cycling in Italian cities
cycling in Italian cities
I travelled a bit through Italy recently, by bicycle. Cycling here seems either
- super sporty road cyclist
- poor people on what's left of what used to be a bicycle
Stumble upon Lodi, Lombardy: cyclists everywhere, like dutch style: adults carelessly cycling with 2 kids and lots of luggage on a single normal city bike and without helmets. What's so different about Lodi (or the region) that it's so common here, but not in other Italian small or medium cities? Any Italians with answers? Thanks
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Italian here, from a small/medium city nearby Milan. Experience might vary, but generally speaking, Italy is not a very bike friendly country. In the cities you might have separated bike lanes, bike lanes which are part of the street and devided from it by, well, a strip of paint, or no bike lane at all. Outside of the cities, yeah, those are for hard core cyclists and, unless you are in the countryside, not safe at all. The point is, safety on a bike is not guaranteed and you should be aware that our streets are built for cars first. I live in the Netherlands and here the infrastructures are built FOR bikes rather than being an afterthought. Be safe, wear an helmet and hope no one abruptly opens a car door while parked next to a bike lane.
Little OT: mopeds and electric bikes are turning bike lanes in the Netherlands a nightmare too. I am of the idea that electric bikes (the non-assisted types) and mopeds should belong to streets, should have an insurance, a plate an require a motorcycle rated helmet. Sorry, delivery guys. You are danger to other cyclists.
Yes, helmet + fluorescent stuff. Try to take smaller roads, but not always possible. The difference was just striking between for example Alessandria (pretty much 0 cycling) and Lodi (lots) while infrastructure seems almost equally bad.
I am from Belgium, Speed pedelecs (45 km/h!!) are ruining our bike paths too... :( they shouldn't be allowed on the cycling paths, the speed difference with a regular non electric cyclist (15 km/h?) and especially kids and old people on regular bikes is just too big, and the speed pedelecers (car brains on a fast bike) bring a very toxic behaviour to the cycle paths