Imagine Having to Learn to Ride a Bike on Mexico City's Mean Streets Natasha Pizzey & Deborah Bonello - Fusion
go to original May 25, 2014

Mexico City - infamous for its maddening traffic - is becoming an unlikely cycling hub. From blocked-off cycle lanes along main avenues, to fixies in every shade of neon you could ever want, to public rent-a-bike schemes, and even critical mass groups, this city is moving on two wheels more than ever.

But there’s still a long way to go before cyclists are safe and respected on these pothole-ridden streets among drivers more suited to bumper cars. And for women it’s even tougher to feel confident on a bike. They have the added hurdle of wading through Mexico’s macho culture to prove they can handle a bike, and must then ignore the ubiquitous and sometimes intimidating cat-calling on the streets.

Enter Laura Bustos Endoqui: A woman obsessed with bikes and improving cycling for other women in Mexico City. We caught up with her at her makeshift bike school, which is set up every Sunday on Reforma, the city’s main avenue. She dedicates her Sunday mornings to teach mainly 20-to-35-year-old women how to cycle safely and assertively. Some of Bustos’ students have never been on a bike before.

Read the rest at Fusion

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