The Bicycle Thieves: Part 1

It is approaching mid- day. The stream of morning commuters at the Ferrara railway station has thinned into a trickle. Each morning a huge chunk of the population of this medieval town ride in to the station and board the trains that would take them to the nearby cities like Bologna and Padova for work. Secured to the rows of semicircular iron bars, over a hundred bicycles that brought them in from the centre and periphery of the town wait, to take them back home in the evening.

Among the small groups of people idling on the steps of the railway station and waiting at the bus stop are a young man and woman- leaning casually on a lamp post and chatting. As it is always with strangers in a space, eyes meet briefly and shift again never really taking in the faces, never really seeing. Then, at one moment with no gaze upon them, the couple, in one fluid motion, breaks the chain of a brand new bicycle parked near them and ride swiftly away.

Ferrara is a city of bicycles. Over 80% of its 134000 inhabitants use bicycles for transportation within the city. Whether it is a night patrol of the police or the professors from the University of Ferrara,the cycle is the favoured mode of transport. Bank officers in tailored suits and party goers in high heels and dresses pedal their way across the city. The municipality even has free bicycles with a number lock system parked in front of the railway station, for tourists. On the surface the bicycle city appears to be well organized with separate lanes for cyclists; the case avanzate which allows them to wait in front of vehicles at traffic lights so that they might turn safely; a cycle sale and repair shop at every corner.

Yet, it is an intricate yet well balanced underground that really sustains it- an underground that is at your service at the very moment of need. It ensures that bicycles change hands periodically, that no one gets used to too much of a good thing. Seats, pedals and bells disappear and reappear as and where they please. Many a time you come back to the parking lot to find a single back wheel securely locked to the iron pole, where your bicycle have been.
(cont…)