(shanghai daily)
Updated: 2007-02-28 09:44

With spring just around the corner, the time is ripe to hop aboard the bicycling revolution and embrace pedal power as the best way to travel round this cycle-friendly city, writes Douglas Williams.

Recently I had the strangest dream. I dreamed the streets of Shanghai were awash with cyclists and there wasn't a car, taxi, bus, scooter or motorbike to be seen anywhere.

That's not all: the bikes people were riding were the very finest. There were "ET the Extra Terrestrial," Kuwahara BMXs; classic 1950s Colnagos; carbon-graphite Lemond racers and Choppers. There were fine Pinarellos fully decked out with Campagnola components; chunky, full-suspension Yeti mountain bikes, and handsome black sit up and beg Forever roadsters, but that's not all. All the cyclists were wearing their very coolest threads and they all looked as though they were off for a Saturday night at the Glamour Bar, the bikes their ultimate accessory.

Oh it was lovely.

Then I woke up and cycled to work; needless to say, the reality was somewhat different.

Cycling in Shanghai, clearly a very popular mode of transport, can be a daunting prospect for those unfamiliar with the traffic, even more so for those unfamiliar with a bike.

Cycling does, however, provide probably the simplest, usually the cheapest and often the quickest way of getting from A to B. Particularly so if that A to B would not be more than an 11-yuan (US$1.40) taxi fare.

More important, cycling is a whole lot more fun than taking a cab, it's good for you and, unlike most other forms of transport, it doesn't harm the environment.

Granted there's an element of danger but having cycled regularly in a number of cities in the West, I can categorically state that cycling here is safer albeit a little more intense.

Jack Lin, vice president of Labici, one of Shanghai's finest bike shops, and self-confessed biking nut, says: "In the United Kingdom all new roads must have a designated cycle lane. Here in Shanghai most streets already have a big, clearly marked cycle lane so it is really an easy city to cycle round."

Added to that there are no hills in Shanghai, so it's flat, which is a huge advantage. "Cycling is fun," says Lin. "You've got to just go with the flow and don't do anything too sudden but make your moves obvious. It's a bad idea to get aggressive but at the same time, if someone's cramping your space, taxi or bike, then you will need to cramp somebody else's space."

Labici on Wanping Road stocks the sort of bicycles that professional cyclists ride, some more expensive than a car.

Many would make a generous gift or an indulgent indulgence. There's a magic about a new bike that doesn't fade as we grow older.

One of Lin's most popular bikes is the Xenia, an "urban assault" bike. This is a cross between a BMX and a mountain bike.

One gear, shock absorbing forks and one rear disc brake.

"It's comfortable, easy to control, almost indestructible and it's great fun to ride," says Lin.

It sure looks sturdy.

It costs 7,500 yuan.

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