Stefi moved here from Berlin a few months ago. She was used to riding everywhere so she got a cheap but practical bike and started getting around the city on two wheels. (It turns out there is no law that says that if you are wearing a skirt/heels, you must ride a Dutch granny bike.)
New York has a ways to go to rival Berlin’s bike infrastructure, so as the winter came and rider numbers dropped off, Stefi didn’t ride as much. “I felt less safe as a single rider sharing the road with the taxi drivers. But once the weather got nice again, there were so many more bikes on the streets. I could usually ride in a group, which feels much safer.”
Stefi says she loves riding a bike but is a little befuddled by the athletic/recreational mentality many people here have about bikes. “I like riding but I don’t really do it for fun. I just use my bike to go everywhere, so by the end of some days I’ve already been riding for a couple of hours. No need to go for another bike ride.”