Drivers don’t realize that bike lanes and cycle paths are also measures for their own benefit, says a lifelong cyclist navigating Prague traffic

Electronics engineer Jan Fiala, who celebrated his 70th birthday last year, is someone few would guess his age from. His physical and mental condition would be the envy of many. “Of course it’s thanks to the bike,” he laughs. He has been riding for about 60 years. He has cycled through Prague, across the Czech Republic, and much of Europe. But he adds that cycling is not easy in the Czech Republic, and that even in chaotic Rome traffic he felt safer in the saddle. So how did he manage to go through life without a crash?

When did you start riding in traffic?

At that time, cars still had footboards on the outside… (laughs). My probably first ride in traffic was from Strašnice to the city centre—back then, the department store Bílá Labuť was the only one in Prague. I was 11 years old. Later I lived in Braník and used to ride, for example, to school in Dejvice at Czech Technical University. Today maps show 28 minutes by bike and 39 minutes by public transport. And public transport is much better now. Back then there was no metro, so the whole trip took me almost an hour. So choose: half an hour by bike, or an hour by public transport. The bike goes from start to finish straight away.

And since then you’ve been cycling wherever you can?

I ride between 3,000 and 8,000 km per year, and about 3,000 to 4,000 km by car. I’m a lazy person, and in a way laziness drove me to cycling. Even today I’d rather ride my bike than scrape ice and snow off a car. On a bike I warm up quickly. My temperature record is minus 18°C, when I rode from Kbely to Jižní Město to work—that’s 15 km by the fastest route.

My first long-distance trip was from Prague to Bratislava to visit a former classmate when I was 20. It was 400 km non-stop, in 24 hours. I rode on main roads with cars; there were no motorways yet, and no trucks either.

Years later I went with friends from Prague to Děčín, where they stayed, and I rode back again. After the first hundred kilometres I reset the bike computer, because the number would have been too crazy…”

Cycling infrastructure in Nice, Jan Fiala’s expedition bike fully loaded with gear

How has the state of Prague’s cycling infrastructure changed since you started riding?

When I started, there wasn’t any infrastructure at all, but there were fewer cars and riding a bike in traffic between cars was normal and not a problem. For example, riding on pavements didn’t exist back then. That only started later with the messengers after the revolution. Cars gradually increased, and every now and then a cycle path appeared. The first cycle path I ever saw was in Finland in 1989, and I was amazed. The first one I remember in our country was around 2000 in Lahovice, where a separated cycle path ran across a bridge.

Today there are extremely many cars and people are afraid of them. I gradually got used to it, like the frog that you put in water and slowly boil… I used to ride even along the magistrala from Jižní Město, back when you were still allowed through Spořilov; today it is already classified as a road for motor vehicles up to Pankrác.

So you’re simply not afraid?

I mainly pay attention and keep track of everything around me. I’ve had a rear-view mirror on my bike since the very beginning—I can’t imagine riding without it, and it has saved my life at least twice. Once, a driver tried to run me over at night on Národní třída, and I saw in the mirror that the car behind me was heading straight for me. So I sharply swerved onto the pavement, and he drove past, turned around, and tried to hit me again from the other side. On a bike, you really have to be extremely careful and expect anything.

And the second case?

That was when metro line A was being built and trucks were transporting excavated soil around Karlův most. I was riding home from school and you have to use the tram tracks near Karlovy lázně. It was drizzling and the road was covered in slippery mud. Even as I entered the tracks, I could feel it was slippery. Behind me was a truck full of soil. I was already going quite fast, and when I crossed the track again, I skidded. But I had just looked in the mirror and saw a Tatra truck about ten meters behind me. The bike slipped out from under me and I jumped off quickly. I knew I had less than a second. The truck ran over my bike and only then managed to stop. The driver got out, picked up my bike, handed it to me, and drove away. I then made it to the next intersection by the National Theatre, where I started shaking uncontrollably and stood there for half an hour.

Historical centre of Krakow

So you recommend a mirror on the bike?

Definitely. It’s also important to realize that truck or bus drivers can hardly see anything in their immediate surroundings. Once, I was with friends somewhere in Italy and a truck with a long trailer was preparing to turn right, so it had to swing left first to make the turn. Two girls on bikes started passing it on the inside. I shouted at them to stop, because otherwise it would have hit them. People simply don’t anticipate many things.

And Aňa, because of whom the Call Zero initiative was created, also died because the driver probably didn’t see her…

He didn’t see her. A similar tragedy happened in Chabry, where a truck turning right hit a cyclist in the right lane. Those are the blind spots. Unfortunately, cyclists have to take that into account in traffic. I ride both a bike and a car, and on a bike I definitely have a better view and better awareness of what’s happening around me. I can see above the roofs of cars. Another thing is that when a car overtakes a cyclist, it often moves back too quickly and can hit them. That happened to me with a bus. It was overtaking me and when I was by its middle doors, it started moving back in. It was overtaking me as if I were a stationary pole. So it’s important not to ride too close to the edge, to leave space to escape if needed.

French drivers manage a wide variety of road users 

And what about educating drivers?

That’s also necessary. Compared to other countries, people in cars here behave like it’s a battlefield. In our country, driving is a fight; abroad it’s more cooperation between drivers. But it’s the cyclist’s life at stake, so they should be the one paying the most attention. Being aware of traffic, being part of it, anticipating and reacting.

Which effectively excludes children from traffic…

Of course it does. Traffic is only for experienced users. That’s why infrastructure has to be dual. Inexperienced people and children don’t belong in mixed traffic, not even in bike lanes. That has to be reflected in route planning too. When my daughter was 10 and I rode across Prague with her, I planned it so she would have as little contact with traffic as possible. But you need to know where to go: through parks, villa districts, side streets, cycle paths along the Vltava river. After 60 years of cycling in Prague, I know that, and I’m happy to share it. You can find a route almost anywhere. Although for less experienced riders it will often be longer.

And again France: an uphill bike lane in an open rural area, and a litter bin designed for throwing waste away while riding

It is quite complicated to get, for example, from Motol to Vršovice without traffic…

“Yes. It is complicated, but it could be improved. If cyclists have infrastructure, there will be more of them and fewer cars, and even for drivers it will be more pleasant. For example, in France, cycle lanes on roads were pushed for by drivers themselves so that cyclists would be separated. Here it’s exactly the opposite, and drivers don’t like cycle lanes, which I don’t understand. Bike lanes and cycle paths are actually measures that improve comfort for drivers. As a car driver, I prefer having a cyclist safely in their own lane next to me rather than right in front of my bumper.”

Where would you send me on a cycling holiday?

“In the Czech Republic, for example the Bečva cycle route, which mostly runs on cycle paths. Otherwise, probably Italy. I’ve ridden many routes across Europe—Pyrenees, Alps, and Apennines. For a family trip with children, I would recommend the Alpe Adria cycle route, from Salzburg all the way to the Adriatic Sea. Except for a few sections, it’s very pleasant. Or from Brenner down to Lake Garda along the Adige river.”

Photo: Jan Fiala archive

Check out Mr. Fiala’s travel blog, get inspired, and you can even book a lecture with him. His cycling know-how is quite unique.

You can also join the Call Zero initiative by signing the pledge for greater traffic safety. Zero fatalities among the most vulnerable road users is not utopia, but the reality of 21st-century cities.*