One of the first things you notice about Hamburg as a cyclist is the number of bikes around on the streets. It is a city where cycling is as much of a valid travel option as the busses, U-Bahn, or driving. Everywhere you look there are bikes locked up; outside blocks of flats along every railing, next to the U- and S-Bahn stations, and against almost every available piece of street-furniture.
The pavements of almost every road have designated cycle lanes, taking up a percentage of wide pavements and allowing cylists the chance to ride out of the way of traffic and in safety. We barely walked anywhere without being passed by a number of people on bikes. The acceptance of shared pavements meant that whoever rode past always gave a friendly warning on a bell and never seemed to be riding fast or dangerously. The general impression was that the aggression that having to share a road with cars, busses, and lorries necessitates was taken away. Cycling in Hamburg appeared to be a relaxing and elegant way to travel, and this was reflected in the bikes. We saw virtually none of the aggressive racing positions favoured by those who ride every day in London, and almost all of the bikes we saw were city bike style machines which were sedate and laid back, rather than in-your-face and battling. Helmets were rarely worn and bikes were even locked up in a relaxed fashion and not as fastidiously as you have to in London. It must be great to be able to trust that your bike will be there when you get back.
On an every-day level Hamburg seems to have the right idea when it comes to bikes. They are a usual and acceptable way to arrive anywhere from a business meeting to a nightclub.
In fact, at a nightclub that took ourselves to, which was industrial and exciting, jumping with indie music and live music played out to full room of stripped out chic, there were bikes locked to every railing outside. Even those in Hamburg who want to party in industrial concrete splendour, and look out from a roof bar across the city will arrive (and I assume leave again) on bikes.
You have to imagine that a club like that in London would either be full of people who arrived in a taxi on Daddy’s money, or, if they managed bikes, it would be all fixed gear singlespeeds and ironic colours.
Our intention was to ride around Hamburg a little, and get a taste for the city on two wheels. We were going to take advantage of the excellent bike hire scheme (like the one soon to be arriving here) and were only let down by having no access to the internet to register online. The scheme is superb in how user friendly it appears to be.
Having registered, you simply slip your credit card into a touch-screen console (on the right here) to identify yourself and it should allow you to enter a code to unlock a bike. The lock slips from the bike and you can ride off, at the cost of a 5 Euro one-off charge. The first 30 minutes on the bike are free, with a cheap rate after that which is deducted from the original 5 Euros. When you return the bike you lock it up and identify yourself with the same card. It seems simple, accessable and perfect for short trips in the city. The number of bikes we saw every day pay testament to the success of the scheme so far. Check it out here and I really hope the London scheme is as efficient and easy.
Our final opportunity to tour the city by bike, all together, was provided by this fantastic bicycle made for four.
But here we were thwarted by the locks and so settled for just taking a picture instead. We are, after all, not international criminals, and next time we will plan more in advance and actually ride the city.
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