Mr. PaulGould April 9th 2006
c/o The Financial Times
London U.K.

Dear Mr. Gould:

I read your article in the Financial Times Weekend Supplement of April 8th-9th, entitled “Saddle up for an un-Spanish experience”, which prompts an immediate reaction from me.

I am a partner in a Madrid cycle tours company called Bravo Bike S.L. I was born and bred in this city. The implications in your article considerably discredit cycling in Madrid, which is an essential and successful feature of our company’s activities. I think it is not reasonable to compare the cities of San Sebastian, with 180.000 inhabitants and Madrid, with close to 4 million.

I agree with you when you imply that Madrid needs more cycle lanes, and as a matter of fact, I will be sending a copy of your article, and this letter to our Mayor, in order to promote the lobbying effort currently underway for the construction of more dedicated lanes, which is is not progressing at the speed the Madrid cycling community would like.

I invite you to share with us, whenever you are in Madrid, what you describe as the “cyclists’ Kamikaze land”, to prove to you that touring Spain’s capital city on a bike can be every bit as pleasant an experience as the one you had in San Sebastian, which inspired your article.

We cycle, whenever possible, through pedestrian areas and parks, making the tour enjoyable and culturally stimulating, stopping at all the important landmarks. Spain is a highly diverse country and San Sebastian, in spite of your comments that it is “un-spanish” is indeed Spain.

We have tried to capture this diversity in the selection of tours we provide throughout the Spanish mainland, (in addition to the Madrid city tours), which I invite you to review on our website www.bravobike.com. All the routes we offer have been welcomed with enjoyment, enthusiasm and interest by our mainly US and European clientele, many of whom have returned more than once, in the more than seven years our company has been operating.

In the hope we will be able to welcome you in Madrid in the not too distant future, I am

Yours sincerely
Pamela

Pamela Ribot
Marketing & Communications
Manager
Bravo Bike S.L.

 

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