Beirut could be considered one of the world's least bike-friendly cities due to its air pollution and traffic jams. But more and more residents are riding bikes during the day — and night.

Every Thursday night, cyclists wearing helmets and reflective yellow cuffs for visibility cruise bravely on the main roads with Cycling Circle, a company that specializes in cycling projects in Lebanon. Karim Sokhn founded the company in 2012 to share his passion for cycling with others. Since then, he has organized rides in Beirut and biking trips to villages and historical sites around Lebanon.

“I used to bike between my house and the university every day, and everyone looked at me strangely,” Sokhn told Al-Monitor. “Biking was either for the very rich or the very poor. The very rich who could afford expensive bikes used them for exercise, and the very poor who couldn’t afford any other way of transportation used bikes out of necessity.”

Sokhn pointed out that everyone used to bike before the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), but the war destroyed the country's infrastructure and also changed how people lived. “It is now a challenge to get people to bike as a way of life,” he said.