24 September 2010

Up Close


This lovely cyclist zipped by us so close and so quickly I could barely get her photo. It's a pity that shorts season is coming to an end, she's rocking them with those ballet flats.


There is a bike lane all along the river in Florence. It's a great way to zip across town, and a great place for watching chic cyclists!

6 comments:

G.E. said...

I really like the bag on the back of her bike. Do you know if it was made of fabric or if it was more of a solid material?

Anonymous said...

I love that she's photographed zipping along next to an SUV. So even in Italy they have monster cars ... her legs are an inspiration to keep bicycling :)

Velouria said...

Did you have a chance to cycle there? Am wondering what it feels like in comparison to Boston. Are there dedicated bike lights and intersections, or just bike lane American-style?

Charlotte said...

G.E. I'm 80% sure that's a leather bag. I was fighting with my camera's lag time but I wish I'd had more of a chance to see.

Anonymous, It was eye opening so see what a car culture it is in Italy. There were go-cart tracks all over the countryside, and people took driving as sport very seriously. You wouldn't see an SUV like that in Rome, but even in Florence the cars were all bigger, and aggressive drivers were everywhere, surprisingly even on small country roads. There was one super courteous car which slowed down and passed us with plenty of room. I was about to exalt them as exemplary when I saw their license plate was from the Netherlands. I imagine they were more accustomed to cyclists...

Velouria, We cycled from Rome to Florence, including a bit around Florence. Leaving Rome was not fun, there is a reason all the bike shops say to take a train. My spouse had a bee in his bonnet to cycle every inch of the trip, but even he says that now, having checked that off the list, he has no need to ever do it again.

Florence is much nicer for cycling than Rome, and has several dedicated bike lanes, some with their own lights. In the cobbled old town a cyclist is on her own but the traffic is slower than Boston and they seem to be accustomed to distracted tourists everywhere. I have brochures for a few interesting bike tour options - I just have to find where I stashed them when unpacking.

MamaVee said...

Ha! it took me a minute to realize it was not a pic of boston and I thought- well wow- now I see why people think boston reminds them of european cities. How come I never see vistas like that....

heh, b/c it's not boston!!!

Elizabeth said...

yeah girl looks geat. cant wait untill short season again