One thing that really caught my eye in Lido di Jesolo were the bikes... and the real acceptance of bike culture in the town. We stayed right on Via Ugo Foscolo which was a one-way street for cars/vans between the hours of 0600-2000hrs with a 24hr two-way bike lane. The road closed from 2000hrs... at which point everybody seemed to go for a walk... or cycled. The bikes really stole the show for me... albeit I was terrified to hire one... the folks who rode after 2000hrs must have had a sixth sense and a lot of patience.
Anyway... here's a collection of the best and most interesting bikes that I saw. After bike #6, I had to be a wee bit more discreet. I had a run-in with an Italian lass who, I can only guess, was wondering why I took a pic of her bike. Why she took a pic of me, no one knows.
Enjoy.
Tx
2 comments:
I love bicycles, and in particular the way that European bikes look like what we call cruiser bikes here. Whether it's the Dutch practical bikes or the Italian stylish no-speeds, they all look charming to me. Our own cities largely do not have this kind of bike culture (Portland,
perhaps SF, Moab Utah and a few other cities are exceptions), and bikes tend to divide along either low-end bikes for simple uses and rather over-geared bikes for various specialized and often sporting uses. My heart is always with the simple, practical and yet somewhat stylish bikes like the ones you show here.
Lovely set of photographs illustrating well the different attitude to their use. We enjoyed cycling in Livingston and I think Edinburgh has a better bike pathway than most. I hope Strathclyde will be fully developed to give more extensive cycle and walk pathways that do not clash yet encourage fuller participation at all levels.
Well observed!
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