I Love Riding in the City

NAME: Meg Lofts
LOCATION: Sydney, Australia
OCCUPATION: Web Designer/Developer

Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
I live in Sydney, Australia. Riding in Sydney can be magical. I love riding at sunrise, watching the windows on the skyscrapers glow while the harbor starts to glitter and come alive. It’s so tranquil and easy to navigate with so very few cars on the road.
Sydney can also be a pretty daunting place to ride, drivers can be impatient and aggressive. There seems to be a real lack of understanding about cyclists and what their rights on the road actually are. It feels a bit like “us” and “them” which is a real shame as bikes and cars should be able to co-exist in harmony on the roads. It is however currently being improved and hopefully within a few years it will be more inline with European cities that really know how to cater to cyclists.

What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
My favorite city to ride in is New York City. There are so many cyclists and bikes in all different shapes and sizes. I used to cycle over the Williamsburg Bridge to Manhattan each morning at 6AM. Seeing the skyline at sunrise was amazing. I wouldn’t usually describe NYC as calm and peaceful but that’s exactly how it looked. On the flipside riding through midtown traffic is exhilarating to say the least. I love the excitement and rate which everything travels—lights, horns, cars, people, bikes all traveling at warp speed. Long, wide, straight, flat roads make it a dream to zip about. I also love the fact that people talk to each other. I met loads of people out on my bike in traffic, waiting for the lights to change or on bike paths.

Why do you love riding in the city?
I love riding in the city to commute to work, nothing beats missing peak hour traffic. Riding is a time I have for myself to put on some tunes, dream up ideas, or think about nothing at all. I also love riding with my mates, whether it’s spinning around the park, cruising on a regular social ride or just chatting and exploring areas of Sydney that I’m unfamiliar with. Riding makes me feel like a kid again, and that definitely can’t be a bad thing.

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