Get on your bike

Madrid bike scheme faces uphill battle


The Spanish capital is seeking to match rival Barcelona, as well as Paris and London, by providing hundreds of bicycles for public hire — with the added feature of electric motors to help riders up slopes.

The self-service stands that will hold the 1,500 electric bicycles started appearing around the centre of the Spanish capital this week, but the planned May 1st start has been pushed back to an unconfirmed date.

 
 
 
 
Vocabulary:
 
to face (a problem) -
 
an uphill battle/struggle -
 
to provide -
 
a slope -
 
a (bike) stand -
 
to push back (a date) -
 
to shake (shook, shaken) -
 
narrow (adj) -
 
to knock sb down -
 
a passerby -
 
to set stg up -
 
a city hall -
 
awareness (n) -
 
to be keen to do stg -
 
reluctant (adj) -
 
due to (= because of) -
 
a lack of stg -
 
a cycle lane -
 
so-called -
 
to crack down on stg -
 
to lack -
 
 
 
 
 
Have you ever used a bike to get around Madrid? What was your experience?
 
Would you use one on a regular basis?
 
 


Comments

Roberto said…
In my opinion,is a good idea to rent bikes in the center of Madrid(like Barcelona),but the first thing we need is a bike lane(like Barcelona),because sometimes is a risky game to ride a bicycle among the crazy traffic of the city.
Graham said…
Hi Roberto,

I think that people should learn how to respect each other first; whether it be in a car, on a bike or as a pedestrian.


In my opinion, it is a good idea to rent bikes... because it is sometimes a risky game to ride a bicycle among the crazy traffic of the city.


Have a read of this post:
http://madteachergraham2.blogspot.com.es/2014/01/who-is-it-its-me.html



Roberto said…
Respect...but then,the bike lane.Because,that garantees you a certain level of safety if you are riding a bicycle,even the drivers don´t respect you!.I´ve read the post,very useful for me(I alwais make the same mistake).
Graham said…
Roberto,

Yeah, I found that out when I rented a bike last Sunday.

You never know people might adapt to the new system quickly.

Surprisingly, people started to respect the smoking ban pretty soon after it was introduced.