Wow, what an amazing coincidence. Here in Sendai there's rather a lack of events to really report (Temples, museums, shopping, eating..), so i was just thinking about doing a little blurb about bike riding!
Its sort of weird because depite such great mass transit, theres tonnes of cars. Of course, unlike in the US, the car drivers all seem to be pretty curteous, especially to pedestrians. Surprisingly, despite the narrow streets, SUVs and the larger cars can be found (even with lifts and BF Goodrich All Terrains) on the city streets intermixes with the usual sub-compacts. Oops, back to bikes. Tonnes of people also ride bikes! I guess its really convenient because crime is so low that people just leave their bike parked and unlocked and can actualy return to find it still there!
But for the most part, the bike riders are horrible. Theyre like the cars in the US. They arent paying attention half the time while riding through PACKED crowds. Here in Sendai, bikers are weaving their way through Mall foottraffic (outdoors), while doing things like talking on the phone, or playing games (i guess the guy could have been dialing...whatever it was, he wasnt looking where he was going). Ive yet to see an accident yet, but have heard a few brake squeals. They also ride their bikes FAST and zoom right past you! None of that "reduce speed while passing" stuff. Oh yeah, and the bikes share the sidewalks with the people too.
Its pretty amazing to see people from all walks riding a bike too, from the usual kids/casually dressed folk all the way up to business suits and stylishly dressed women. Lotsa folding bikes too. Up till last month, ive never seen one (one of my old coworkers got one to take on bart and caltrain), but here theyre everywhere,although i have yet to see one on the subway/train....
Anywho...in the end it seems like bikers are fairly well catered to here with only very few "no bike" zones. Had a close call with a bike once so far when i wasn't pay attention (was in the mall checking out the restaurants and bars).
Half the bars here are NOT on the first floor and thus quite hard to find, not to mention makes checking them out (to see if its bustling or not) quite difficult without actually going in...
Posted by eric at September 10, 2003 05:20 AMThanks for the blurb on bikes. It's amazing that you can leave your bike unlocked. Too bad so many ride recklessly. I can't imagine riding fast while talking on a cell, but I guess it probably becomes a second nature or something (like we do in cars here). Now, how about restaurants/bars in Sendai? Or bath houses?
Posted by: myong at September 10, 2003 10:18 AM