Bicycles of Italy
Bicycles of Italy are profuse! A few years ago we visited Italy including Verona, Milan, Florence, Tuscany and Rome.
A beautiful, leggy blonde woman wheels her bicycle in Milan, Italy
Along the way, we saw all sorts of bicycles leaned against fences, stone buildings, locked to poles and street signs. There were hundreds, some beautiful, some fanciful, some merely utilitarian, and all beloved by their owners. If we were not on a whirlwind tour of the country, we would have brought our mountain bikes along and explored some of the beautiful mountains, like we did in 1993 and 1994 during the video production of our documentary, “Full Cycle A World Odyssey.”
Along our Italian journey, I photographed the bicycles I really liked, the ones that looked like illustrations or paintings with classic Italian backdrops. It was evident that Italians, and Europeans, for that matter, love their two-wheeled transports. There is a distressing lack of helmets as perhaps cyclists (particularly the ladies) don’t want to ruin their coifs.
Two girls ride their bicycles towards the multi-colored fabric knot sculpture downtown Milan, Italy
But just as the intrepid sport of mountain biking originated in the USA and rapidly spread around the world, so too, perhaps helmets? Gotta protect that noggin!
Mark and I decided to rent a couple of mountain bikes for a day while in Florence, known for its bounty of cobblestone streets. We were happy that we had chosen the shop’s top-of-the-line cycles with shocks or it would have felt like we had been operating a jackhammer all day. And yet many of the bicycles we saw throughout Italia had no shocks. Maybe it’s the olive oil or non-GMO pastas that lend Italian bicyclists their strength and endurance.
We were happy to be on bicycles much of the time as we were able to move around traffic jams and into areas where cars simply cannot go. We would highly recommend renting a bicycle if you ever decide to visit Florence or any other Italian town where they rent out bicycles. (Get the ones with shocks and make sure to rent a helmet, too.)
Here are more of the lovely Bicycles of Italy that we came across.
Bicycle locked around a pole
Bicycles leaned against green graffitied post
Lady with pink pants and backpack riding in streets of Milan, Italy
Police officer strides past parked bicycles
Bicycles parked near sunglasses billboard, Milan, Italy
Blue bicycle locked on pole casts a shadow in late afternoon
Blonde woman rides her bicycle with basket in street
Bicycle with basket parked near Chiuso sign, Italy
