Balkans Urban: Mission Skopje
A series of articles on cycling conditions around the largest cities on the Balkan Peninsula
Here is the truth — on the Balkans, being little “off-the-hook” is considered somewhat the norm. We have been living outside the Balkan region for some years, in places considered more “civilized” and “structured”. We have seen different perspectives, and sometimes we find them “reasonable”. But deep down inside of us there are some little demons that do not want to obey the rules. This lyrical detour stands to justify that all the reviews that you are about to witness are from the perspective of two anti-fragile entrepreneurs that have seen some s**t. We haven’t seen it all for sure, but you ain’t gonna read about “Oh my gosh, he had no helmet, can you believe that?” or “The speed limit is 40 , I am sure he did 45”. But long story short we cycled around the capital of Macedonia — Skopje and here is how we saw it.
I. Bicycle infrastructure — 4/10.
We tried to find some stats about the overall length of bike lanes in Skopje but as many other things in life — we failed. Maybe the reason why we cannot find the data is because there are not many lanes out there, maybe this type of information is unneeded and rubbish. But here is how it felt.
There are a few major boulevards in Skopje, we cycled in and out so we have seen them with our very own eyes. There are bike lanes there, that go for kilometers — and they are pretty wide and well paved. We like them. We would have liked them even more if there were free of pedestrians and motorbikes and scooters. But we love them anyways. However, drifting away from these lanes of glory, we didn’t experience the convenience of bike lanes. The city centre is lacking bicycle infrastructure which is surprising as the centre was rebuilt in the past few years (it’s crazy — so many historic monuments it reminds me of Lord of the Rings). Quite a bit of pedestrian zones but no roads for bikers. EXCEPT, the amazing bike lane that follows the Vardar River.
It`s at least several kilometers long and can take a traveller almost outside the city. It goes on both sides of the river, but there is a catch. On the west side of the bank, there is a Gypsy Ghetto. It does not look safe. Not safe meaning that we bypassed some heroin addicts on our way (with the spoons, and tourniquets ). Surprisingly there were also sniffing bronze — hardcore!
II. Traffic friendliness level — 3/10
Well, being on a bike in Skopje is almost like being invisible. The only difference is that being invisible is considered a super skill, however, being on a bike in Skopje could be considered dangerous. It is as now one gives a f**k about you being there on that bike or not…there is no love/hate relationships where cars honk at you and you get cursed all the time. It is just that cars overtake you, bypassing a few centimeters away. I guess it’s ok if you are training for a military operation.
Another annoying thing, as mentioned, is that you are invisible to pedestrians and motorbike riders as well. You are so invisible that they have overruled your presence on the bike lane. If I were i 16 year old princess I would be very upset by the way people do not see me AT ALL. I mean, we got overtaken by a scooter a few times. Again, there is no road rage — an that is quite rare for a balkan country.
III. Rentals and repairs — 7/10
We didn’t need neither rentals nor repairs but out of curiosity we actually found that there are quite a few places to rent and repair a bike. To be honest, it felt that people of Skopje are getting the habit of using bicycles. Surely, they are far away from western Europe but on an early Saturday morning in July, we have counted over 30 bikers for a 5km run going outwards of Skopje. Later on, biking uphill towards The Millennium Cross in Vodno Mountain (on the outskirts of Skopje) we met tens of bikers, some using expensive gear. It really felt as bicycling is getting popular but as with many post communist counties — there was no infrastructure and the older generation somehow disregarded the benefits of bicycles.
To sum up, Skopje is not the friendliest city for cyclists and there is still tons of work as far as the infrastructure is concerned. However, one can feel the uplifting moment where more and more people do realize the benefits of using a bicycle for recreational activities and transport.
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