I can't drive 55

Seriously, I can’t drive 55 kilometers/hour (my apologies to Sammy Hagar). This morning I decided to test my freedom by riding my large e-bike (to be known henceforth as “The Hog”….leaving the smaller scooter to be named “The Piglet”…I can’t take credit for that name but it fits) to work. I checked the weather forecast for the day to ensure that I would not be rained on (or hopefully would not be rained on) during the ride to or from work. Once it seemed the weather would hold, I grabbed my backpack and headed out the door to get moving towards work. I estimated it would take me about 40 minutes for the drive but I wasn’t sure and I wanted to get on the roads as early as possible to avoid the rush hour.

A couple of key points to make before I continue with the story. Different scooters have different speeds and based on the battery power, some run faster than others. From my little trek down the street with Warren on Saturday, I noticed that if the scooters are run at less than full throttle, the batteries will last longer. Many of the Chinese have to travel long distances on their scooters to and from work. Therefore, they don’t run them at full speed in order to get to where they are going. At many workplaces, they have small “car ports” where the scooters can be parked and plugged in to recharge. I tell you this so you can realize that although we are all traveling in the same general direction, we are all moving at different speeds because along with the e-bikes, there are also people that are riding the standard “pedal power” bicycles on their way to work. So when you mix in the varying speeds and different types of scooters/bicycles, you have a pretty good variety of what I like to call “moving obstacles”. One other important piece of information to note is that there are separate bike lanes separated from the six lane highways with “medians” to prevent one from getting easily to the other. This is a good thing since it does take away some of the fear from riding on the road alongside the vehicles. The bike lane is perhaps about the same width as a single lane of the highway, it appears that you can get about 3 scooters across with a little gap between each, 4 scooters….if you ain’t rubbing, you ain’t racing. I don’t think four is possible unless they are the really small e-bikes.

Now, I know that it gets pretty crowded on the roads in a vehicle but it’s also pretty crowded on an e-bike in the bike lane. As I headed out of the apartment complex to the first intersection, I hit the first bit of traffic. There were about a dozen or so other scooters headed down the road in my direction. I merged in nicely and was on my way. I see the light is red ahead at the major intersection and many scooters are waiting to get across the street. I pull up and get in the queue to cross the street, it’s pretty crowded and everyone seems to want to get a little further ahead than the other guy (if you ain’t first….you’re last). I hold my ground and just wait patiently for the light to turn. Once it does, it’s like keystone cops; everyone pushes off to get their balance and then jostles for position, some narrowly avoiding the others. At the same time, although the light is green and we are going with the flow of the traffic in the lane next to us, there are also cars trying to turn right on red. We have to avoid those cars (meaning that you either stop and wait for a small gap between vehicles (my way) or you just continue to drive forward like you don’t even know they are there…the Chinese way) in order to get through the intersection. It’s not really comfortable to stop and wait for a gap since although there is only one turning lane, people can turn right from the second lane or further so you have to watch and as always, stick with the locals. [Dudley’s traffic law #1: Keep a local between you and the traffic and stay even with them, if they cross, you cross. They must know what they are doing right?!?] The first intersection is the major problem area, other than that, it was pretty easy. Kinda boring isn’t it….you were hoping for more action I’m sure. I don’t want to embellish so just the facts. The ride to work was rather mundane since I beat the traffic and was able to just motor along at 45 kph (remember, I can’t drive 55) pretty much the whole way to work. I had to pass some people or wait for some space to pass every now and again but I just hit the horn (yes, the e-bikes here have horns) to let them know I was there and for the most part passed them pretty easy. I made it to work in about 30 minutes.

The way home….different story. Since everyone heads back about the same time, the closer I got to home, the more crowded the bike lane became. It was really kind of crazy as I got within 2 kms of home. First of all, it felt like rain was coming very soon and there were some raindrops on the way home so everyone was in a hurry. Second, more and more people were all headed in the same direction. It was getting crazy. I was able to pick through many people but then I started to realize that I needed to slow down since it was getting harder to maneuver through the rest of the people. The Hog has some “wiggle” to the steering as you go slower that I still haven’t been able to get to master. When I run slow, it’s almost like the front wheel is unbalanced or I’m riding over a bunch of stones that are all at different heights. I can control it but it’s hard to manage when you have the added pressure of people all around you. Even at 30 kph, a collision would be a problem. So, as I get closer to the Modern Avenue intersection, it becomes apparent that I’ve got some trouble to get through this. At the intersection, I slow to get ready to wait for the light to change. I’m about 50 e-bikes back in the pack (seriously, 50) and more are coming each passing second. Soon, they are swarming all over, trying to move closer to the front, even if it means that they have to bump another bike or kind of whack someone in the shin as they pass by. It was ridiculous; the light changes for almost 60 seconds at this intersection and here they are trying to get close to ensure they get through. It was stupid (in my opinion) and dangerous. If one scooter went down, it was all over for everyone else. When the light changed, then it got worse as everyone was trying to get balanced and moving forward. It was a bunch of near misses but everyone made it through. The problem is the cars, cars turning right from your left and cars headed perpendicular to you also turning right on red. You basically swerve around through the maze until you see the other bike lane. Once in the lane, then it’s survive until the next intersection where I turn left to home. I have to try and get to the left side of the group now but they weren’t budging. I basically slowed down until I had the room and then moved over to wait at my intersection. So, I was almost home.

Just so you know about riding across the intersections here, you don’t always ride at right angles. You know, I didn’t have to go over to the far side of the intersection to turn left and then ride straight home. Instead, I rode diagonal across the intersection to get to my side of the street. It may sound odd but it’s the way they ride. When you get to the intersection and the left turn arrow goes green, take the left turn with the cars, riding alongside and hoping not to get taken out from the cars on the other side of the street also turning left. It’s a trip but it’s what the locals do and so it’s what I did as well. Finally, I arrived at home. The battery still had a good charge so I decided not to charge it overnight and I’ll see what kind of range I have for the bike on a charge (a good piece of information to have).

It may seem like something small, I drove myself to work today but it’s kind of huge for me. It gives me a little bit of freedom to get out and do something without having to depend on others. I don’t have the confidence yet to take the scooter to places like Walking Street or Bar Street but I will get out and explore Suzhou more. Rather than looking out the window of a taxi, now I can see things like the locals always see and when I do, I can snap a photo or two. Keep me in your prayers as I continue to be a rebel on my Hog.