I am not a huge bike rider. I haven't really ridden a bike since middle school. In Pittsburgh riding a bike is not really something people regularly do. In Beijing, tons of people ride a bike. There are bike shops everywhere!
Bikes do not follow the traffic laws in Beijing. They do whatever they feel like. They go against traffic, through red lights, in between cars and people. Its a bit crazy. I never dreamed I would even step on a bike here, because well its insane!
Two of my friends here own bikes. My one friend also has a scooter as well. So today she invited me to go out and ride her bike while she followed along on the scooter. I thought sure why not. I hopped on the bike and immediately fell off when I tried to brake. (It was pretty hilarious not going to lie). I did some practice runs around her apartment complex and thought ok I am good.
My friends decided that I should be in the middle since I am not the strong bike rider.. I had told them up front I haven't biked in years so I wouldn't go that fast. It was very nice of them to watch out for me and to make sure I wasn't going to do something stupid. It was very sweet of them.
The ride itself was a bit scary. We were driving on the rode with the cars. Beijing is very bike friendly and has bike lanes, but naturally cars and pedestrian use these lanes for their own purposes.. So we had to zig zag around them. Since I am not the greatest bike rider I freaked if I got to close to things (we happened about 50 times on the ride). People literally just walked in front of you and you had to brake or swerve around them. (causing me to almost fall off my bike!) Cars dart in and out around you. Honestly it is a big game of chicken. Who has the biggest guts to go first. You can't hesitate or you won't go far. We were riding alongside the 3rd ring road (which is a major highway).
During this ride I realized I wasn't really scared of all the cars that were coming at me from various angles or even really the buses. It was the people, bikes and structures that were the most terrifying. Cars and buses do a fairly good job of watching out for bikes and maneuvering around them. Other bikes no, they do what is good for them. And people well people are stupid. They literally just walk around with their heads glued into their phones and walking at snails pace. They stand in the way so when you want to go somewhere with the bike you have such a narrow entrance.
In the end I made it to our destination and then back to my friends apartment. Would I do it again, yes.
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