Veturilo

May 09, 2023

Veturilo

The bikes are essentially free.

A one-hour ride is 25 cents American; anything under 20 minutes is gratis. They seldom litter the sidewalks because there's a 15 zloty penalty for not leaving them at a designated bike station. When you press the big red "Unlock and Rent" button on the app, the O-lock on your chosen bike snaps open (give it a little push if it doesn't) and you are immediately texted a message encouraging you to have a nice day. It's like witchcraft.

There's a robust system of bike lanes that occasionally steer you to the sidewalk (ugh), but that's a quibble. It's great to see so many people on bikes here. Kids at the Saxon Gardens ride down the water-tower hill screaming their heads off. All over the city there is an army of 3-year-olds learning to ride.

Bicycles are the greatest tool we have for improving mental health and cutting carbon emissions. I truly believe that! When you park your Veturilo bike, slide the O-lock into the lock position and listen for two beeps. You're done. No need to revisit the app ― it will send you a summary of how long your ride was, how many calories you burned and how much CO2 you kept out of the atmosphere.

Navigating Warsaw on a bike involves some trial and error. It took me 48 hours to figure out that the only way to attack the train tracks at Warszawa Gdanska station was to go in the opposite way that I wanted and find the slope of the bridge that would get me over them. This is true of any city. Eventually you will learn shortcuts, angles of attack, where the pinch points are. Being on a bike is a problem-solving activity that sharpens your acuity.

Motorists here are extremely cautious and polite. Amsterdam/Berlin-levels of courtesy are extended to bicyclists and pedestrians. People check their rearviews before making a right. Pedestrians return the favor. Like Canadians, they will wait till the walk signal turns green even if there is no (apparent) traffic in either direction. All of this surprised me, in a good way. This is what an ordered society looks like, though I also appreciate the order imposed by disorder.

A bike repair stand with tools and pump at Plac Wilsona.

My favorite activity in Warsaw was to get in the saddle and pedal in a random direction. Here are some of the places Veturilo bikes led me.

This seems like a good place to leave it.

Two observations: At small retailers, if you pay with a 100 zloty bill, be prepared for mom or pop to act as if you asked them to clean your oven. They will sigh heavily and rummage through their own purses or wallets to drive home just how inconvenient making change for the grand total of $25 USD is.

The Polish bakeries (piekarnie) are outstanding. The breads in particular. The baguettes at Cala w Mace in Zoliborz are of near-Parisian quality, for instance.

The Poles have a peculiar relationship with bread, probably because of their history of privation. Politicians here love being photographed kissing loaves of it, and nobody seems to want to throw it away when it gets stale. Instead, people will toss it on the ground and hope the birds find it. Sometimes they do.