Mexico City: Cycle Tracks & Bike Culture

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I saw two types of very-low-cost cycle track barriers while I was in Mexico city.   The first is essentially a concrete molded form.  The second is the standard parking stop-bar made out of plastic. 

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Both are bolted to the pavement.  With the addition of some plastic bollards to demark the lane in snowy weather, they are simple and low cost way to make a cycle track.

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Mexico City also has a very popular bike-sharing system.  It’s brilliantly simple to use, but get your card (or arrange to borrow one as I did) before you get there.  There is no tourist pass.

Bike Culture

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People who couldn’t afford a car have always biked in Mexico.  but now the majority of riders are  middle-class intelligentsia.  Below, a suit on a shared bike.

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There are lots of women on bikes too.  Probably more than in the Boston area where I live.   With a relaxed cycling pace, no one needs a helmet.

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To the left, a bike on a balcony in the trendy Condesa neigh-borhood.

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An artsy bike rack on Avenida Insurgentes.

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