1/3 - Cycling in Bermuda
We went to Bermuda for a week earlier this month. There is a railway which ceased operations in 1946 that ran the length of the island, and has since been converted into a (very fragmented) multi-use trail. It's called the Bermuda Railway Trail.
We were staying at the West end of the island, near Somerset Village. I rented a bicycle for the week (a 18" Trek 3500, which, as I dreaded when I questioned them beforehand about sizing, was entirely too small for me) and I rode about 10-15 km of the trail (~100 km total over several days). I also did some on-road stuff up to the Northwest end of the island (Dockyards), which turned out to be my favourite run, actually. I generally hate riding on the road, but I loved the scenery and actually North of Sommerset there was hardly any traffic, especially early in the morning, when I tended to go out.
As much as we loved Bermuda, they do have a total 100% car culture there - despite the law meaning each household can only have one car (and visitors being prohibited from renting them). Any other vehicles are what we would call scooters (which they just call "bikes"). Bicycles are called "Pedal Bikes" and are virtually non-existent, and I think the general thought is "Why on earth would you ride a bike when you could just drive or ride a bike (scooter)?!" I saw a couple of white lycra guys but that was it. Not even the poorer locals ride them, they just ride their scooters. The roads are exceptionally narrow, almost all are without sidewalks, and drivers seem very hostile toward cyclists - our cab driver from the airport when we landed spent 45 minutes talking about how much he hates cyclists and took pride in having actually hit one - I kept my mouth shut!).
Things are changing, though, and actually on our last day there I ran into a race of hundreds of cyclists heading the other way, for some full-length island ride for a charity.
Here are some photos.
First day out: the start of the Railway Trail!
Signage at the start. I'm not sure if "Auxiliary Cycle" is supposed to mean Moped or E-Bike, but cars and scooters and motorcycles all used the trail, too. "That's Bermuda." became one of our favorite sayings.
I guess I should never complain about a cattlegate here in Ontario!
The trail is really fragmented - while most of it is paved, suddenly you'll hit something like this.
...and then, 2 seconds later, you're greeted with this, and all is forgiven.
We went to Bermuda for a week earlier this month. There is a railway which ceased operations in 1946 that ran the length of the island, and has since been converted into a (very fragmented) multi-use trail. It's called the Bermuda Railway Trail.
We were staying at the West end of the island, near Somerset Village. I rented a bicycle for the week (a 18" Trek 3500, which, as I dreaded when I questioned them beforehand about sizing, was entirely too small for me) and I rode about 10-15 km of the trail (~100 km total over several days). I also did some on-road stuff up to the Northwest end of the island (Dockyards), which turned out to be my favourite run, actually. I generally hate riding on the road, but I loved the scenery and actually North of Sommerset there was hardly any traffic, especially early in the morning, when I tended to go out.
As much as we loved Bermuda, they do have a total 100% car culture there - despite the law meaning each household can only have one car (and visitors being prohibited from renting them). Any other vehicles are what we would call scooters (which they just call "bikes"). Bicycles are called "Pedal Bikes" and are virtually non-existent, and I think the general thought is "Why on earth would you ride a bike when you could just drive or ride a bike (scooter)?!" I saw a couple of white lycra guys but that was it. Not even the poorer locals ride them, they just ride their scooters. The roads are exceptionally narrow, almost all are without sidewalks, and drivers seem very hostile toward cyclists - our cab driver from the airport when we landed spent 45 minutes talking about how much he hates cyclists and took pride in having actually hit one - I kept my mouth shut!).
Things are changing, though, and actually on our last day there I ran into a race of hundreds of cyclists heading the other way, for some full-length island ride for a charity.
Here are some photos.
First day out: the start of the Railway Trail!
Signage at the start. I'm not sure if "Auxiliary Cycle" is supposed to mean Moped or E-Bike, but cars and scooters and motorcycles all used the trail, too. "That's Bermuda." became one of our favorite sayings.
I guess I should never complain about a cattlegate here in Ontario!
The trail is really fragmented - while most of it is paved, suddenly you'll hit something like this.
...and then, 2 seconds later, you're greeted with this, and all is forgiven.