I’ve always respected Hungary’s contribution to the photographic community at large as some of the best photo artists, photojournalists, scientists, and cinematographers from the past 100 years are Hungarian, including some I admire greatly like the Capa brothers (Robert and Cornell), Brassaï, László Moholy-Nagy, André Kertész, Dennis Gabor, József Petzvál and László Kovács to name a few off the top of my head without resorting to Google. What I didn’t know until I visited Budapest is the Hungarian passion for the bicycle. As an avid cyclist and cycling advocate, I was stunned to see their Critical Mass bike ride. In NYC, depending on the season, the rally only attracts a few hundred to a couple thousand participants. The same event in Budapest pulls in 50-80,000 riders! Instead of angry monthly protest rides, the Hungarians have two peaceful and festive rides every year to overlap with Earth Day in the spring, and International Car-Free Day in the fall.

This very adept trials rider, who could give Jeff Lenosky a run for his money, was one of the many cycling demonstrators who took advantage of the closing-down of Andrassy Ut, a major thoroughfare through some of the most posh real-estate in Budapest. The nervous girl on the pavement was a volunteer from the crowd who got a view of a bike most people don’t – from the underside. In this shot she could probably read the serial number off the bottom bracket.