I Love Riding in the City

NAME: Jenna
LOCATION: Pittsburgh, PA
OCCUPATION: Ballet Teacher

What’s your favorite city to ride in, and what makes it special or memorable?
Kumamoto, on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Kumamoto is a small city eight hours from Osaka via the bullet train. I rode my bike a lot while I was in Japan, but Kumamoto is the most memorable because it was the first city I visited while in Japan. I rode a brown three-speed cruiser with a basket and bell. When school was over all of the Japanese schoolgirls would ride around on the sidewalks on their cruiser bikes while drinking super rum and coke in cans and sake out of neon green juiceboxes.

Why do you love riding in the city?
I like people’s reactions. Your friends will be happy to see you, business people are really impressed you can still ride a bike, homebums think you’re sexy and whistle—then later make for good conversation when they are still sitting on their bench and you are finished running all of your errands, drivers get angry and beep, and children look at you in awe.
It’s such a good feeling.