Cycling in Geneva is everything I hoped it would be; plenty of space, no discrimination from other road users, and loads of lovely people, young and old, out on two wheels. I've not seen one single person in Lycra, but I have seen tons of shared spaces with pedestrians, and designated cycle paths (away from the main flow of traffic). All this seems to go off without a hitch. In fact it feels like cycling is just something you do if you're Swiss, like ski or eat fondue.
This post is aimed to be a summary of what you can expect from cycling in and around Geneva, and what I've learnt in the first few days of living here. It might be of use if you are planning a cycling trip to CH or if you just want an insight into the area.
Bikes are everywhere in Switzerland - there are bike racks all over town, jammed to the rafters with bicycles and the odd trailer. People are whizzing around town on a panoply of different bikes, some vintage racers, some sporty numbers, which leads onto the fact...
Bikes in CH are expensive or rubbish - like really rubbish. Like, "just out of a skip" rubbish, not even "I'm a hipster on a bike I found in granddad's shed" rubbish. Actually, tetnus infected, pieces of pre-century schrapnel rubbish. Yet people still ride them. Even the one's without pedals. And if they aren't riding something that's the dictionary definition of 'shite', they are riding top of the range, all-singing-all-dancing carbon fibre numbers. But despite this...
Every bike in Switzerland is locked up badly - sometimes the locals lock their bike to something. Most of the time they just abandon their bike in the middle of the street, pull out a lock that is as secure as a piece of string, bung it through a quick release wheel, and then toddle off. Best of all, it's there when they come back. Because...
Bike theft in Geneva doesn't seem too bad - I mean how can it be, when no one locks up their stuff. It's like a bike thief's wet dream, everywhere bikes casually deposited. Even in my building the "secure bike parking" consists of a load of velos lingering around in a parking lot. And that leads me onto another point...
Bike storage is considered and integrated into new residential buildings, and retrofitted where possible into the older places - meaning parking your car in a problem, but parking your bike is easy. That in turn gets people out, on the road, which in turn improves everyone's air quality, health and in turn happiness.
No wonder this place ranks consistently in the top 10 best cities in which to dwell.
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