Buenos Aires is just about recommendable as a place to cycle now. Lots of things militate against cycling - the one-way system, San Telmo's cobbled streets, the pampas-sized eight-lane urban expressways - but now a system of separated cycle tracks is in place, with more being added. It's pretty skeletal, but it just about enables you to do some pleasant half-day trundles.
For instance, you can cycle round the back of Puetro Madero, the shiny new docklands skyscraper district, on the riverside path. There are picnic tables and pleasant places for lunch. Here you can hear the strange jungle-bird tweeting of squeaky free hostel loan bikes like the one I was riding. 
It feels like it should be the seaside, but of course this is a river, and so the water doesn't taste of salt. It tastes of cadmium and lead and mercury.Back in the city, there's a very nice trip up the track on Libertador a mile or two to the big gardens of Palermo. It's all rather reminiscent of Hyde Park, with skaters and pleasure boats on the lake.
It wasn't the only thing that reminded me of London. Taxis here evidently pay as much respect to bike facilities. When I saw this I felt like crying. Not because of the driver's attitude, but because it made me homesick.
But is there anywhere to lock a bike up yet? (see my photos on cyclestreets,net)
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, I just saw some bike racks today, on Diagonal Norte near the Obelisk (Wed 27 Oct). Except they were empty. I'll post about it soom.
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