I Love Riding in the City
NAME: Andy Karr
LOCATION: Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
OCCUPATION: Masters Dissertation Student
Where do you live and what’s it like riding in your city?
I live in the middle of Edinburgh, Scotland, on the edge of the medieval old town. Riding in Edinburgh is tough, pot holed streets, cobblestones, steep, steep hills, crazy taxi drivers and cold rain nearly every day. But nothing beats the feeling of freedom of the cold air on your face and dodging between the crowded streets and dirty sidewalks. You can cross the entire city on a bike faster than you could ever hope to drive.
What was your favorite city to ride in, and why?
I love riding in Winston Salem, NC. It’s my hometown and it’s nearly as hilly as Edinburgh but warmer and dryer. The tree-lined boulevards are hard to beat visually. My favorite part of riding in Edinburgh is how easy it is to get into the countryside though, in 20 minutes you have views you would never be able to find in the States.
Why do you love riding in the city?
It’s a feeling of freedom that sitting in traffic or slogging down crowded sidewalks could never give you. And the gratification you get when you pass the car that angrily beeped at you to get out of the way only 30 seconds earlier while they are stuck in traffic is hard to beat.
Or just say whatever you want about riding in the city…
People say I’m crazy for riding fixed gear in this town but I run front and rear brakes (too wet to rely on skipping) and when I go home to my Cannondale in the fall it will be like riding on air.