After 9 months of relying on Sydney's public transport, I finally got a bike. Unlike Chicago, Sydney's streets are anything but straight. When the city was being built, nobody ever put a second thought into expansion. It was as if every time a new street needed to be created, they found some drunk, toothless man to take a machete and walk through the woods clearing a path. Streets widen and narrow on a whim, and no warning is given when one lane ends and a new one begins. The trains were built at ground level, and nobody ever thought of having railroad crossings. Street signs? Who needs em! I was looking at a bike map the other day, and my quickest path to work consists of a back alley, a pedestrian easement next to a middle school, more than one sidewalk, and many busy, narrow streets. On top of all this, the topographical landscape is grueling. Hill after hill, all the way to anywhere.I contemplated all this in these 9 bike-less months, and thought it might be tough, or even not worth doing. But after getting a bike and riding around in the summer sun, jacarandas in bloom, pedaling down residential streets without hands on the handlebars, I remembered why this was my choice method of transport for two years in Chicago. Bikes are awesome.
