Humble bicyclist becomes Beijing nighthawk

[Photo by Li Min/China Daily]

Daytime bicycling in a big city can be a series of stops and starts. There are waits for the larger denizens of the road. Herds of pedestrians include the dangerously clueless, with their faces glued to smartphones. Fellow cyclists dart in and out of traffic.

In Beijing, three-wheelers delivering cargo or hunting for passengers make for an obstacle course. You also have to keep a sharp eye out for parents pushing baby carriages or relatives taking a wheelchair-bound elder out on a pretty day.

But all those things form the fabric of life in a busy city and some even have their own charm.

Perhaps the most delightful cycling takes place after the sun sets and traffic starts to thin. The city settles into a different rhythm as workdays end. Restaurants start to pick up and neon signs flicker and buzz to life. Couples chat as they walk along the sidewalks, and friends tell jokes and cut up.

Nip in the air

At those times, I especially love city streets that are broad, have generous peripheral lanes and cross only minor streets or lanes for long stretches. When it gets a little later and the city starts to settle in for the night, it's the witching hour for the nighttime cyclist. In Beijing, with its dry climate, there's often a little nip in the air in the spring and fall. Even on most summer days, it cools down to a pleasant temperature.

There are many wonderful stretches for nighttime riding in Beijing. One that I like that's close to home in Chaoyang District is known as Yinghuayuan East Street north of the Third Ring Road, and Hepingli East Street south of the ring road. There, if you hit the traffic lights just right, you can build up some speed in a way impossible earlier in the day.

Ratchet your gears up a notch or two and get your legs pumping. The tall birch, oak and willow trees that line many such streets in Beijing zip past and you find yourself equaling the speeds of electric scooters that normally pass you with ease. You even pass a few of the slower scooters. Your heart pumps furiously and the slipstream of air cools your face.