I travelled a bit through Italy recently, by bicycle. Cycling here seems either

  • super sporty road cyclist
  • poor people on what’s left of what used to be a bicycle

Stumble upon Lodi, Lombardy: cyclists everywhere, like dutch style: adults carelessly cycling with 2 kids and lots of luggage on a single normal city bike and without helmets. What’s so different about Lodi (or the region) that it’s so common here, but not in other Italian small or medium cities? Any Italians with answers? Thanks

  • @ClockworkOtterEnglish
    3•8 months ago

    Interesting. We went to rural Tuscany recently and it was only the first group.

    I get the feeling that Italy is very heterogenous culturally, despite appearances. It did only become a single country relatively recently in the history of Western Europe.

    • @fra_beoneEnglish
      3•8 months ago

      We were unified in 1861, which is before other Countries in WE, but the problem is more related to the fact that our economic boom in the 50’s brought a car colture that still exists right now: for the first time ever people could afford to move easily, and the infrastructure was built upon that car-centric idea. Tracking back is hard and colture is hard to change.