Is Rome ready for a cycling ‘revolution’?

ROME – With its historic seven hills, crazy traffic, cobbles and notoriously crumbling roads, Rome has never been the ideal city for cyclists — but with the coronavirus pandemic, things are changing.

As elsewhere, streets emptied by Covid-19 restrictions have given cyclists room to breathe, but a new network of bike lanes and generous government subsidies to buy bicycles have also helped fuel the boom.

One of the converts is Valeria Picchi, a 36-year-old mother-of-two who sold her scooter last year and bought an e-bike with a kids’ trailer.

“I feel like a rare bird,” she told AFP. “People look at us, my kids are thrilled… I’m becoming a bit of a celebrity in the neighbourhood.”

Many…