Dreaming of bike lanes

With oil price on its relentless rise and the minimum jeepney fare now at Php8.00, it's sad to know that a perfectly functional bicycle is just gathering dust in the garage instead of being ridden to and from work, like what I used to do when I was still in Quezon City (Diliman, to be exact).

It's almost two years year since I moved to Makati City, and I still haven't figured out the safest bike route to QC, if such a thing exist in the first place.

Then again, maybe it's out there, if only I have the guts to take the bike out and brave the streets of Makati.

Presidential aspirant MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando was able to do it in Marikina. I wonder what's keeping MMDA from pushing through with the bicycle lanes for the rest of the metro? Real bicycle lanes, that is, and not like the ones in Quezon City and Manila -- a sign that says "bicycle lane" and white lines along the road do not really give cyclists much protection from other vehicles (a whole freakin' lot of them, with nasty drivers behind the wheel).

***

It was in Hanoi, Vietnam seven years ago where I saw how bicycles and motorcycles could be objects of beauty and romance in people's daily lives.

Hanoi streets are overflowing with bicycles and motorcycles. They are everywhere, and people use them in almost every imaginable way. Bikes in Hanoi are kings of the road! Four-wheel motor vehicles are the minority.

People there do not ride furiously like most cyclists and motorists do here in Metro Manila. They are relaxed, sometimes in deep thought, or casually talking with fellow bikers, or in heated arguments complete with shouting and hand gestures, or in tender conversation.

The last one was a joy to see: couples riding side by side, holding hands and moving in perfect sync. This would be probably be one of the most romantic sights I'll ever see (but sadly, I had no camera with me then, so no photos).

Biking in Metro Manila does not evoke images of romantic couples in tender moments. It conjures images of bloody riders laying on the curb. The evening news would attest to how dangerous the metro streets are for bikers.

Despite the poverty, sometimes I feel the Metro Manila streets have too many 4-wheel motor vehicles already. It seems we are so attached to the car culture that no other commodity could emphasize the gap between the rich and the poor more than the car. Not even the house.

Our own neighbor, for instance, has a Mitsubishi Delica and a 19-something Mitsubishi Lancer (plus two motorcycles), but no garage for all these.

I guess it follows that in the practice of market research in this country, the usual measures of socio-economic class put a heavy premium on the ownership of 4-wheel motor vehicles.

I hope structures like that of Hanoi's or any bicycle-friendly society materialize in Metro Manila. And when that day comes, I pray that I would still be fit to ride a bike.