Bologna Bike Trade

So one of the things I have wanted to get since I arrived here is a bike. Normally this would seem quite simple, but is just so happens that bikes are a much desired commodity in Bologna! In fact when getting a bike it is best to make sure it is not that flashy of a bike. This is because stealing bikes is treasured past time here in Bologna. Once they are stolen, they are then spray painted a new color and sold at the weekend flea market (at which point the buyer better get a good lock or else the bike is likely to be back at the market the following week sporting another new paint job!).

Even Johns Hopkins has a special part to play in this story. After 9/11 it was originally required that all US institutions abroad needed to have protection at all times by the local authorities. So the school had a Bologna Police Officer who was always stationed outside of the school. Well one would certainly think that with a police officer right outside of the school, bike theft would not be a problem at all. But would you believe it bikes still disappeared from the bike racks right in front of the school! Rumor is that the police officer out front was actually in on the local bike trade and allowed the theft to occur as long as he got a cut! (as post 9/11 regulations were relaxed the school was able to let the officer go).

At any rate the main point of this post is just to say, I bought a bike! I went in search of bikes many a times and I was a bit afraid that I would not find what I was looking for. I wanted to get an old road bike that could serve as a commuter bike and allow me to go on some bike trips here in Italy! Finally on my third trip to the various bike stores one bike stood out and screamed my name, a yellow road bike. It is perhaps a bit small and the gears are by no means perfect, but I am very happy with it! (and I have two excellent locks for it!) Since I bought the bike on Tuesday I have already mapped out a few possible bike trips one in Tuscany and one in Northern Italy (Alps?). No doubt this blog will have a few posts in the future about my bike trips!