Having an Ecobici station a few blocks from our Airbnb was super convenient
Before arriving, we’d heard that Mexico City can sometimes be affected by smog. After seeing it’s location, we can understand why – the city is built on a dried lakebed and is surrounded by tall hills. So, the smog has a hard time escaping.
The sky was definitely hazy when we landed at the airport, but that first day was the last we saw of smog. What we did see, however, was one of the things Mexico City has done to try to reduce pollution.
We used Ecobici to ride all over the city
Ecobici is Mexico City’s bike share program – there are almost 500 stations, each of which holds between 20 and 50 bikes. About $2.50 a day buys an unlimited number of rides per day, with each ride lasting up to 45 minutes. Once the bike is returned to a station, it can be checked out again after two minutes.
Cruising past Palacio de Bellas Artes
We found Ecobici to be an absolutely fantastic way to travel through the city. Because there’s a fair amount of traffic on the major streets, biking is just about as fast as driving. And unlike other bike share systems that we’ve seen, Ecobici stations are nearly ubiquitous – we rarely found ourselves more than two blocks away from a spot to pick up or drop off a bike.
Picking up a new Ecobici outside of Chapultepec Park
The system is popular among both toursists (like us) and locals, and the bikes themselves are about what you’d expect from something that gets such heavy use. The bikes were rarely in perfect condition; sometimes the three-speed shifter wouldn’t change gears, sometimes one or both of the brakes would drag a little bit, and occasionally the seat wouldn’t stay firmly in position. But there are so many stations that when one of the bikes was too much of a beater, we’d just drop it off and pick up a new one in the next block.
Every Sunday from 8am – 2 pm they close a main thoroughfare, Avenida Paseo de la Reforma, to cars and open it for cyclists, runners and walkers- we joined the fun on our Ecobicis
Access to bikes is half of the battle – the other half is good places to ride them. And on this count Mexico City overachieves, also. It’s possible to get nearly anywhere in the central area of the city by dedicated bike path. Often, these paths are in the tree-lined medians on the major boulevards; sometimes, they’re a separate lane protected from traffic by barriers.
Cycling through Chapultepec Park
When we thought of bike-friendly international cities before this trip, our list included places like Amsterdam and Copenhagen. And if we had to guess about where Mexico City would have ranked on that list, we honestly would have put it near the bottom. It’s nice to be wrong!
Dropping off the Ecobici at the end of a busy day of touring, sightseeing and eating delicious food in Mexico City
