Pedal power sways Muscovites despite perils
The recent enthusiasm for cycling is a sign of their desire to reclaim their city
Two years ago, Luiza Nesterova would never have dreamt of cycling to work in Russia’s capital. But now she bikes everywhere, undeterred by busy roads that are still a battleground for cyclists.
In the city of 12 million, biking round snarled streets seems to make perfect sense, but Moscow “isn’t an easy city for cyclists,” admits 30-year-old Nesterova, a consultant in a finance company.
Uncrossable highways filled with speeding cars cut through the centre, drivers are oblivious to cyclists and, for over half the year, the city is smothered in snow and ice.
Every day — winter or summer — Nesterova gets on her pale green bike, undaunted, and rides for more than five kilometres along busy roads with no cycle lanes and no cycle helmet.
“When it snows, I just wear warmer gloves,” she says, adding that she gets in the saddle even when it is minus 27 degrees C (minus 16F).
To encourage other Muscovites to do the same, she has created an Instagram page — @luizinbike2.0 — that gets viewed more than 5,400 times per day. She often gets interviewed by Russian media and has become a kind of “ambassador” for cycling. “There are more and more people, who would like to ride bikes but they are very scared of cars here and so drivers don’t learn to share the road with cyclists.”
Negative image
In a bid to change that negative image, Moscow city hall has invested in developing cycling over the last couple of years.
In 2013 the city launched its own bike sharing system, Velobike, copying the “Boris Bikes” and “Velib” networks in London and Paris.
Last year, some 196,000 people got bikes from the now 380 stations around the city. The authorities spend some 150 million roubles (Dh9.18 million; $2.5 million, €2.2 million) annually on the scheme.
At the same time, Moscow’s modest number of cycle lanes has also expanded. But, still, it remains just a fraction of the amount in established bikefriendly capitals in Western Europe.
“Moscow will never become a cycling city like Amsterdam but we hope that it will become more and more pleasant to cycle here,” Alexei Mityayev, the city official in charge of cycling, told AFP.
For Nadezhda Zherebina, who has launched a cycling lobby group called Let’s Bike It with a group of friends, the city hall still needs to focus on providing cycle lanes — otherwise riders are forced to use pavements.