Letter from Poland.

 

Get on your bike!

16.04.2008

Anna Piwowarska gets on hers in Warsaw.

The weather has been pretty changeable in Poland recently, however last Sunday it seemed that spring was finally in the air. So, as usual at this point in the year, I was forced by my husband to get on my bike for the first time. Actually, he sort of tricked me into it. He drove me to my parents-in-law for a big, fat Sunday lunch and then as I was dozing off on the family sofa, in front of the television, he said. “Well, your bike’s in the garden shed. I’m going to stay here till the evening – if you want to go home, you’ll have to peddle there.” I awoke from my Sunday afternoon sofa snooze with a sudden jolt. “But it’s April!” I whined. “And I don’t have the right clothes on.” I looked down sulkily at my high-heeled boots and thin jacket and thought I had my excuse. However, my mother-in-law wasted no time in kitting me out with a yellow and black checked flat cap, some fingerless leather gloves and a bandana around my neck. I looked like a Tour-de-France cyclist crossed with a Warsaw street urchin from the nineteenth century (with just a touch of Axel Rose). Before I could protest my husband was pushing me on my bike (the way you do with a child who’s learning how to cycle) and I was off.
I’m always a bit wobbly the first time that I get on a bike after the winter break (well actually, I’m always a bit wobbly). Although, during my student days at Cambridge I learnt how to cycle wearing high heels. So despite the fact that I looked pretty ridiculous, last Sunday’s afternoon cycle was extremely pleasurable. Warsaw is a city that is made for cycling. The flat area next to the Wisłostrada expressway, which runs down the side of the Vistula River, is perfect for cycling leisurely whilst admiring the city (particularly the stretch that I took, from Żoliborz to Mariensztat). On one side you have the Vistula River, on the other the outskirts of the Old Town. If it’s a cold day, it can get a bit windy but apart from that it’s an easy, pleasurable ride.
This is not the case across the whole of Warsaw. In fact, there are shamefully few cycle paths in a capital that is made for this form of transport. Politicians seem to promise cyclists the earth during the election campaign and then forget about them. Thankfully, this is slowly changing with work underway on new paths, as part of the general ‘make-over’ of Warsaw. The one that interests me particularly is the one that will run down Puławska Street which will allow me to cycle to work.
Now, one problem with cycling in Warsaw is what to wear. Most weekday cyclists are students so they just look, well, ‘studenty’. I even saw one today wearing shorts, which I thought was pretty brave for April. On weekends, families also tend to cycle, kitted out in sports casual gear and helmets. So what do you do if you want to cycle to work? In Paris, on every corner you see chic looking women on bikes, wearing pencil skirts and high heeled boots whilst casually smoking a cigarette at the same time. I must say, I’ve never seen a professional woman cycling to work in Warsaw yet. Perhaps once there are more cycle paths Warsaw, this will change.
The other problem with cycling in Poland is the etiquette. Cycle paths are often used by pedestrians. So how do you get them to move? Do you A) ring your bell angrily and shout out “this is a cycle path, you know!” to some poor mother with a pram carrying armloads of shopping, just because she happens to have strayed onto the cycle path by accident ( I have actually seen hardened cyclists do this) Or do you B) hover behind the pedestrian until they see a wobbly figure out of the corner of their eye and get out of your way themselves (this is the method favoured by me). Neither way is ideal. Once Varsovians get used to cyclists in the way that the Dutch have in Amsterdam, I’m sure these things will sort themselves out naturally.
And it looks like there will be more and more cyclists in our capital. Warsaw is apparently going the way other European capitals such as Stockholm and Paris have chosen, with bikes available to rent from special points in the city. This initiative will be available from next year. In the meantime, lonely cyclists can find camaraderie on the last Friday of each month in the Critical Mass (Masa Krytyczna) ride, in which hundreds of cyclists cycle on mass through the city of Warsaw. It’s a sort of peaceful, legal manifestation, which shows Warsaw’s inhabitants (and politicians) what could happen if there are not enough bicycle paths in Warsaw. Every time I see them cycling in the middle of the main streets of our capital, I feel an urge to join them. But the problem is that they all look so cool with their professional cycling gear and they never seem to wobble. Perhaps if I get rid of the checked flat cap and fingerless gloves, I’ll be on the right track to becoming a real Varsovian cyclist…