G.R.A.B.

A green ring around Rome?

The project was initially ambitious and driven. The creation of a cycling ring of about 45 kilometers around the historic city center based on beautiful and safe bike paths, quiet forest and field roads, and safe crossing places at unavoidable busy intersections. The route would bring a new breeze to the mobility issue within this saturated car city. Romans would discover how they could reach their work faster and in a healthier way than by car. The emerging cycle tourism would leave foreign visitors speechless at how green and rural the outskirts actually are. The ring would also be a journey through the unique and rich history with sights from the city's earliest history and places where the most modern expressions of art are publicly visible. And actually, this is all true; the route is there, accessible, and indeed visits fantastic cultural-historical sites, only… the cycling accommodations still leave much to be desired. Despite the fact that about 2/3 of the route is effectively ridden on bike paths or natural paths, there are many comments to be placed. We are talking about the maintenance of bike paths, signage, safe crossing places, surrounding facilities, informational brochures, … all of this is currently at a very low level, giving the impression that for some reason the project is heading for a quiet demise.

And yet we present the G.R.A.B. here, not as a joke (sorry for the lame pun) but as an experience of the Rome that is lived in today. And that reality is not always very pretty. The city is groaning under gigantic problems of corruption, waste issues, insecurity, traffic chaos, youth delinquency, … and despite the new wind that was announced a few years ago, hopeful results remain to be seen. But at the same time, Rome remains “la bellezza,” the vibrant, voluptuous, baroque but also sacred place that has attracted people for centuries and will undoubtedly continue to do so in the future. Now it is that wonderful ambivalence of Rome that is embodied in the G.R.A.B.; it almost seems blasphemous to say that the route, as it currently stands, is best left as it is. It gives the cyclist a masterfully realistic picture of the complex reality that Rome is in 2019. We are convinced that the cyclist who has ridden the G.R.A.B. will afterwards have a unique feeling of having experienced another side of Rome that is certainly no less spectacular than the well-known paths of the mass tourist. Hence, we do not want to withhold this unique cycling experience from you.