Memories caught up with me deeply. I got so excited that the description to these pictures ended in a prolonged travel story. Too long for Instagram. So instead, I put it up in my otherwise sleeping blog (in English) If you like to imagine a life on bicicle in the traffic-jammed Buenos Aires, feeling so free and alive, and very happy back then, it makes me happy now, if you read it here:
I moved back and forth between Hamburg and Buenos Aires (and Antarctica) for a few years, 2002-2008. Each time I had to look for a new appartment. The third place I stayed at was quite a way from my office, no more walking distance, as before (or cab distance with a value of 0,50€ per ride). Such, I was changing to using the metro, and that was a problem. Because my office and station in the evening was inaccesible. It was the first stop after the beginning of the line in the heart oft he city. Where it became completely packed, so me standing at the second line’s stop saw full trains arriving and had to wait several trains to squeeze in. It immediately annoyed me, so I mostly walked. In flip-flops, for an hour, home from work. Blisters and unintended shopping involved. Also, the walk between appartment and station felt too long.
Then my colleague had the best idea of all my life in Buenos Aires: buy yourself a bicycle. WHAT? BIKING IN BUENOS AIRES??? Are you mad? We are talking year 2007. But hey did I go for that idea! I live in Hamburg Germany and biked to school and work all my life. Mostly biking on boardwalks, with our without extra lane (now they are being moved onto the streets). I got myself this nice green bicycle, had a new brake system installed (back pedal foot break), and began a whole new lifestyle in Argentina’s car-filled and traffic-jammed capital.
With the biggest joy of the day I biked through Buenos Aires. I soon found out that yes it was potentially dangerous of course, and the car traffic was mad, but on the other hand I felt so much freer in cycling through Buenos Aires than I was in quiet Hamburg! It was my wonderland, moving through the city on my two wheels.
I figured the danger comes from a different direction than in Germany. In Germany, you have to always turn your head around when you move left or right, or even foreward, so you do not interfere with cars coming from behind. But in front of you it is safe.
In Buenos Aires it was all the opposite! Whenever I turned my head around absolutely e-ve-ry-body kept a very safe distance from Jessica-her-bicycle. I am sure everyone thought I was absolutely mad to do this. There comes this foreign woman and dares to uses the streets with a bicycle as means of transportation. Not as a hobby on a coastal bike strip (if those existed) or mountain-biking. No, I was right in the traffic, on the streets.
The danger was in front of me instead. While all cars keep away about 1m from the boardwalk always, which gave me the opportunity to always come forward to the traffic light, Argentines do something else: they very frequently stop to let people of a car, private or (mostly) taxi. And they do that without looking in the rear mirror to check if there is anyone behind them to crash into them. Even less a crazy girl from Germany on a bike. Such, I always had to have my view front, and always both hands on the brakes! That was the only difference to me.
Other than that I fully enjoyed biking on Sunday mornings with out cars, and I thorougly enjoyed being sooo much faster than by subway – and often being so much faster than the traffic jammed cars. I might have enjoyed the forbidden way into the one-way-streets without even having to worry about police.
I only biked during daylight time. There were no click-on lights for bikes available to buy in Buenos Aires then anyway. To keep my bike I had to take it with me inside my appartments always, using the small elevators.
I had a ball!!!
In between my travels I could leave it with friends. One year I had to leave my bike broken in front oft he Law Faculty locked, and as I had expected the next day it was not there anymore. Since then I borrowed a fierceless friend’s bike. She lives in La Boca, and I well survived that beautiful area too.
I would never want to be staying in Buenos Aires without a bike. Thankfully, biking has become popular since Jessi they Pioneer left town (LOL), there are bike lanes, and rental options have opened up to non residents too. So, Buenos Aires, I am looking forward to return on 2 wheels! This is what I found online just now (6/21) f0r renting a city bike in Buenos Aires.