Cebuano Bike Commuters, Cebu, Philippines

Felix, carpenter/bike commuter

maintenance team and bike commuters

There is a call to action in the Philippines--
that  roads should be allocated to two wheelers,  pedestrians and sidewalks.
Why?

Right, why walk or bike when you can ride a car, right?
This would be the reflex response of the average Filipino.

We do not like to walk,
with just a few meters of required  travel, we take the trisikad....
We do not like to bike, it will make us dark and black,
we pride ourselves to being the most enthusiastic users of skin whitening products...

Why not?
Lifestyle exercise- research has shown that regular and moderate 30 minutes lifestyle exercise will greatly improve our health, mood and relationships.

What is lifestyle exercise?
It is any form of physical activity that is part or ingrained in our activities of daily living.
Examples are: gardening, ironing clothes, taking the stairs, scrubbing the floor, sweeping and mopping and biking to work, market, school or church.

a bike is a form of alternative, appropriate and fossil fuel free transportation.

Yes,
a bike is an  alternative form of transportation,
it is a human powered vehicle,
we use our muscles to propel it to movement.

it is an appropriate form of technology,
it is economical and readily available to the public,
good for our health and our pockets.

it is a fossil free technology,
it is good for our lungs and the environment.

well. walking brings forth the same merits.

With the influx of affordable and recyclable Japanese bikes, there is no reason why the Cebuano or the filipino is general cannot become a bike commuter. There are also some groups like Bike 4u founded by Jens Funk that assert that a Bike is a Right and Not a Privilege. They distribute bikes, teach safety and maintenance to locals. They also organize fun rides to educate the public about bike commuting.

Years ago, we had a chance to join Bike 4u in a fun ride.

waiting for the ride to start

at the i.t. park

biking as a small time step, with potentially big time results

local icon- Budoy, lending a helping hand to bike commuting education

Cebu needs more bike- a- thons.
Almost every week there are marathons.
Maybe this is a passing fad... like  badminton...

The Cebuano bikers have always been around,
let us give them a chance to educate the public....
It cannot be a fad,

We need to  become bike converts or better yet bike commuters...
To  pedal and stay healthy
To save transportation money
To keep Cebu pollution free
To ease the traffic congestion and lessen accidents
To be less dependent on foreign oil reserves
Most of all to be free, mobile and self-reliant.