Skip to main content

Cycling in the City

There’s a feeling of freedom that comes with cycling in a big city which is very important, as one can feel trapped by the routine of touring, work, or even travel.... Even if freedom is an illusion the physical sensation of riding does a pretty good job of making it seem attainable for a moment.
-- David Byrne


David Byrne writes about how things are looking up for commuters on bicycles in New York, having cycled in the city for over 30 years. Oh how I wish the same could be said for Baguio! I vaguely remember some years ago that the city of Baguio was given funds by something like the World Bank or the Asian Development Bank to create bicycle lanes thanks to some visionary council member! Needless to say, the lanes never materialized. And who knows what the visionary council member did with the funds.

Lucky David Byrne has cycled "for transport, not sport" in some of the world's greatest and worst cities, including Manila! Risking life and limb on a bicycle is sheer adrenalin, the stuff of life, the play between the work, and he knows it. He mentions Paris and Bogota as cycling friendly cities and is particularly happy about city streets that are given over to bicycles and pedestrians. I'd say Oxford and the Midlands are great examples too. When are the old hawks on Session Road and in City Hall ever going to see the light about the pleasures and benefits of walking and cycling streets? As it is, cycling on Session Road is illegal! But we do it anyway, because we believe we have a right to do so. You'll never see us double parking or clogging the damn street anyway, the way some SUVs and taxis do on a regular basis.

Family transport in Amsterdam.

We like the Netherlands because the whole country moves on bicycles. (And they have a policy of tolerance towards marijuana. Don't you think Amsterdam or Leiden would make a great model for Baguio?) Whatever the weather, and whatever the destination -- market, grocery, school, office, picnic, party, museum, lunch or dinner date -- the Dutch go on their bicycles, and so do their babies! The whole country is traversed by bike lanes, so that it's possible to cycle through cities, villages, farms, and polders without ever leaving a bike lane. Because of this, I can almost forgive the landscape for being so unrelentingly flat!

The number of cyclists you'll see in Baguio on any given dry day is on the rise. I wish I could confirm this observation of mine by spending a few days on the streets with one of those clickers that you click to count things. (I'll also need a clicker in the other hand to count the number of smoke-belching vehicles that go by.) I believe that soon there'll be enough of us to form a constituency with a voice, and then the streets will be ours!!! Mwahahahahahaaaaa!

Parking outside the Leiden Central Station. Now picture a Baguio parking lot like this!

Comments

The Nashman said…
I learned how to pick a bicycle lock from a junkie in Amsterdam. It's all fair game. I think they own three bikes anyway and expect 2 to be stolen. Plus, you can always get a 'new' one for ten euros
padma said…
Turuan mo naman ako! I think the average Dutch guy/gal in his/her 30's would have had at least 7 bikes stolen from them in their lifetime. Kaya pabor sila sa mga bulok na bisikleta. Less likely to get stolen, and if stolen then less likely to be sorely missed.
Mayumi Masaya said…
lot of bikes here get stolen too. bike lanes are just ridiculous, i know of at least three friends who have gotten into accidents.

i found my bike lying on the street. it's an old foldable ladies bike ('made in western germany') hehehe
Anonymous said…
hi padma, the reason i've crossed over to running from cycling was the increase of motor vehicles in the city. it was no longer fun having to fend for oneself against these steel behemoths in the hands of some monsters.

baguio has become a city of and for motor vehicles by motor heads. kunwari, we celebrate earth day, we, kunwari, are concerned about global warming. but this are all just paying lip service.

what vehicle is more green than the bicycle? -resty
padma said…
Hi manong Resty,

Thanks for the visit! It's true, cycling in our city feels like being in a war sometimes. And it's true, our city is being developed for motor vehicles by people who own several cars each with airconditioning, so they never have to breathe the same polluted air that we do. PLUS, have you noticed how there are so few sidewalks throughout the city that are wide enough for the thousands of pedestrians that use them everyday?

Frustrating indeed, but we have to keep trying to do things differently! Our way! The bicycle way, or the running way! Baguio should be a city for athletes, don't you think? We already produce some of the best...

cheers!

Popular posts from this blog

Cordillera Folktales and Story-telling

It was cold and wet outside on the day of the launching of The Golden Arrow of Mt. Makilkilang and other Cordillera Folktales . But inside Mt. Cloud Bookshop we were warmed by stories read and performed by the Aanak di Kabiligan community theater group. Storytelling on a stormy afternoon. Paco Paco. A Benguet story from the book, published by the Cordillera Green Network. Aanak di Kabiligan means children of the mountains. The theater group was born out of the Cordillera Green Network's eleven years of conducting workshops in which children transform their grandparents' stories into theater productions. Here they perform the title story of the Golden Arrow of Mt. Makilkilang and Other Cordillera Folktales.

Lola of Maipon

It's all too easy to fall asleep under the blanket of everyday life and to smother dreams with the mundane things I surround myself with. But once in a while, along comes a sparkling vision that jolts me out of my daily sleep and reminds me of the existence of convictions and worlds so different from my own. "Our beloved LOLA of Guinubatan, Maipon, Albay is the last true messenger of God. So, let us follow her holy teachings so that we will gain TRUE SALVATION without sufferings and without death." In another story I, the intrepid heroine, the adventurer seduced by mysteries, the pilgrim in search of truth, would follow them back to Guinubatan from Session Road, thirsting to see and hear their Lola for myself. However, it's all too easy -- much safer! -- to fall back asleep under the blanket of everyday life, and to smother dreams with the mundane things I surround myself with. Then along comes 9 a.m., and really, it's time to down the dregs of coffee at the bott

The Golden Arrow of Mt. Makilkilang

On June 30, 2013 at 2 PM, Mt. Cloud Bookshop will host the launching of the new children’s book, The Golden Arrow of Mt. Makilkilang and Other Cordillera Folktales . The event is open to the public and will include story-telling and a performance for children by the Aanak di Kabiligan Community Theater Group. After eleven years of telling stories through the Community Theatre, the Cordillera Green Network (CGN) and its theater company, The Aanak di Kabiligan has published a compilation of Cordillera folklore. These stories were the inspiration behind  the CGN's successful environmental education campaign, dubbed as the "Eco-Theatre Caravan", a roving theater community of young Cordillerans, theatre artists and volunteers performing in different communities in the Philippines and prefectures in Japan advocating environmental causes through performance. The book is a collection of folktales from Kalinga, Benguet, Apayao and Mt. Province. These storie