I found the adaptation to the canal bridge in today's photo to be a wonderfully simple solution to aiding people with bicycles crossing over the canals of Suzhou on the many bridges in the city.
Particularly with the smaller canals, many of the bridges were foot bridges – a series of steps up to the apex and then back down again. Which is fine if you're just walking but what if you're cycling, like the guy in yesterday's photo?
Someone, who is probably lost to time, unrecognized for his efforts, came up with the idea of adding a narrow concrete ramp so the cyclist could wheel his bike as he navigated the steps. And it really seemed to work quite well, both for going up and coming down.
That the ramp is an after-thought is evidenced in this photo by the way the ramp fits the uneven steps. Rather than fix the steps, the ramp was just laid for a consistent angle. I also like to small ridges that run along the edge of the ramp to help keep the bicycle on the ramp. Clearly someone thought about this and came up with a simple but effective solution.
I also note from the man descending in the photo that it's not just the English who are guilty of wearing socks with sandals!
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