Bicycling in Paris during strikes

A friend of mine who bikes a lot in Paris has been burning up twitter with pictures of motorcyels using the bike lanes and the sidewalks and talking about the dangers of bicycling right not with cars freely parking in the bike lanes, particularly delivery trucks, and motorcyles using them. There are also people impatiently driving who don't usually drive in the city, so probably a little more nervous making than usual.

Adrian Leeds lives in Paris and writes a weekly newsletter, she mentioned a few days ago that the streets are packed with people riding bikes and scooters.

We bike in Paris, not treacherous at all if you stay on smaller streets and avoid main thoroughfares which are very easy to avoid. My son rode the Champs Elysées this Oct and had no issues.

I do not recommend Vélib bikes. I highly recommend using Jump bikes. For either one you need to download their App. Jump has a much easier check-out system than Vélib, Jump bikes are lighter and a lot easier to ride than Vélib bikes.
Vélib has electric bikes and regular bikes. Jump bikes are all electric.
Jump bikes you can leave anywhere. Vélib bikes have to be returned to a Vélib station.

You can also rent bikes by the hour or 24 hrs from shops - just Google.

I was just there 12/11-18th, and felt I would be taking my life in my hands to try and bike there. Way, way way too much traffic, and it seemed so dangerous to me!

The only thing American about that hospital are the prices -- and you can deal more easily in English. But MUCH more expensive than typical French hospitals.

Thank you, All.

I'm hoping not to need medical care. lol. Thalys hasn't cancelled my train in/out of Paris yet. I will write to let the Forum know how Paris is and how we fare-- on bicycle or foot.

There are bicyclists who “always” feel safe, but I would really hesitate to bike in Paris at anytime. The traffic is horrendous.

Dissenting opinion here: I find that the strike means that there is now a "critical mass" of cyclists that makes it safer than usual. A 40% increase in casualties when you have more than double the usual bike traffic is actually good, in a way...

Thank you, balso, for pointing out critical mass. I would much rather bicycle alongside other cyclists than alone on a busy street with high speed cars.

I don't bicycle in Boston in the winter due to cold, black ice and snow...

As i said above, you can easily avoid busy streets and fast cars. Most Paris streets have few cars and are very safe for bike riding. I ride in Paris and feel safe. And balso’s point is also a good one.

What are the statistics for pedestrians in Paris?

FWIW. I had surgery in a French hospital where almost no one spoke English and had no trouble at all arranging for the hospital to be paid by my travel insurance without any need for expensive translation services.

As a walking observer, it seems to me that bicycling, among all the increased traffic of both motor vehicle and bicycle and scooter variety, would be rather unnerving. Especially considering that it gets dark so early (therefore there are more dark hours in which you might be biking), and if any rain is added in (happens every few days), it just looks that much more unpleasant (and dangerous).

Thank you, Kim and all responders. The inclement weather is yet another consideration. I do appreciate the help in getting a feel for what the streets will be like..

Any thoughts on Velib/Jump versus renting bikes for the week from a shop (which has not yet responded to my email.. perhaps they are out of bikes)? With the shop, we will have helmets and locks. But we will also lose the option of walking or taking a taxi back to the hotel...

I also "forgot" to get tickets to DaVinci at the Louvre and will miss Atelier-Lumiere by a couple of days.