Barcelona Tips

I'll be in Barcelona for about a month and, unlike London, I actually have time to ride (other than riding to and from work). Does anyone know of any riding groups in Barcelona?

whatever you do, don't get your pocket picked by two hookers on La Rambla, like what happened to, erm, a friend of mine

and what was your friend doing with 2 hookers???

When is 1 ever enough? You need one to snort coke off of whilst the other...

why would anyone go to the rambla? it's like coming to london and wanting to go to oxford st or that bit by covent garden tube to look at somebody standing still covered in silver paint.

because i was - i mean my friend was -staying near there.

they stopped my friend in the street and chatted him up a bit, then 5 minutes later when he checked his wallet, it was gone.

why would anyone go to the rambla? it's like coming to london and wanting to go to oxford st or that bit by covent garden tube to look at somebody standing still covered in silver paint.

you've got to go to the rambla at least once, just to know that its not the best bit of barcelona, its interesting for sure, but a tourist trap, and as such its a been there, took the photo, lost my wallet to two hookers kinda place.

When is 1 ever enough? You need one to snort coke off of whilst the other...

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsdd1GQ0oFM"]YouTube
- Broadcast Yourself.[/ame]

Just don't go to La Rambla at night, or briefly pass through to go to the Barrio Gòtico clubs (an area near La rambla). A pair of hookers ever 5 metres. We got stopped there drunk and they started groping my friend. Be authorative and they'll fuck off to someone else.
Check out a club called Razz (Matazz), an old warehouse type of club with excellent parties, but don't get there before 4 am. Remember, Spain has dinner at 11 pm, hits the bars around 1 and goes clubbing aroud 4-5. Enjoy!

whatever you do, don't get your pocket picked by two hookers on La Rambla, like what happened to, erm, a friend of mine

NOW you tell me? Sigh... I wish I had asked sooner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dsdd1GQ0oFM

nah, s'gotta be from Robocop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHf9rLivGu8

anyone know a few decent bars in barcelona? i'm off on a "quiet, relaxed" stag trip this weekend and I don't want to get stuck in the usual touristy bits. I've been a few times myself but I've never really been out late night boozing? Also, any ideas where to hire bikes, places to ride to if by any chance any of us are up for a roll-around on the sunday?

And tell us about the Barcelona Velib type hire bikes. How do you pay for them? When I was there last that was the bit I didn't understand.

Go to Rambla del raval... I spotted a few fixed round there when I was there in Nov. Also if you want an ace restaurant to go to check out Attic on La Ramblas

VB...totally. WTF were those intructions about? Was gutted as I totaly wanted to rip up those streets. London is busier at 3am than Barcelona at rush-hour!

because i was - i mean my friend was -staying near there.

they stopped my friend in the street and chatted him up a bit, then 5 minutes later when he checked his wallet, it was gone.

When was that?

I drunken translated for a couple of English blokes who had that happen to them, must have been in about 1999. Tranny hookers, at that. Their pimp was a girl who looked about 16. Quite surreal.

And tell us about the Barcelona Velib type hire bikes. How do you pay for them? When I was there last that was the bit I didn't understand.

You have to send off for a card, which takes a month to arrive. They made it that way because all the bike hire shops down near the beach complained that if the tourists could use the Bicis, they'd go broke.

anyone know a few decent bars in barcelona? i'm off on a "quiet, relaxed" stag trip this weekend and I don't want to get stuck in the usual touristy bits. I've been a few times myself but I've never really been out late night boozing? Also, any ideas where to hire bikes, places to ride to if by any chance any of us are up for a roll-around on the sunday?

Dot in the Barri Gotic was always quite fun, if very small. Late night tends to be clubs though - in the south part of the Raval there's Moog and Nitsaclub (I think, old converted ballroom - might be called Apollo if I've misremembered). There's a big underground bar called the Oveja Negra in the northern Raval which is always full of Erasmus students. If you go up north to Gracia then there are lots of laid back bars around Placa del Sol.

Bike hire is down near the beach, mainly, though I think there are other places in the Eixample near Passeig de Gracia. Most of the town is flat, so you can go anywhere - a nice ride would be to follow the beach down from Montjuic (where the Olympic stadium is) to Parc de la Ciutadella (other side of town, where the Olympic Village was). Or the other way, whichever. I think there might be bike hire places near Ciutadella as well, actually.

Ah, here's the link:
http://www.bicing.com/

Well I'm going in just over a month... now how to get the card.

