Going for Celeste

So I passed by one of my favorite bike shops, Simple Cyclery, and asked the owner Gilbert about the vintage Bianchi frame he was selling. I now have a price target. Now, all I need is the money.

How I'd love to ride in a bike like this!

Donations are welcome. :)

And for those who are asking...

Simple Cyclery

87-D D.Tuazon Ave.

Brgy.Lourdes, Sta. Mesa Heights

Quezon City 

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Riding the Green Wave

Episode 02 - The Green Wave for Cyclists - Top 10 Design Elements in Copenhagen's Bicycle Culture from Copenhagenize on Vimeo.

In the previous post, I featured a video on Copenhagen's policy on uniform bike lanes. This policy has been the cornerstone of the success of their biking culture. Recently, Copenhagenize.com released the second installment of this 10-part feature. This second episode talks about the Green Wave.

The Green Wave is coordinated traffic lights for cyclists. Ride 20 km/h and you won't put a foot down on your journey into the city centre in the morning and home again in the afternoon.

The Green Wave is a very interesting strategy because it rewards cyclists who maintain an average speed with a continuous straight path. This reinforces the strategy of ensuring that cycling is the fastest way to travel in Copenhagen. Increasing the convenience of the cyclists has boosted the number of bikers in their roads. This entails excellent traffic planning and coordination - both are necessary in a thriving metropolis such as Metro Manila.

Below is another look at a street with a Green Wave.

The Green Wave in Copenhagen from Copenhagenize on Vimeo.

One of the things that caught my attention is the width of the road. I'm still trying to figure out how did they put their cycling lane in a road that continues to have 2-way car traffic. I just need to figure out the dimensions of their roads, carriageways, and bike lanes. Then I'll try to compare these measurements with our own. This could be the start of a more systematic advocacy for many biking groups.

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Speaking of riding the green wave, I think I have been bitten by the Celeste bug.

The Big Picture: Bikes, Not Cars

Below is an excellent video about how Copenhagen has prioritized the bicycle, over the automobile. I think it's worth equating "livability" with "bike-friendliness". A metropolis that is filled with fly-overs is not a bike-friendly city. A city should prioritize making transportation outside of the automobile faster and safer. Therefore, a cyclist and walker friendly city is a better city.

Without proper bike lanes, I think we need this campaign here

Another important message of the video is the idea that if we build the proper infrastructures, the people will start using their bicycles more. I believe in this message. It's not about the current number of cyclists on the road but about our ability to accommodate daily commuters that would push people to actually choose this method of transportation. I wish that this becomes adopted as a policy by the government, both nationally and locally.

The Big Picture - 01 - Top 10 Bicycle-Friendly Design Elements in Copenhagen from Copenhagenize on Vimeo.

My Dream Opafiets

Some day, I wish I could ride in my own Velorbis Classic Gents bicycle. I'll either ride it in the Netherlands or have it shipped here. I love the beauty and the simplicity of this retro-style bike. Riding in an upright bike is very classy. I wish we have our own "slow bike" culture here in the Philippines so I could dress up as classy as these guys below.

Opafiets means 'grandfather bike' in Dutch. It is a "generic term used to describe typically a two-wheeled, utilitarian bicycle, with mudguards or fenders, a rear carrier or rack, relaxed frame or geometry, an upright seating position and generally an ‘old-time’ look reminiscent of the early 20th century. It is a style of bike you will find all over Northern Europe, from bicycle friendly cities such as Copenhagen and Amsterdam, to Berlin, Hamburg, Stockholm and Oslo".

Most of the bicycles in Metro Manila are either racers or mountain bikes. I occasionally see some upright bikes that are most likely from Japanese surplus stores, but they are the minority in the road. One of these days, I'll ask Lee of Bzkleta to build me a Velorbis imitation from some scrap bike parts. The only challenge is finding a frame big enough for my height.

I have a theory - to encourage more people to ride a bicycle, maybe it would help to make cycling more fashionable. We're used to seeing bikers either with shabby bikes or with shiny sporty ones. It's rare to see pogi bikes on the road. Maybe if people start seeing more gentlemanly (and lady-like) cyclists using bespoke bicycles on the road, people would start thinking that biking is not just for the fit, the fast, and the strong.

Sky Cap and Other Stuff

Today, I did some shopping for my bike. I bought a small bottle of WD-40 to start protecting my bike from rust.

I also bought some elastic cord ties from National Bookstore to tie stuff to my bike. I've been using bungee cords but the hooks have caused scratches on my frame and racks. I also bought a Sky cycling cap from Simple Cyclery. I'm a big fan of the Sky Cycling Team ever since they started last year. And I hope Froomey wins this year's Tour de France.

Pictured above is my current bike setup. I'll be trying to use the crate so I won't need to wear my backpack tomorrow morning. I also have a BrookShield Ass Saver as my provisional mud guard.

Fixie for Me?

via Simple Cyclery

Shirley 1.0

Finally, she has come to life!

Shirley's steel frame is definitely more forgiving that the carbon frame of my roadie. The fatter 26" tires also helped absorb the vibrations of the road. This is significantly more heavy than my racer, making climbs on flyovers more challenging. But it only means that I need to be stronger especially if I want to roll through those hills and mountains outside of Metro Manila.

There's still a lot of work to be done on Shirley. For one, I need to find a better saddle for her. I'm currently using the inflatable saddle of my folding bike. I might get a Brooks B17 in Honey Brown but they're very pricey so I'm still holding off on the purchase. Naturally, when I change my saddle, I'll also change my bar tape to make sure they both match.

I also need to install some good lights to improve visibility at night and at dawn. I also need to get my front brakes fixed as soon as possible. The v-brakes are powerful and the rear one seem to be strong enough on its own. But the front has the greatest stopping power so I need to restore that.

All in all, I'm happy with Shirley 1.0, my black beauty. I look forward to the day we go on our Luzon tour.

Random Ramblings of a City Cyclist

Warning: This is just one giant wall of text.

I wish that the people who are in the business of what happens to and on our city roads would take the time to ride bicycles arond their cities. Hopefully local chief executives, and DPWH district engineers and contractors would find out for themselves that our rough and bumpy roads are literally causing a lot of pain in the butt (and the wrist). Can't we make smoother roads? I wish there was a way to make those manholes be at road level. And can we please find a better way to patch those potholes? Filling them with asphalt only makes for another bump in the road. Maybe the people from MMDA and the city planners would see the ridiculously cramped bottlenecks in the roads - it's like having to choose between getting your bike tire stuck in a manhole or you getting swiped by a side mirror. I hope the people from LTO and LTFRB would smell the toxic fumes from those jeeps and trucks. And please, can someone unleash the kraken on those jeeps!? They are the most unpredictable vehicles on the road. All road users should know that predictability is the root of road safety. I also wish car drivers would be more considerate. I know that these city roads were made with you in mind (though I think livable cities should have cyclists and pedestrians in mind), but please learn to share the road. No matter, how fast you try to overtake us, we'll surely meet you in the next stoplight. So please, learn to chillax a bit and know that people in bikes are also trying to be on time for their next appointment. I learned from my Dutch friend that there's no better way to know your city than riding a bicycle. So please, all of you, try hopping on a bike and see our cities the way we cyclists see it.