Wheels that work

Hola queridos, we’re getting to the end of our stay here in Lima. It’s been a great time of friendship, exploring and adventures. Larry has “new” eyes. Anne enjoyed getting to know a city she merely passed through 35 years ago while a poor college student. One of the things that’s very apparent about Lima is that it is much more prosperous than it used to be. There are lots of late model cars on the road, lots of new construction and lots of awesome places to eat. However, there is still a large underclass here, making their livings in some creative ways. Here in Lima, as in most other developing countries, a bicycle, or its parts, can mean the difference between life or death, between being able to feed your children or having to leave them at an orphanage to be cared for. For me, a bicycle is a choice and fun. It’s a luxury.  Here, bicycles are so much more than transportation, sometimes they’re just parts to be used to deliver supplies, some are outfitted to carry things for sale, or they can also be a moveable salesroom. For instance, this being the summer in Peru, ice cream vendors seem to be everywhere. In the neighborhoods they make their presence felt by using a duckcall. We’ve seen bikes outfitted to carry LP gas tanks (the size we use on BBQs), to carry equipment (including push lawnmowers), and to deliver periodicals to newsstands. The neighborhood where we’re staying, San Isidro, has its security officers on bicycles, as well as in cars.

Aside from having to “fight” the light when taking pictures, I also hate to take pictures of people without their permission. I’ve tried to take some pix of the ice cream salespeople but but they didn’t turn out well. Here are some street vendors near where we had lunch the other day:

In an earlier blog I showed a passing gardener:

Here’s a more traditional use for a bike that I saw at a swank jetty:

Peruvian-made bicycles have rods instead of cables for braking.

Then there are the guys for whom wheels will always be a way to have fun. Larry learned how to ride a skateboard on this trip.

Ciao, mijos!