Cheer up! Bicycling in Italy is a Daily Adventure : EcoWorldly

Cheer up! Bicycling in Italy is a Daily Adventure

Written by Eva Pratesi

Published on June 10th, 2008

Posted in Italy

Part of this week’s EcoWorldly cycling series: Cycling and its importance in countries around the world.

Bicycling as a sport, whether it is for participants or spectators, has always held a special place in the hearts of Italians. Professional bike races, including Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France are followed passionately by the Italian people. This mass interest in cycling as sport helps to make Italians among the world’s most knowledgeable consumers of bicycles. Everything you have ever heard about bicycling in Italy is true. The weather, roads and cities are all perfectly suited for bike touring. Each of bicycling and walking itineraries throughout Italy is carefully crafted to blend the best that our country has to offer by taking the active traveler off the beaten track.

A growing number of Italian citizens look today at alternative mobility as the solution to a stressful way of life.

In Rome, at the end of May, thousands of bicyclists coming from all over the world met to cycle together with the slogan: “We are the traffic”! Critical Mass is an idea, an event that wants to provide a green alternative to motor transport which creates greenhouse gases. Started in S. Francisco in 1992 and widespread in more than 500 cities all around the world, the CM is a group of bicyclists that moves without any rule and surprises the motorist creating a mess on the streets. The Ciemmona (big CM!), realized for the first time in Rome in 2004, counts today over 5,000 bicyclists from all over Italy and from all world Critical Masses.

With a population of about 400,000 inhabitants and a traffic density that affects the historical center, Florence is a city where bicycling is not a choice. Every day a continual coming and going of students and workers flows slowly in the city-center riding for kilometers. Cradle of new Humanism under the Medici Dynasty, Florence preserves today the ancient charm that bikers can appreciate moving towards their destinations.

But something breaks the spell…Dodging holes and bouncing over sidewalks, Florence’s countless cyclists find their way through the urban landscape. Along with the daily danger of passing cars that cut them off or veer in and out of bike lanes, cyclists’ worst fear is the mysterious end to a bicycle lane, with no traffic signs to warn them. The city’s cycle lanes are not contiguous, making travel dangerous. When exhausted cyclists arrive at their destinations, they often find that space on the bike racks has been taken up by scooters and motorbikes!

In order to support bicycle mobility, activities need to be carried out from both the point of view of the supply of measures, structures and infrastructures and that of the demand for mobility. In Italy there is an underestimated organization that should be recognized as a major advocate of sustainability in our cities. FIAB (the Italian Federation of Friends of the Bicycle) is an environmental organization which promotes the use of the bicycles in order to improve the quality of life in urban areas.

The Federation encourages the development of bicycle routes and the limitation of traffic looking for transit solutions. Activities include bicycling in both urban and suburban contexts, along with day-trips, weekend excursions, and longer bicycle tours. We keep on hand the path to a better quality of life: noise and air pollution are our major environmental threats in urban areas and this could be reduced by more people walking, cycling and using public transport.

Are you ready for the road?

Other Articles in Ecoworldly’s Bicycling Series