Giro di Sarajevo

This weekend, Sarajevo's equivalent of Sky Ride took place with a mass participation bike ride throughout the city. Giro di Sarajevo's objective is to raise awareness of cycling in the city, with the ultimate aim of trying to make it more bike friendly (although this is a long way off at the moment) and encourage more people to use their bikes.

At 5pm on Sunday, over 1,000 cyclists gathered in Dobrinja. There was a wide mix of participants, from the elderly, to very keen cyclists (evident by outfits consisting of excessive amounts of Lycra), families with young kids and young groups of friends.

The 12km route took us through Dobrinje, out onto Bulevar Mesa Selimovoca (the main road from Ilizda to the city centre); onto Zmaja od Bosne, past Skenderija, round the one-way system (up to the old Library and around the top through Bascaraija) onto Marsala Tita, then back to the river onto Vilsonovo Setaliste to Cafe Tito.

The added bonus of this organised event is that the roads were closed to cars which made it a wonderful experience. It only took an hour and a half (there were several bottle neck spots) and it was great fun and a thoroughly great way to end a weekend.