Closed to non-Barcelona residents. You must have a credit card and a Spanish ID number:
http://www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/en/membership-area/newsletter-back-issues/2007/05-bike-hire-barcelona.html

In March of 2007 the Barcelona town council launched a new cycle initiative called Bicing Barcelona. It is an ambitious project that enables you to pick up a bicycle from any of 100 strategically placed bike stations, cycle to your destination, and then drop the bike off at any of the other cycle stations. The Bicing Barcelona initiative offers you a low cost and environmentally friendly way of getting around the city centre.

         The Bicing project is being launched in 3 phases. Stages 1 and 2 are now complete with 750 bikes at 50 stations already available. When the final stage is complete by 1st July 2007 there will be a total of 1500 bikes at 100 cycle stations.
         At this stage the program is only open to residents of Barcelona however tourists will be able to take advantages of the Bicing Barcelona program after 1st July 2007. 

To hire a bike you will need to register at the Bicing Barcelona office at Pl. Carles Pi I Sunyer, 8-10 (office open 8.30 to 17.30). You will need a credit card and ID to register. If you are a Barcelona resident you can register now online: http://www.bicing.com.

Residents will pay an annual registration fee of 6 Euros to use the service. When the final stage is launched on 1st July tourists will be also able to register to use the bikes for a 1 week period for only a 1 Euro registration charge.

         After registration you can pick up your bike from one of the cycle stations and off you go. If you return the cycle to one of the cycle stations within 30 minutes there is no additional charge to pay. If however you return your bike after 30 minutes there is a small additional charge which varies depending on how long after the 30 minutes you return the bike. e.g. 31 – 60 minutes cycle ride will incur an additional charge of just 30 cents ( 0.30 euro) . 

The big plus about the Bicing Barcelona program is that as long as you return the cycle within the 30 minute period you do not pay any additional fees and you are free to pick up another bike whenever you want within the period covered by the registration period.

As an example you can cycle to you first destination, drop off your bike at the nearest cycle station, do a little sight seeing, and then pick up another bike and cycle to your next destination. As long as you return the bike within 30 minutes you do not pay a penny (or cent here in Spain) in additional fees.

Hmm... seems you can hire with a 1 Euro charge for the week, and your credit card.

You have to go to a counter and purchase the card.

Details here:
http://www.barcelonayellow.com/content/view/78/1/
http://www.barcelonayellow.com/component/option,com_mtree/task,viewlink/link_id,602/Itemid,26/

Hmm... seems you can hire with a 1 Euro charge for the week, and your credit card.

You have to go to a counter and purchase the card.

Details here:
http://www.barcelonayellow.com/content/view/78/1/
http://www.barcelonayellow.com/component/option,com_mtree/task,viewlink/link_id,602/Itemid,26/

The joys of the interwebs... Wish I'd known that when I was there in September, the locals told me I'd have to wait!

Next time...

Edited to add

• More seriously, in mid-June Avui reported that the owners of several bike rental businesses were taking Bicing to court, accusing the Ajuntament of going into direct competition with them.
  
  

However, a couple of months down the line, the city's bike rental industry appears relaxed about the existence of Bicing. Scott Haynes, the American owner of Fat Tire Bike Tours, told Metropolitan that his business had not been affected by the launch of Bicing. “We've had no problems so far, although I'm still kind of wary. If they make it easy for tourists to use then obviously that'll be a problem. At the moment it can even work to our advantage—it plants a seed in tourists' minds.”

He said that he had not been involved in any court process, but had sought legal advice. “When we first heard about Bicing, a group of rental companies spoke to a lawyer in order to influence the system and process, and voice our concerns. We were trying to make a system that wasn't for tourists, and from my understanding it would be difficult for a tourist to gain access to.”

Bicing spokesman Ramon Ferreiro declined to comment on whether there was a court case pending, but stressed that Bicing is not designed for tourists, and is difficult for tourists to access.
In fact, he said, problems have been minimal and the transport authority was very pleased and “a little surprised” with the scheme's progress so far, but that more work is still needed. “We're going to make some modifications—that's not to say that there are problems: we've only been going for four months and it's always necessary to tweak the system.”
http://www.barcelona-metropolitan.com/Article.aspx?TabID=2&MenuID=2&ArticleID=767

*Evidently the tourist option hadn't been going on that long in September...

Spotted more fixed riders in Barcelona than in Paris.. thanks to the guys that let me drunkenly snap their bikes.. apols to peeps in the sneaky ones :)

They also appear to be fans of Scottish sprinters..

looks like you had a good one then. Hoy Polloi indeed