Traveling with a folding bike always brings me nice surprises. If not on my bike, I won’t be exploring so far away from my hotel and will never discover this small and beautiful patch of Sakura land in Hamburg.
Found Sakura, in Hamburg
Tag Archives: Smarter Travel
Osaka visit
Most trips I make are for business. Usually business trips are packed with meetings and work related activities. However, there is always opportunity to spin my wheel for 30 minutes in the morning. I enjoy bringing my bike to travel because it is really the best way to see the local and get a feel of the location.
In different countries, from hotel to hotel, office to office, the world seems to be merging into one. Everywhere looks more or less the same. Riding in the morning gives me a personal perspective to the cities I am visiting. Physically rolling over the pavement in Shanghai, feel the cold air in Hamburg, the smells from the hawkers selling breakfast in Bangkok, listening to the sound of morning train and motorist as I ride near the Osaka train station, the experience is rich and unique every time. Cycling empower my (walking) movement by five times, half hour exploration in the morning easily covers the same distance as if I would be walking for 2~3 hours. Yet the speed is not too fast that make me lost touch with the physical reality, like sitting in a taxi.
My last trip to Osaka was during the Japanese cherry blossoms (sakura). I was really lucky because the best moment last only for two weeks and I just happen to be there with my bike.
The Sutton project
With a limited budget of £5 million, equivalent to half a cycling lane in London. The Sutton project has seen a 75% increase in cyclists and 13% increase in bus use and a 2% decrease in car use. These are modal shifts that transport planners in London can only dream about.
According to BBC, the Singapore authority (LTA?) had requested information about the cycling promotion project. It would be nice to see some of the idea also implement in Singapore.
How to bring JZ88 on Bus?
It’s really simple, if you spot the right bus.
A while back my friend ask me what’s the best way to bring a folding bike on bus, especially during the peak hours?
I am not a bus person, so that question actually caught me unguarded. I went on to experiment on a few buses in different situations. The very old type of bus with chairs on both sides along the whole length of the bus is the worst. The only location you can leave your bike in such bus is the space on top of the left wheel. Forget about bringing your bike on bus during the peak hour, it is not yet allowed anyway.
Newer buses especially those with wheel chair access are easy. There is a big space for standing passengers and and wheel chair in the middle near the exit, here you can put your bike (folded) just against one of the walls. As seen in this recent news on Channel U clip:
Tips for old bus: make sure your bike is really secured and not moving about when you leave it on top of that platform. If the bike slip and fall it may hurt others.
Tips for new bus: open up the wheel base to gain more stability for the bike. Otherwise if the bus is crowded you can sandwish the bike between your legs and the wall to prevent it from falling.
Watch another TV news of Jz88 folding bike on MRT
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Other related posts/links:
– How to bring Jz88 on to MRT?
– Bicycle? no, it’s a shopping trolley!
– Jz88 folding bike home
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Traveling with folding bike
“You must be crazy to carry your bike.”
My wife told me the first time when I try to bring my folding bike on a business trip. But after trying it once, I am hooked.
Bike + train = ideal way to see Europe
Empowering mobility
IMO cycling is the best way to explore a new place. Walking won’t take you far, and you are most likely keep bumping into other tourists. Tour bus bring you from A to B, but you are missing all the fun between A and B. Sure, for longer distances, I need to rely on train/bus or other transports. That’s precisely when a folding bike come in handy; I simply fold it up and I am ready to go. Once at the destination, unfold my bike and my circle of exploration is immediately 10 times more.
With my bike, I am more willing to explore because it’s more fun. It’s just like upgrading from dial-up to broadband, it’s much faster and more fun and I end up staying longer on the Internet. There is no need to go really far, as long as it’s beyond the reach of a typical tourist, I sure will find something more authentic and more “human”. In fact I always find something interesting within 30 minutes of cycling from any hotel I stay. Thinking back, isn’t it the same in Singapore? Beyond the typical tourist spots, the tourist fade and the local live springs up. 5 mintues cycling (1km) is usually all it takes to go beyond the typical “tourist area”.
Curious girl playing with my bike
Ice-breaker
People never fail to ask me question about my bike, and I got to chat with many people because of this very visible “toy” I am playing with. Once the conversation started, it’s a lot easier to understand the human side of the place I am visiting. I remember once I was sipping a coffee and enjoying the sunset along the Tanshui river side in Taipei, there was this little girl she was very curious about my bike. At first she was very shy but later she just can’t resist her curiosity and start asking if it’s a bicycle. I rewarded her courage by showing her how to unfold and folding the bike. She was very excited and run to told her mum. Later, talking to her mum I learnt that they came to the river side every other day to enjoy the sunset, and the place I was sitting is one of the favorite spot for local too.
Keep it safe
So far no one has stop me from carrying my bike into my hotel room. As a courtesy, sometimes I fold it up before carrying it into the lobby, but most of the hotels are happy to let me roll the bike right in. I‘d feel very stressed if I have to leave my bike outside at night in a foreign land. Losing the bike is one thing, but missing the fun the next day is the worst.
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Want to try the bike ? Here is the link: