When I met Dave Ford at the YMCA in New Delhi as planned, he had already connected with Rudolph, who is part of the cycling group. We toured around Delhi together, enjoying a variety of monuments, temples, museums and neighbourhoods. We were fascinated by the flow of the traffic as we travelled around Delhi; cars, tuktuks, motorcycles and assorted other vehicles jostled for position, coming very close to each other but somehow managing never to touch.
Arrived Tuesday night in time to wander down to a main street and find dinner. The street was full of life; shops were open, families walking around. There was even a small carnival happening in a square that had attracted a lot of families with small children. I enjoyed sitting outside by the sidewalk to eat dinner.
Wednesday morning it took me a while to get all my biking gear organized, so I left at 10. It also took me a while to get my bearings. Once I did get going in the right direction, I realized that the major thoroughfares cut right through town, and there are few places to cross them. This city feels like it has been put together by property developers and traffic engineers. It is not pedestrian friendly, and hopeless for cycling. When I was occasionally able to use a bike lane, they were full of obstacles. The rest of the time, I found myself constantly geting forced onto big roads.
However, I had a fascinating ride down the "Dubai Creek" on the way out, I watched people loading everything from bags to cars on old boats that didn't look too seaworthy. On the way back, I zig zagged through little lanes full of little stores. This is the old part of Dubai.
Riding South along the beach, I saw newer parts of the city. I met an Emirates pilot called Ian, who was out for a ride on his road bike. He expressed a lot of frustration with cycling conditions. He recommended aganst riding out to the Palm Jumeirah, and I found out why once I got close. There is a four lane expressway leading out to the subdivision, and while it is possible to go onto the island, access to each residential road is controlled with a gate manned by a guard. At a certain point, the big road goes through a tunnel, where bikes are not allowed, so I had to turn back.
On the way home, I dropped into Wolfi's bike shop, and when I met Wolfi, he was also very concerned about the difficulty of finding good bike routes.
Got home to the hotel at 5.
