Biking Around Beijing – Biking solo is no fun!

I‘m very fortunate to have fellow biking friends here in Beijing- it sure beats biking around solo! Though, it does make it a bit harder when I’m thinking about weaving in between traffic because I have to think about whether my buddy will be able to make the same route behind me. Sticking to the bike lanes is no fun here in Beijing because regular cyclists bike really slow, and also because cars always invade the bike lane; it’s so frustrating! Sometimes I just want to tap the car on the hood and say: “hey, this is a bike lane”. It’s even more frustrating because drivers in Beijing have no consideration for surrounding traffic, so they’ll swerve into bike lanes to beat traffic, or they’ll make sudden stops while in the bike lane, causing all the cyclists to make evasive maneuvers. Freaking drivers. Anyhow! End rant!

Where was I? Oh yes, biking with a buddy! I went on a ride today with Phebe- one of the first people I met here in Beijing, and also is my very cool connection and is how I got to help out at the NBA game last year when the Nuggets and Pacers played in Beijing (courtside is SICK!). She was riding a Trek hybrid bike. I don’t know much about it, except that it’s a 44.5cm frame =p. You want to know how huge I am? I ride a 58cm frame, lol!

My old brake pads were running really thin so we ended up stopping by the Trek store and I picked up a new set of brake pads. The guys were really nice at the store and knew of Ines (the lady that runs the fixed gear shop in Beijing). They had a good time checking out my bike.
I think I use my brakes too much, but I feel like it’s hard to skid-stop on my setup. I think I’m running a 48/17 ratio? It lets me ride fast, but I’m finding it pretty hard to skid stop (safely, lol).

There are horsies in Beijing! It looked really malnourished though =\

We were biking around the embassy area (aka. rich expats), and I saw a Maserati. I decided to chase it down and snap a picture. It wasn’t too hard considering that traffic in Beijing doesn’t let you get too far =p

An example of stand-still traffic in Beijing. Oh, note that the bus stops are actually IN the bike lane. Yes, that means these huge busses start honking at you and tailing you because they need to pull-up to a bus stop. Scary? Yes.

Hello two busses that are blocking the whole bike lane. Did I try to squeeze through that gap? You betcha… jk. I didn’t. Bus > Bike =_=.

Poor peep are bored on the bus. Traffic stinks yo. Good thing I can just zip by! =)

I love seeing what these cart guys are carrying- it’s always the most interesting stuff!

Alright- this ‘dude’ was straight up stylin… or lack thereof. I dunno man, asian fashion has me speechless sometimes.

Will probably go for another ride on Wednesday, since it’s a public holiday and I have no Chinese class. Hopefully will be riding down towards the old drum and bell towers in Beijing (鼓楼大街).

Until then!

-Duncan