The bicycles

The bus never ceases to amaze me! It would be a perfect place to perform a study on mankind in the 21st century. But another fascinating means of transportation is the bicycle.

For pedestrians:
If you are walking on one side of the sidewalk and want to go to the other side, you have to look over your shoulder as if you were changing lanes in a car because there might be a bike coming up behind you. I learned this the hard way. :/ However bike/pedestrian collisions are rare because every bike has a bell that the rider will ding to let you know that they are coming up behind you. It reminds me so much of skiing when you are going down the mountain and someone behind you says "On your left/right". I think skiers should all just get bells on their polls. ;)

For the rider:
I have only ridden a bike once here in Bologna. I don't think I will do it again. The problems: 1) the breaks weren't the best 2) I had a 50 pound purse that was just too awkward to put on one side or another or on the handle bars and it would throw off my balance and hit my knees as I peddled 3) It was freezing cold outside so I had my coat and gloves on and felt like the boy in A Christmas story who couldn't put his arms down. With these challenges, I started my journey. The good news is, I made it there and back without killing myself or anyone else, but I did crash into a few inanimate objects. The worst one was when a car pulled into a driveway. I saw it coming in plenty of time, but my breaks didn't adjust soon enough. So I had to decide between riding into the car or riding into the front steps of a building. I chose the latter, which was the right choice, it just had to be in front of several people watching the scene.

For the buyer:
Don't buy a bike you care about because it will probably be stolen within a few months. As you walk down the street, you will hear someone say to you "bici? bici?". If you don't mind having a stolen bike, you go with them to the bike racks and point out which bike you want. The thief will then take out their lock clippers, cut the bike lock, and sell you the bike for €10. And this is normal...