I had other options to start with this blog, in fact I had almost everything written and I will posting new entries in the upcoming days. But today I wanted to start with a gobal issue that's even more threatening in the city of Alicante. The use of bikes as a mean of transport.
I have read a report about the use of bicycles in Spanish cities (you can access here http://revista.consumer.es/web/es/20080701/actualidad/tema_de_portada/72995.php, sorry, it's in Spanish) analyzing 18 Spanish cities and the use of bikes there. As I expected Alicante is the worst city for bikers. No one that knows Alicante can explain that with such an excellent weather all over the year the local goverment does so little for the promotion of bikes as a mean of transport.
For me, the person that has the car parked in front of my house for more than a month, that goes everywhere by bike or walking (Alicante is so small that in one hour you can cross the whole city) it's something strange, there are no cyclepaths segregated from the traffic(politicians in Alicante think that painting a red line in the pavement is a cycleway) and when there is an exception is so badly preserved that it's safer to ride on the road. Usually cyclists have to go on the road because the "cyclepath" is on the pavement, where there are people walking, or there are objects in the middle of it or (and that happened to me) the pavement finishes and there is a gap of 15cm.
I always use the road, because it is the safer option, because it makes me visible to the cars and because I don't disturb pedestrians. Maybe if our major (I will make a full post about him someday) reconsiders the bike as a mean of transport, not only as a recreational thing or just for the Vuelta a España, Alicante will jump to the stage where most cities in Europe are. When I look other cities in Spain and Europe I feel embarrased. When the petrol is more expensive than ever, when the cars are contributing so much to the climate change and the global warming, to the impossibility to live in cities, to the pollution we breath, in this city all the major works are designed to favour the car against other means of transport that pollute less or even nothing. If you take a look to Alicante you will see road works in the city entrances that are designed for making more space for the cars, forgotting bus lanes or cyclepaths. That's sad, really sad.
I wanted to finish warning visitors that car drivers in Alicante have no respect at all for cyclist. They overtake you without the minimum distance and they usually go really fast. Sometimes, specially young people driving tuners, they hoot at you without any reason, which can make you to feel nervious and cause an accident.
If you are a cyclist and you visit Alicante, I recommend you to be very careful, you can loose your life
I have read a report about the use of bicycles in Spanish cities (you can access here http://revista.consumer.es/web/es/20080701/actualidad/tema_de_portada/72995.php, sorry, it's in Spanish) analyzing 18 Spanish cities and the use of bikes there. As I expected Alicante is the worst city for bikers. No one that knows Alicante can explain that with such an excellent weather all over the year the local goverment does so little for the promotion of bikes as a mean of transport.
For me, the person that has the car parked in front of my house for more than a month, that goes everywhere by bike or walking (Alicante is so small that in one hour you can cross the whole city) it's something strange, there are no cyclepaths segregated from the traffic(politicians in Alicante think that painting a red line in the pavement is a cycleway) and when there is an exception is so badly preserved that it's safer to ride on the road. Usually cyclists have to go on the road because the "cyclepath" is on the pavement, where there are people walking, or there are objects in the middle of it or (and that happened to me) the pavement finishes and there is a gap of 15cm.
I always use the road, because it is the safer option, because it makes me visible to the cars and because I don't disturb pedestrians. Maybe if our major (I will make a full post about him someday) reconsiders the bike as a mean of transport, not only as a recreational thing or just for the Vuelta a España, Alicante will jump to the stage where most cities in Europe are. When I look other cities in Spain and Europe I feel embarrased. When the petrol is more expensive than ever, when the cars are contributing so much to the climate change and the global warming, to the impossibility to live in cities, to the pollution we breath, in this city all the major works are designed to favour the car against other means of transport that pollute less or even nothing. If you take a look to Alicante you will see road works in the city entrances that are designed for making more space for the cars, forgotting bus lanes or cyclepaths. That's sad, really sad.
I wanted to finish warning visitors that car drivers in Alicante have no respect at all for cyclist. They overtake you without the minimum distance and they usually go really fast. Sometimes, specially young people driving tuners, they hoot at you without any reason, which can make you to feel nervious and cause an accident.
If you are a cyclist and you visit Alicante, I recommend you to be very careful, you can loose your life
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