Though they may soon be given
more freedom, life for the first year or so has been a fairly sad existence for a Boris Bike, riding on short hops in Zone One, choked by Central London smog. Though the hire charges do start to ramp up a bit when you extend your session, it feels humane to liberate our little blue friends for a longer trip.
Over the weekend your author accepted an invitation from Ian, owner of the eternally interesting
Ian Visits website, to abandon his
yellow bike and take two lucky Boris bikes on the Eurostar to Paris. Eurostar operator does provide a useful
bike transfer service on its trains, and our bikes were accompanied by lighter touring bikes being taken for continental cycling holidays.
The bikes seemed to thorougly enjoy their trip out, visiting the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, the Notre Dame and the Place de la Concorde on a loop around the city, and even allowing their riders time for a pleasant lunch in a pavement cafe. It was a lovely day out, and though the combination of heavy bikes, French cobbles and the heat meant a couple of stops were needed along the way, it was well worth the effort. One of them even found time for
a little romance during the trip.
Your author must thank Ian for using his Eurostar tickets, organising the bike transfer, and for having the idea to liberate the bikes for a day. If you do decide to follow the lead of
Ian and other intrepid
bike liberators, be sure to keep an eye on
the hire charges, to ensure you don't get a shock at bank statement time.
For a full report on the trip, head over to
http://ianvisits.co.uk/