I Love Riding in the City
NAME: Brian Kleiber
LOCATION: Burlington, VT
OCCUPATION: Student, Bike Mechanic
What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
I’ve done a bunch of riding in New York City since I grew up in New Jersey, but the best city I’ve ever experienced on a bike would be Amsterdam. New York’s fun but it gets extremely hectic and riding with your buddies becomes a lot less social. When I was in Amsterdam I cruised around the city for 10 days and fell in love with the bike culture. Everyone there rides and you see bikes everywhere you look. They have dedicated bike paths that run by and over the water and while you’d think this would make the riding mellow, it’s actually the opposite. As a tourist, I remember stepping in the lanes a few times and nearly being taken out. But while you’re riding, it makes you want to ride faster than everyone.
Why do you love riding in the city?
Riding in the city is a lot of fun because it adds a new level of excitement to something that’s already a blast. Running errands is never something I put off because it gives me an excuse to ride my bike for a bit. I like that the first thing I do on any given morning is get on my bike and go to where I need to be. So cruising through Burlington, whether it’s to school, my job, for an errand or for fun helps break up my day and give my mind a rest.
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NAME: Mark Neal
LOCATION: London, UK
OCCUPATION: Bicycle Sales Agent
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
I live just outside of London, on the fringes of suburbia in Claygate. It’s nice out here and I have the Surrey hills very close for some off-road, or I can hop on a train or ride into London to suck on exhaust fumes with the rest of the rat race.
What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
Now it was and to a degree still is London, because I’m a born and bred Londoner, but I have recently been to Barcelona and hired a bike to cruise round on. Barcelona is amazing on bike—beautiful buildings, parks and of course the boardwalk along the beach stretches for miles.
Why do you love riding in the city?
I love to ride in the city because of the freedom of movement you have against the slow moving almost stationary traffic! The feeling of swishing through tight gaps is exhilarating! Then when you are bored of the fumes you can slip peacefully into one of the many beautiful green spaces and relax.
Check out www.redbrick-productions.co.uk
