Hannover. Roma. Adelaide.
The cars look out for you. You look out for them. And together you dance the right dance and you get where you need to go in reasonable comfort.
I've been very fortunate to have spent the last 3 or so weeks in Europe. Mostly I've been catching metro, trains, and planes around the place, but on two occasions I've been on bikes. I borrowed a friend's Bullitt in Hannover, Germany and hired a gravel bike in Roma (Italy, but you already knew that). The good thing about riding is that you have time to reflect and think. I spent quite a bit of time reflecting on how riding in Roma and Hannover are different from riding in Adelaide.
Firstly, it should be said that the three different places are all very different. It's not like this ends up as an Australia vs. Europe battle royale showdown.
Adelaide is my default. I've riding around Adelaide for the last 28 years (which is weird, since in my mind I'm only 25-30 years old). I understand Adelaide's rhythm. How it breathes. How it moves and how it expects me to move. I accept its flaws, and I actively campaign for improvements.
Hannover, Germany
I was already used to right-hand traffic by the time I got on a bike in Hannover. But the Hannover city moves very differently to what I expect. Germany is still a car-first kind of place much like Adelaide, but it feels like they're years ahead when it comes to wedging active transport infrastructure into the car infrastructure. There are red bike lanes on nearly all of the bigger roads, and the lanes don't just end when they're needed the most. People certainly don't park in them. Much like Australians, the Germans are largely rule-followers.
Riding around the smaller streets was a joy. Cars move very slowly in the winding medieval streets of the old town. The streets are narrow and not at all designed for moving cars (although there are a lot of parked cars). The streets are quiet - except where revelers spill out from the Kiosks to drink in the street. A kiosk was originally for milk, bread, newspapers, lottery tickets probably. They are also allowed to sell booze. And you're allowed to drink booze in the street. So they pump up the volume, sell cheap booze, and people come. Street parties on the reg during summer. Wonderful, really. People walk and ride to these places, and there are piles of locked up bikes everywhere.
So, while Hannover isn't the idyll of Ghent, Amsterdam, or Copenhagen, it works. It's nice. There are lots of alternative routes that take you the pretty way if you ask the locals.
Roma, Italy
Roma was a very different beast. Unlike Germans and Australians, the Romans are absolutely not rule followers. There are very few bike lanes on the bigger roads, and the times I did see a bike lane, it was being driven in. Parked in. Reversed in. Repurposed as a storage spot for some boxes for fruit. So you end up riding in the traffic. It's chaos. Mayhem. But in a similar way to Vietnam, it somehow works. The cars look out for you. You look out for them. And together you dance the right dance and you get where you need to go in reasonable comfort.
Except for the cobble stones. The cobble stones - especially the older and bigger ones, are not comfortable. They suck.
The traffic in the old medieval streets of Roma is even lighter than in Hannover. Instead you have meandering tourists to navigate.
Conclusion
How formal.
I'd happily ride in any of the cities I've mentioned above. Hannover was particularly nice, though.
I look forward to riding in many more cities around the world in coming years. Look out for more posts.
