Its been over 9 months since I first bumbered into China and it has certainly been an experience…some have been extraordinary and some a little challenging…..but mostly it has been a really enlightening experience…and I have loved every thing about it.
Except for E-bikes!
They do my head in…
I really hate them and their riders too!
Ok so I can hear you asking – what is an E-bike and what can possibly be so bad about them – maybe she’s just having a moment
No I am not having a moment – I am deadly serious…they are seriously deadly!
E-Bikes are cheap to buy, run on electricity … no peddling required and easy to park. They can also look pretty cute – like an accessory.
They have replaced bicycles as the number 1 form of transport in many Chinese cities.
So that old image of bicycles everywhere on the road in China from 20 years ago that I had fondly in my head before I came here – even to the point that I had thought I might actually buy a bicycle and peddle my way around Nanjing…GONE!
Indeed they are enormously practical and there are numerous innovative designs to extend the capacity of the E-bike concept…
Nanjing has even adapted the roads with special laneways for E-bikes and designated parking areas even in the CBD areas…
So it shouldn’t be an issue for me except for one tiny little fact!
E-bikes are not governed by Road Rules and their riders are oblivious to those of us walking! It is really hard to describe…its like a sea of scooters ..just swarming at you from literally any direction and sometimes from a number of directions at the same time…
and it’s not as if they don’t see you …cause you know they do – but they don’t care and just keep coming at you..beeping their horns incessantly…or not!
It is terrifying…
‘and here comes the e-bike ….20kms per hour down the bike track….ah too many in front so a quick jump up onto the footpath….toot toot toot tooooooooooooooot …bloody people obstructing the way …coming through!….Back onto the bike track and now onto the traffic light crossing gliding seamlessly through the crossing and oncoming pedestrian traffic and another quick hop and back onto the next footpath.
…and do they hit pedestrians? …yes they do ….and then if they bother to stop it is to shout at the poor pedestrian for being in the way!
At night they are ridden without lights and most of all they are deadly quiet! You honestly don’t know they are there until they have whooshed past you …leaving you with that….
I just survived a catastrophe feeling!
I have begun to believe that owners and riders of E-bikes actually enjoy scaring the shit out of people walking and particularly if that person is a foreigner …maybe they collect points!
Double points if you hit the foreigner!
Like I said I hate E-bikes and their riders too and I am beginning to suffer Chinese Walking Rage…This is a local recently diagnosed disorder and similar to Road Rage.
Symptoms can include
Paranoia and constantly looking for them – even in buildings!
Swearing loudly as they pass you!
Staring them down as they come at you across the road and making them swerve to avoid you!
Carrying a stick to hit them with!
Pushing a parked E-bike hoping that the domino effect will happen and they will all fall down! Or hoping that they might get hit by a car!
According to long term expats living here symptoms can get worse over time and there are no known treatments, although symptoms do abate after departure with only the occasional nightmare!
Happy Bumbering!
