Top 5 Reasons Why It's Hard to Bike Commute in Manila

5.  The Heat!

With temperatures reaching 90-95 F during the summer, sometimes the weather is too hot to bike commute. For example, the other day I biked to Makati at 2 in the afternoon.  It was so hot and humid that I suffered from heatstroke the next day!  Seriously. 

The only time it's not hot is at night, and that's another problem!

And when it's not summer, it's raining!  Light showers I can take--the Brompton and the Allant both have fenders.  But typhoon-level rain means the bike stays in the garage.

I guess the best time to bike commute in Manila is early in the morning, like 6am. 

4.  No Bike Lanes

Unlike New York, Portland, San Francisco, Davis, London, Taipei, Singapore and other world cities, Manila does not have a bike lane network.  There is no designated lane for us to ride our bikes.  Hence, we have to compete for the same driving space with cars, buses, trucks, jeepneys, tricycles, motorcycles and pedicabs!

So the key to biking in Manila is adopt "defensive biking."  A biker has to be fully aware of his surroundings.  He has to assume that there are vehicles on all his sides.

3.  Unruly Public Transport Drivers / Chaotic Traffic System

Traffic laws are generally not followed in the Philippines.  Drivers don't stick to their lanes; they drive against the flow of traffic; beat the red light; and don't yield or give way.  And the worst offenders are drivers of public utility vehicles.  They won't give you space.  They'll drive you off the road if they can.

This is especially true along Epifanio Delos Santos Ave., C-5 and Commonwealth Ave.  Areas that are relatively safe (compared to EDSA) include Bonifacio Global City in Taguig, Roxas Blvd. in Manila (because you can use the service road), and Marikina (because they have a bike lane network over there).

Of course, it's a lot safer to ride your bike during the weekends, especially Sundays, since there are less cars on the road.

2.  No Bike Parking

Even if you successfully commute from point A to point B on your bike, the next problem is where to park it.  Chances are there are no bike racks available in the office, the shopping mall or in school.

And if there are, the bike racks would most probably be placed in an obscure place of the building, like in the basement or at the back, which makes it susceptible to being stolen by bike thieves.

In so far as availability of bike racks are concerned, the Firefly Brigade and other similar cause-oriented groups are providing new bike racks to schools, government buildings and offices, so this is good.

But I think it's equally important to inform and educate the building managers that the racks have to be placed near the entrance, where more people can see the bikes.  This way bike thieves will think twice before they steal a bike.  Otherwise, even if there's a rack, but it's at the back of the mall where no one sees it, a biker would rather keep his bike than leave it there.

1. Social Stigma of being Bike Commuter

Let's face it.  Here in the Philippines, the majority look down at people who commute by bike.  This is because most bike commuters here are construction workers and security guards.  People then associate bike commuting to being poor.  The logic being the biker rides a bike because he does not have enough money to use motorized transport.  It's ridiculous, but it's the sad reality.

And when one uses an obviously expensive road/commuter bike, there's still a stigma because then the biker will just be labeled as being crazy for biking the streets of Manila.