Passes & Canyons Blog

One bike, that’s it. In so many other European cities there would be more motorbikes than cars in this picture but not here in Lisbon.

I’ve been to Europe several times and over that time I have developed what I considered a pretty good basic understanding of the reality over there in regard to motorcycles, or motorbikes as it were. But this recent trip has cast some doubt on what I had taken the case to be.

In short, my take had been that in cities–at least the bigger cities–many, many people ride motorbikes because traffic is dense, streets in many areas are very narrow, and really the best way to get around easily, with the minimum of aggravation, is to do so on two wheels. Sure, outside of the city you don’t tend to see so many bikes but in the cities it’s a given.

One caveat there, too. On a trip where we spent our time in the poorer, Eastern European countries, I expected to see lots of bikes but saw almost none. Inquiring, I was told that these people aspire to greater wealth and motorbikes were viewed as something only someone who had no money chose to use. It was a status thing.

My general take on the situation was formed from my experiences in places like Rome, Paris, Madrid, Rotterdam, and Barcelona. But on this trip we went to Portugal.

We got to Lisbon and the difference from Barcelona, where we had just been, was dramatic. Yes, there were a good many bikes, though nothing close to what you see in Barcelona, but a great many of those we did see were food delivery people. Like Uber Eats, which we did see, though the really big company seems to be Glovo.

But then, while there were some areas with narrow streets, Lisbon was different, not as medieval. This I learned is a direct result of a devastating earthquake that flattened most of Lisbon in 1755. And to top that off, the earthquake caused a huge tsunami that then wiped out much of what little remained. Lisbon was almost completely rebuilt after 1755, with broader, straighter streets. Still, the traffic is horrible so I don’t understand why motorbikes are not more favored.

Then we went north to Porto, Portugal’s second-largest city.

Porto definitely retains more of its medieval structure and it is extremely hilly. Narrow, winding streets, steep hills, streets jam-packed with traffic–this would seem a natural spot for motorbikes to be king. Nope. There were even fewer of them here than in Lisbon. What gives?

I have not been able to come up with a good answer to that question. And there’s really nothing more to say–I have no answer. But I sure an curious.

Biker Quote for Today

I just heard somebody say that “real women ride men with Harleys.” No way. Real women ride their own damn Harleys.

When people and vehicles share the very narrow street like this you better believe everyone is careful and nobody drives recklessly.

We just spent five days in Barcelona (Spain) and as always, I observed the traffic scene–i.e., the two-wheeled type–closely. I’ll tell you two things: No non-California city in the US is ready for this scene, and it is then a good thing that no such city will soon be experiencing this.

Barcelona streets are packed with traffic so vehicles frequently move slowly and even when they move fast they are slow by our norms. And because traffic moves so slowly, the filtering and lane-splitting are constant.

We took a cab one day. The right-hand curb lanes on busy streets are reserved for buses and taxis so those types of vehicles can make better time. Of course motorcycles use that lane a lot. And apparently they’re allowed to, either officially or unofficially.

Let me make a side note here. In Europe they tend to use the word “motorbike” and that’s actually probably a better word for them. The highly dominant two-wheeler is the step-through scooter, like the Vespas of old. There are also real motorcycles but anything over 500cc is rare. Baggers are non-existent.

But you also have plenthy of the stand-up scooters that have become popular, plus lots of power-assisted bicycles–ebikes. And of course plain old people-powered bicycles and skateboards. All of these, for our purposes, can be grouped under the term “motorbikes.”

OK, back to the narrative. I was saying we took a cab.

The one problem with taking the right-hand cab and bus lane is that both of these conveyances are prone to making stops. And when they do you can end up sitting a while before they move again.

The obvious thing to do is go around them but that means merging into the next lane and on our cab ride, as the cab would start to insinuate its way in, the motorbikes behind the cab would dart into the opening and block the cab out of the space it had created. We missed getting through red light cycles a couple times for exactly that reason.

Our cab driver stayed totally cool, showing no frustration or aggravation. I’m sure because he deals with this all day every day. And he was vigilantly watchful for these scooters and all.

How do you suppose a typical American driver is likely to respond to something like this? Rhetorical question. We know the answer.

So no, no non-California city in the US is ready for this but it’s not going to happen anywhere any time soon. In Europe motorbikes are everywhere by the thousands. Until Americans take up two-wheeled travel in those kinds of numbers that kind of scene cannot develop. And hopefully, as it will happen gradually–if it ever does–we’ll all have time to adapt to it just as gradually. Until it feels normal.

How crazy would that be?

Biker Quote for Today

Why did the motorcycle stay at home? It was two-tired.

Motorcycles filtering to the front in Madrid.

We got home a few days ago from three weeks in Spain and of course I paid a lot of attention to the motorcycling scene over there and have some thoughts to pass along.

The first thing that struck me was how, unlike Paris or Rome, Madrid was actually not engulfed in small motorcycles and scooters. Yes, there were far more of them than you’ll see in any U.S. city, but not as many as in those other capitals. I think part of that may be that in Madrid–and in all of the Spanish cities we visited–the streets are generally wider, making things less congested and therefore the benefit of two-wheeling it is lessened. Just my speculation.

I was also interested to see that the Spanish seem to do a lot less lane-splitting. That seemed to be due to there not being enough room to get through up the middle when traffic stopped at red lights. Instead, the riders would filter to the front as much as they could by riding in the gutter–or even up on the sidewalk–or riding down the center stripe or even over into the oncoming lane. Then, as everywhere, when the light changed they would blast ahead.

Small bikes and scooters, and even a surprising number of larger bikes, were very common throughout the older, medieval areas of the cities where the streets are extremely narrow. We had rain off and on and I had to wonder how their tires gripped on the cobblestones and marble that were so common. I have a pair of Rockport shoes I took along and they slipped like crazy on wet marble, so much so that I quit wearing them if it was wet out or rain threatened. Presumably the tires had better grip.

I noticed how many of the scooter riders cruise along with one foot down. It makes sense. In the stop and go of working your way through dense city traffic you would forever be lifting your feet and putting them back down again. Many just don’t bother.

The city with the most bikes and scooters turned out to be Barcelona, the last stop on our trip. At last I was seeing the hordes of bikes I had expected to see in Madrid. Mostly scooters. Here it was amazing how sometimes almost entire blocks were given over to motorcycle/scooter parking only, and every slot was in use. Rather than stop in traffic and roll backward into a parking slot, the common approach was to pull up on the sidewalk and drive straight into the slot off the curb. Barcelona also has a large number of broad streets so actual lane-splitting, coming up the middle between lanes of cars, was much more common.

It was particularly interesting on Sunday, April 24, when we were driving from Sevilla to Arcos de la Frontera and the roads were full of motorcycles. Motorcycles by the hundreds, if not thousands. What, does every Spaniard go riding in the country on the weekend? I couldn’t believe how many bikes there were.

Well, we figured it out. We got to Arcos and were having beers and tapas in the bar at our hotel and they had the TV on. They were reporting on the Spanish Gran Prix, which had been held that day in nearby Jerez de la Frontera. All those bikes we saw were people riding home after the race. Valentino Rossi won, by the way, so he’s apparently not totally washed up yet, though he’s no longer the top dog he once was.

Most of the Spanish countryside we saw was not very interesting, and didn’t look like particularly compelling riding country. The one place that was not true was in the de la Frontera area. This area of what they call the Spanish white hill towns is, as the name suggests, a very hilly area. Narrow, twisty roads going up high with fabulous views. It’s probably like that up north in the Pyrenees, too, so if you ever go to Spain to ride just head straight for the good parts.

Biker Quote for Today

Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.