ABCycling

ABCycling in Beirut: a guide to cycling in the city of organized chaos

How it all started

It all started 4 years ago, back in my second year of university. Faced with the catastrophic traffic of Ras Beirut, my friend and I decided to dig out our rusty old bicycles in an attempt to get to class on time every morning. It was the best decision I had ever made, turning my life around, and I have been commuting by bicycle ever since. By the time I had to work on my graduation project, it was obvious it would revolve around the bicycle. After researching the cycling cultures of the world's cycling capitals, such as Copenhagen, Amsterdam or Portland, I turned to the Beirut scene and conducted surveys and interviewed cyclists in the city. I started by summarizing my findings and research into a paper about the emerging bicycle culture of Beirut. You can read it by clicking on the link below.

Why on earth ride a bike in this city?

Let’s consider some of the benefits of cycling: cycling is healthy, promotes geographical and local knowledge, does create neither noise or air pollution, does not cost municipalities as much for infrastructure costs as cars do, takes a fraction of the space cars do on the road and for parking, cyclists don’t indebt themselves to buy their bike, lower maintenance and running costs and most importantly – sexy calves.

Beirut Bicycle Culture