Bicycle Protest in Rome

We stumbled upon this bicycle protest in Rome on our very first evening in the city.   We had no idea what was going on as more and more bikes arrived, creating a traffic jam and more than a little road rage.  It turns out that this was part of the Critical Mass Bike Protest that is gathering popularity in large cities across Europe.

Ironically, the cyclists are asking for more safety on the roads in a very unsafe manner.  They are asking for an end to bicycle discrimination in what has been described as "a civil war on the roads." Bici is the Italian word for bike, thus the play on words with the Julias Caesar quote (Veni, Vidi, Bici) for a protest held within two miles of where Caeser himself was burned involuntarily cremated.

I agree with the cyclists that this particular stretch of mass highway -- Via dei Fori Imperiali -- that goes right through Ancient Rome -- was rather brutishly placed here by Musolini and is rather offensive obnoxious unnecessary.

Marj and I ran across this patch of concrete a few times, nearly getting killed right there in Ancient Rome smack next to where gladiators fought with similar intensity and less fortunate outcomes.


Other posts on Italy:
First night in Rome, Bicycle Protest at the Colliseum
Pisa
Florence and the Drive from Venice
Pizza Joint in Rome
Milan
Ancient Rome
Tuscany
Art in Rome, a Dali Exhibit