Even though there are no real cycle facilities like bike lanes or paths in the center of Milan a lot of people do use their bikes for every day purposes. The city of Milan allows cycling in the pedestrian areas and it created bike parking facilities even in places where cars would otherwise be parking. There is also a bike sharing program that seems to be used well. Very striking was the fact that men and women ride the same bikes. As opposed to northern European countries where men and women ride a different type of bicycle.
Milan
BICYCLE DUTCH 
Ned, I think one of the simpler revelations that emerges from the ubiquity of racing gear in American bike culture is that Americans see exercise as an activity you perform not a way of approaching life. We need to suit up for exercise that interrupts our life; we don’t live in a way that sees healthy activity as a natural part of life. It also speaks to American values: capitalist American greed would never value the humble, egalitarian bicycle. We worship at the altar of economic success, and cars allow Americans to indulge in this lunacy in ways bicycles never could. Wealthy people in America drive cars–very expensive ones–so all other Americans want cars as well, not bikes. Also, our roads don’t facilitate bike travel like the older roads in Europe.
Indeed cycling is very much an everyday simple activities in a lot of cities in Italy, mostly but not only in the North. Cycling rates are quite high in some of them and there are very good infrastructure. Read my latest blog post about the cycling economy in Italy and cycling friendly cities:
https://albertomzanni.wordpress.com/2017/06/08/a-digested-read-of-the-legambiente-2017-report-on-the-cycling-economy-in-italy/
Apparently the use of helmets, racing apparel and racing bikes is more common in the U.S. than elsewhere. What does this say about Americans? It would probably take a book to explore the subject thoroughly but will someone make a stab at it here?