This weekend was the first nice, warm and sunny weekend in Vienna, which prompted a lot of people to take out their bikes and ride through the city. Which is all very nice, because bikes are so much nicer than cars. BUT
Vienna has reasonable amount of cycle paths. Unfortunately most of them are narrow and located on the pavement. It is also law that you must use a cycle path if there is one (a lot of cycle groups protest against this law, even though I doubt it's ever executed..)
So, if you combine this two facts, and take into consideration that I'm one of those guys who rides his bike all year long (yes, even if there's snow, ice and negative degrees, or even worse: rain - but there is no bad weather, only bad equipment) and that I like to ride fast, this is what I mean with the rally season.
Gone are the days where you had the cycle path all to yourself (and the snowstorm). Now you have to wiggle through people who cannot ride a bike in straight line, have now knowledge of basic traffic rules, are slow as hell, and generally totally annoying. And then there are the tourists...
So, my trip to my vinyl store of choice is now an adrenalin filled race avoiding being run over by cars, avoiding running over pedestrians on the cycle path, and manoeuvreing around geriatric cyclists. Fun!
Anyway, I really do not like this bit of my personality, because I know that I'd hate myself if I would be driving a car like I'm riding my bike. Luckily I don't have a driving license...
So if you ever ride a bike in Vienna, please ride on the right hand side of the cycle path, drive in a straight line, don't talk on your mobile, give hand signals before turning, switch to a low gear before stopping at a red light, do stop at red lights and respect the pedestrians (at least those that respect you - it's perfectly ok to shout at tourists walking on the cycle path and/or drive past them really tight and fast.)
It is exactly like this in Chicago. We have a very nice bike trail along Lake Michigan. When it is cold or rainy, it is a wonderful place to ride -- beautiful scenery, no road crossings, and hardly any people to speak of. I can ride as fast as I want.
Then it gets warm and sunny... and the trail becomes all things for all people. People ride on the wrong side. People lay their beach-towels down on the trail and sunbathe. (In the middle of a paved bike path. Who says Americans aren't stupid?) Unsupervised kids walk into oncoming cyclists, causing bloody accidents. It's not just annoying, it's incredibly dangerous. People have no clue about safety, then they get hurt.
Fortunately, we have nice roads to use on days like this... but the scenery is very boring and there are traffic lights every 500 feet. By the time you get up to speed you have to stop again. Annoying.
Some day they will ban pedestrians and cars, and then I will be truly happy.
