Joe Ditz – SOUTH BEND — We find one LimeBike bicycle parked outside of Cops & Doughnuts-Dainty Maid Precinct, right where the smartphone app says it is.
Curious cops stop by to see what photographer Santiago Flores and I are doing Tuesday with the neon green bike, the first steed of the city’s new bike sharing program to officially hit the street.
I click “unlock” on the app, and it immediately finds the QR code on the bike seat. I could have also punched in the plate number. The lock flips open with a chime.
I heave the bike off of its kickstand — it feels like someone has loaded it with two big bags of groceries. And I cruise down bike lanes and downtown cycle paths, sitting completely upright and ringing the bell.
It rides like an old-world city bike. Not fast. But steady. It has just one speed, so riding uphill would surely mean hopping off of the seat to pedal.
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