Bike Friday

We put our Bike Friday tandem together today, and took it out for a brief trip to test the cycling on Beijing roads. Here it is freshly assembled in our apartment.


Assembled Bike Friday
We rode down Xidan Avenue in the direction of Tianamen Square, but with no thought of getting that far since Lynn had something else planned for the afternoon, and it was already 11am by the time we were all assembled and ready to leave. Our first stop was at a bike shop to buy a shiny new bell - an essential for Beijing biking!


Lynn and Tandem Outside Bike Shop
Right next to the bike store was someone selling a few caged birds, with a very cute little boy who was happy to pose for pictures.


Bird Seller's Little Boy
There is always a special designated bike lane each side of the main roads. For quite alot of the way on Xidan Avenue the lane was separated off from the rest of the traffic, which made for easy biking, except for pedestrians who tended to wander in the road, or cross without looking. In other places there was just a white line separating the bike lane from the rest of the traffic. This lane was respected by cars quite well, but the numerous buses must use it at their stops, and so it was hard not to get tangled up with them.


Cycle Lane
I found the cycling not too hairy, but I don't think Lynn on the back was as happy! The trickiest part is simply going stright on after a red light. (There are special lights for bikes, showing red or green bikes.) There doesn't seem to be any rules that are obeyed for traffic turning left (across the oncoming stream of traffic), so the first few cars in line (particularly if they are taxis) try to turn left in front of the oncoming cars or bikes with a green light to go straight. This leads to much horn honking and weaving in and out. It seems best to wait a bit, and only go once the forward stream has been established by other braver bikes or larger vehicles.