Pedaling a Velib Bike
Here a man is pedalling a free bike hire bike by Velib (well, free for first 30 mins). They were quite common in Paris and seem to indicate a fairly successful bike hire scheme.
Cycling in Bastille
Cycling through Bastille, there is a very good ice cream shop near here.
Fighting through traffic
A woman weaving her way through stationary traffic. This was taken outside Gare Du Lyon on a Saturday afternoon. It was quite a chaotic scene, French car drivers are quite liberal with the car horn, the traffic was mostly stationary and cyclists were weaving through the stationary traffic.
A serious cyclist departs the ice cream cafe
On the one hand the French have a good attitude to cycling. It is one of the biggest sports, and the Tour de France a national institution. They have some decent bike lanes around the city – they are actually proper bike lanes rathern than 10 metres of pathetic cycle lane we often get in the UK. But, on the other hand the French driver seems quite temperamental and some places (not least the Champs Elysees roundabout seem v. dangerous)
On a Sunday, a 2 Km stretch by the River Seine is closed off to traffic making a good place to cycle. I’d like to see some British cities try this
Hornsey in london used to have cycling roads alongside the main road. That was in the late 40′s early 50′s are they still there. Also a training area for young cyclist in a park with traffic lights.
A proposal has been made to close the Portway in Bristol on Sundays. Drew the usual bike-phobic outrage from the car-centric mob. Standard Backward Britain. 40 years behind the rest and no plans to catch up…