Bikes of London and Paris

A while back I got a chance to travel to London and Paris for a week, and I'm finally posting the photos! I'd been to Germany before, and previously Paris, but I hadn't been to Europe yet with the 'cyclists goggles' on, so to speak. So I took my little camera and snapped a few shots of the cycling-scenery in London and Paris, mostly in Paris.

The obligatory shot of the Eiffel tower:

Here's a pic from our hotel room, on Rue St. Dennis, in an area I guess you could call kind of a red-light district:


A typical bike in Paris:


I saw lots of single-speeds in London, but not many true fixed gears. Mostly commuter-type bikes with racks and fenders, etc. The first thing I noticed was the lack of 'squids' - those equipped with full lycra team-kits, race bikes, etc - the types of riders you see around Seattle all the time. I didn't see one person in lycra the whole time! The pro's must've been outside of the city, training in the Alps or something.

Granted, it was February so it the chilly weather might have kept a lot of riders inside; perhaps it's a different picture in the summer.

In Paris there were tons of commuters, even a lady riding with a huge baguette poking out of her basket! I suppose that's a common site in Paris, maybe one day I'll be able to do that too! Saw one or two fixies in Paris but they seemed pretty sparse.

Both cities were really really flat compared to Seattle! Cycling must be a little boring out there, I mean no Tolt Hill to climb, maybe a few rolling hills, and outside of the city, near Montmatre, there were some kinda steep hills I guess. London seemed as flat as a pancake.

The full 'Bikes of Europe' photo-set is here.

Au revoir!