First Bike Ride a Milano

I did my first bike ride in Milan last Saturday. It wasn't too far and thankfully, passed without any drama - well, apart from the tram that nearly ran into me!

Yes, riding around Milan's streets takes some getting used to. It's a little bit random. The road where I live has a cycle lane that is separate from the traffic, so you feel pretty safe in it. The only thing is it then suddenly comes to an end when you reach another busy road.

To get to the canal towpath where I wanted to ride involved going through the town centre. One section of road had tram lines on it so I made sure to give them a wide berth to avoid any mishaps. The only thing then is that the positioning of the lines meant that I was either riding quite close to parked cars so that made me vulnerable to folks opening their doors or pulling out. If I rode to the left of the tram lines I was practically riding in the middle of the road, which made me also vulnerable to traffic riding up behind or trying to overtake me.

I managed to find an optimuim position, but then went through a junction thinking I had right of way when a tram that was turning left in the on-coming lane almost ran into me. The driver didn't look too pleased and made one of those angry Italian driver faces, while I looked a bit embarrassed and sheepish!

Once past the tramlines, I then had to negotiate the cobbles. The weren't Paris-Roubaix cobbles, but medium sized old paving stones that are not neatly put together and jut out in random directions, so it still made for a bumpy ride.

So that was what I had to contend with, just the 10 minutes to get to the canal towpath, also known as the Naviglio Grande. It's a nice area for going out in a trendy bar. It's the type of place that was probably a bit run down and industrial previously, but has now become arty farty and hip.

There was a nice feel there on Saturday, and I felt tempted to stop off and hang out along the canal side (which is currently devoid of water at the moment). Instead I pushed on and followed the path to a small town called Abbiategrasso. Once past the Milan conurbation the area became greener and rural. The path is quite good for doing a training ride, and there were many cyclists out doing just that - as well as leisure cyclists. The route was also pan flat, which is good for me considering my very unfit state!

I plan to make this my regular quick spin ride as it is near where I am staying and easy to do - it is also traffic free, which is always good in a busy city like Milan.