August 10th, 2010 by 
A couple of month ago we were asked what we would do to make London a better place?
I noticed that some users suggested to implement the Parisian rent-and-drop-a-bike “Velib’” concept in the capital. I quite liked this idea and voted for it.
Well… On second thoughts, there is no way I would cycle on the streets of London or Paris.
To be fair, I’m not a massive fan of cycling – I had a bad experience on an Arapaho (see video below) in the Pyrenees when I was younger. I almost kissed my face goodbye on the rocks (and spent the rest of the summer hiding my burnt face…), ever since I’ve been reluctant to jump on a bike, especially in stressful situations… such as the streets of London.
However…
On a recent trip to Montreal, I changed my mind (I don’t know if you noticed but this happened quite often lately!) and thought I would definitively consider cycling in the streets in Canada. Why is that? Am I a fussy cyclist?
Last month, 2000 cyclists organised the “Vélorution” (a portmanteau of “vélo”, French for bike, and “revolution”) in the French capital.
The idea was to leverage some visibility for the cycling movement/lifestyle that, currently, doesn’t make much of an impact in France. According to the chief organizer, it wasn’t an easy job. The lack of motivation from the cycling community and the lack of patience from drivers (really??) being the main stumbling blocks.
The thing is that Paris (or Marseille which also offers the same service, simply called “Vélo” ) are not necessarily fitting the bill for our cyclist friends. In comparison to Berlin, which offers a real network of cycling roads, allows bikes on public transports and where everyone is cyclists friendly, French cities are pretty hostile towards velorutionaries.
Going even further for their 2-wheeled love, a German company created the website www.mybikenumber.com. It helps bike lovers to register their bike parts in an attempt to find their loyal mounts if they been stolen one or lost!
What I really liked in Montreal, apart from poutine and other Quebec delights, is that, first of all, there are bikes for you to rent, use and drop everywhere in the city. If your bus doesn’t turn up it takes literally 5 minutes to find a bike. And it’s fairly cheap, or even included in your travel card. The other aspect that appealed to me is the fact that the roads seems pretty secure, by the simple fact that cars and pedestrians are extremely respectful of the law and follow the simple rules. Occasionally their driving skills are a bit, well… awkward, but let’s put that one down to cultural differences.
What about the brand new Barclays Cycle Hire in London? Have you tried it already? Do you find it safe to cycle in London? Not cycling myself, I can see lots of initiate to entice Londoners to take their bike. However I’m not convinced it’s the best place to cycle. Do you cycle in London? Would you hire a B-bike and cycle around?
Note: the picture is from London Tweed Run, a good reason to cycle at least once a year!
