Whilst working in Paris this weekend I wasted a little time in the sunshine by watching the activity buzzing around the local Velib park in the Place de la Madeleine. It's fascinating (and mildly scary) to watch people pootling amongst the erratic traffic around the Place as if they were cycling down a tree lined country road in deepest Burgundy. The velib park is like a beehive as people flitter to the terminal and flitter away on foot or on 2 wheels. I also saw the same thing in Bologna 2 weeks ago (prior to starting this blog so no pics of the more functional looking bikes) and await the scheme's arrival in London with much interest. Will Londoners succumb to the seeming ease of use in the same way as the rest of Europe or will we spend a painful year of seeing the creative ways in which a public scheme can be 'customised', vandalised or simply erased from the streets. Oh, for the continental mentality toward the bike.
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