BEIJING BIKE RIDE
BEIJING, CHINA: After surviving the crush of the subway last week I decided to really become a Beijinger by riding a bike to work. I managed to find a bicycle rental place that offered to rent me a bike for a year for about $60 but in the end I only took it for a month which cost me $10. PAUL LEE REPORTS....
Most Beijing streets have dedicated bike lanes and some of the bigger arterial roads actually have these separated from the car lanes. The bike lanes are generally the very generous in size and they need to be as they are well utilised.
The bike I got certainly was no Tour de France special, I think the basket on the front was a bit of a give-a-way. So with great anticipation I joined the moving throng in the bike lane. At this point I realised that my bike was going to be a problem. While I was moving along ok, there was a significant issue with my left pedal and my brakes which was going to cause me major problems at some point.
In 10+ years of riding while growing up I rarely used the bell on my bike. In Beijing I quickly learned that you actually ride with your thumb on the bell and ring it constantly. This is necessary as every couple of metres or so there is a different obstacle in your way. It could be a slower bike, a pedestrian, a taxi dropping someone off or picking someone up, a rubbish collector, a scooter, a bike coming the other way, car turning into or out of a side street, a bus, or any other number of things. So you are constantly ringing the bell to warn people of where you are and where you're coming from. I ended up with a blister on my thumb after the first day!
As with everything I do, I tend to get a little competitive and this was certainly the case when I got passed by a young Chinese women on her way to work. She rode past me like I was an amateur with her briefcase in the front basket and her iPod playing tunes. I soon caught up courtesy of a red light that stopped her in her tracks. I got the jump on her at the green and I headed for glory. I settled into a nice pace along a rare open stretch only to watch in dismay as again she went past. This same process played out at the next two sets of lights.
At the third set of lights I was ready for her. I negotiated my way to the front of the waiting pack while she languished about 15 rows of cyclists back. I anticipated the green light and jumped early, I was pumping hard on the pedals and pulling up hard on the handle bars, I was standing rather than sitting in order to gain maximum leverage and speed and then it happened.... my pedal fell off. So I stopped, or tried to stop but the state of my brakes meant that I actually stopped about 20m past the pedal.
So off I jumped and turned the bike around to go and get the pedal. My nemesis whizzed past and I swear I could hear her laughing but I was focussed on the pedal. I got back to the pedal and started forcing it back on and then something worse happened.... the lights changed.
Before I could move I was surrounded by cars, buses, trucks and bicycles coming from all directions There's no quicker way to change into your brown undies than fiddling with a dodgy pedal in the middle of a Chinese intersection. I think I will take taxis from now on....