrian/vehicle space 1:10:23 Dutch tourists (mostly women) preparing for bike tour of Madrid with Trixi Bicycle Tours 1:13:41 O Interview with Stuart food delivery man using e-scooter (in Spanish) 1:17:19 O Leaving la Puerta del Sol 1:18:20 + Contraflow bike lane 1:19:27 O NARRATION: Attitudes in Madrid to traffic laws, speed limits, cyclists and pedestrians 1:20:58 - my confusion concerning near- and far-side traffic signals--only near-side count in Europe 1:22:53 O Left turn into my Airbnb neighborhood, La Latina with cobblestones