We've got a new-ish bike path in Mladost. It "opened" this past spring. I use "opened" because I am not really sure if there's a better verb beside some combination of it was built/poured/established this past spring.

Now for those of you who don't live in Sofia, I should make this clear: Sofia is <em>not</em> a bike friendly place. It's not even a pedestrian friendly place. As best as I can make out, cars rule the roads. The bigger the better and it's your job if you're not in the biggest car to get out of its way.

So the new bike path is a sight to be seen.

The bike lane is dyed red asphalt and it's been delineated with cobble stones and then there's regular old black asphalt for everyone else.  I don't own a bike. And I wont be buying one any time soon but I'm down with the bike path.

First of all, I've seen so many more people riding their bikes in the last two weeks than ever before. Second with the inception of the bike path the sidewalk became much, much nicer to walk on. The asphalt is even and currently in great shape as opposed to much of the asphalt and concrete-tiles that line the sidewalks in Mladost.

The result? Every morning over the past two weeks I've been out taking a serious lap through the Mladosts. I've been doing it for health, for peace of mind and simply because I can. It's actually pleasant to walk along the bike path in Mladost. Mostly, I don't have to worry about uneven sidewalks which makes me a happy camper.

The bike path though is clearly a new thing for people. I've noticed that lots of people choose to walk on it even if they could walk next to it and plenty of moms push their baby-filled strollers on it.