Pedal Pusher | Ying Chu from Marie Claire

Ying Chu — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:07:24 +0000

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When it comes to getting around a big city—New York, where I live; Paris, where I love to visit—nothing beats two wheels. I’ve had my bicycle—a dusty-rose, single-speed Trek from the ’70s—in Manhattan for five years now. I ride it to brunch, to run errands, even to the office on an ambitious day (conveniently, there’s a bike storage room in the Hearst Tower, Marie Claire’s HQ). So when I was recently in Paris reporting a story that required back-to-back appointments from St-Germain to Montmartre to the Marais, I naturally turned to Vèlib, the city’s brilliant bike-share system (velib.paris.fr). With rental stations located every few blocks, all I needed was a sense of direction and a credit card (the first 30 minutes are free; it costs just a few Euros every hour thereafter). The bike comes with its own lock, rubber pedals that don’t scuff up my ballet flats, and a generous basket to stash my bag and my favorite French pharmacy wares (Créaline makeup remover, Biafine post-sunburn ointment, Citrate de Bétaïne—the famous hangover cure) that I picked up along the way.

Looking back, I can’t tell you how many appointments I would have missed had I waited around for taxis—or tried to weave my way through the bustling Paris Metro. Of course, I wasn’t riding solo. Chic Parisians in every neighborhood—kids trailing their parents, men in suits, women in skirts and heels—were on Vèlibs, too. Which is perhaps just another factor in how French women stay thin. Fortuitously for bikeless New Yorkers, a Vèlib-like system is being considered for the Big Apple by the Department of Transportation as early as next year. Sorry, Zipcar, but two wheels are better—greener and leaner—than four.

Ying Chu | Marie Claire

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Pedal Pusher | Ying Chu from Marie Claire