Bicicleta

Why do people take up biking? A lot of good reasons have been given. Those reasons include: environment, economy, exercise, ease and efficiency. This makes me wonder why all the e-words are showing up. Anyway, these reasons hint on what I believe is the one reason - that it is human friendly.

I personally owned bicycles since I was a kid ranging from recreation, utility and race bikes but for a long time after; I took to motor vehicles in commuting to and from work. So when I gave up my salaried job and my visiting younger brother brought home a mountain bike I wasn’t fit enough to take up cycling again. One attempt to go to the nearby drugstore a kilometer away found me huffing and puffing when I got back. I locked up the bike in the garage where for several months it gathered dust and cobwebs.  

Then combating a lousy feeling, I decided to reacquaint myself with the bike. I washed and pad dried it, greased it, and fixed a flat tire. I took many short rides with it to the beach and later pedaled farther up west to scenic coastal and rural villages. Since the day I remounted that bike, I begun to appreciate more and more the countless reasons why many people enjoy biking.

There are of course, obvious health benefits from biking. It does make you feel better and invigorated and can surely drive the blues away. Health experts also say it provides better muscle tone, improves bone mass, good for the cardio-vascular system and therapeutic for the mind and spirit.

Needless to say, it is economical and efficient, won’t badger you with costly insurance and maintenance, washing queues or tight parking space, and won’t give a crap about rising fuel prices. Bicycling is low impact on the environment. It reduces air, water and noise pollution, and greenhouse gas emissions. It won’t cause road kill and maim persons or animals.  Not only is a bike environment friendly, it is user friendly too. It is safe for humans to handle and able to perform a useful task for humans. It never complains when an errand needs to be run.  

It is a great family and friends activity, a nice way for family bonding, camaraderie, or meeting new friends with a similar interest. Even if you are your sole company, your bike is your steady companion and teacher as you travel the trails together, discovering something wonderful in every unexpected swerve off the road.

It’s closest to the action of walking, it takes you wherever you like to go, whenever you want it, but with increased mobility.  It allows you to appreciate more the nuances of the natural and built environment around you - the sky is bluer, the air is fresher and the hillsides are greener. Never does life seem as good as when you are riding your bike, with the warm breeze touching your face and the wind tickling your ears, on your soul-satisfying forays into the countryside. So, for all intents and purposes whether health or wealth, sport or transport, endurance or enjoyment; biking is good for humans, truly and wholly human friendly.

Many great cities of the world have taken responsive actions and made strides in promoting healthier and more active bicycle lifestyles. Up on the list of bike friendly cities are many European cities like Amsterdam, Berlin, Barcelona, Paris; US cities such as New York, Chicago, Colorado, Oregon, California; and elsewhere like Ottawa, Tokyo, Beijing, Cape Town and Perth. In the Philippines, Marikina takes pride in being an award winning bicycle friendly city. Other cities like Quezon City, Makati City and Naga City have bicycle lanes too. Of late, Iloilo City is up and moving to construct its own bike roads.

I hope Zamboanga City can improve the situation for bicycles hereabouts, by giving priority to bicycle traffic, bicycle safety and bicycle infrastructures to one day make this city a bicycle friendly city.