|
Post by E.C.Rider on Dec 12, 2006 15:20:29 GMT 8
Hey guys,
Just wanted to get your feedback on biking around the city. I plan to go around the different biking areas in the fort, taguig, and others mentioned in other threads., during mornings of late afternoons.
Is it hassle free to do this? Do lespu give bikers on roads like C5, EDSA, and other major routes a difficult time?
Also, what do you guys do to protect (or attempt to protect) yourselves from polution and dust? Do you wear masks?
Thanks.
Ride E.C.
|
|
|
Post by arcireyes on Dec 12, 2006 15:58:52 GMT 8
be defensive....be very defensive if you plan to bike and hit the streets of metro manila. pollution and nitwitted drivers are a given in the streets of MM. good luck and ride safe
|
|
|
Post by ronaldarca on Dec 12, 2006 16:19:11 GMT 8
best way is to stay away as much as possible on high-traffic routes. if there are inner streets to go by, use them a helmet, blinkers and reflectors would serve appropriate as precaution to drivers that such biker exists. prevention is better than anything
|
|
|
Post by anthrax76 on Dec 12, 2006 17:24:36 GMT 8
same advice above, be very defensive, drivers can and will cut you, whether private or public.
get a mask when you think you'll be riding in a major road.
i've tried C5 and no hassle. i stay away from EDSA as much as i can, due to pollution and hot headed drivers. as for The Fort, there are lanes here that are closed to cyclists, dunno if it's implemented.
|
|
|
Post by whoopi on Dec 12, 2006 20:35:46 GMT 8
be afraid.... be very afraid. ;D *joke lang*
never had any problems with policemen yet, even inside the fort. there are a lot of bike commuters that pass through the fort-mckinley-ayala in the mornings and evenings.
|
|
|
Post by anshwa on Dec 12, 2006 23:32:30 GMT 8
I used to bike on the road a lot when I was still there. Mask is important. Get blinkers (front & back) & try to stay on the sidewalks, or as close to it, as much as you can. If possible, try to stay away from major highways as possible.
|
|
|
Post by E.C.Rider on Dec 18, 2006 10:00:27 GMT 8
Thanks for the tips guys.
Sabi nga ni Woopi, "be afraid... be very afraid...". I actually had some small experiences this past week when I trid biking to shaw blvd from pasig. Some jeeps pin me to the sidewalk, during heavy traffic, motorcycles appear from nowhere and just pop their front wheel right in front of me, etc. etc.
Anyway, I am starting to get used to it. As Arci mentioned, "be defensive". That is how I drive and that is how intend to bike.
Hope to bump into you guys one day. Again, thanks for the tips.
Ride E.C.
|
|
|
Post by anthrax76 on Dec 18, 2006 11:26:45 GMT 8
i used to ride from Pasig to Tondo during my last days in college. one of the first things i learned is to bunnyhop from asphalt to sidewalk. and always look for a better route
|
|
|
Post by styxmaster69 on Jan 5, 2007 11:37:55 GMT 8
Be Defensive and very Alert!!!..........
|
|
|
Post by sabretooth on Jan 5, 2007 13:03:56 GMT 8
i've been biking the streets of metro for three years now. i could say i'm used to the old soup ingredients--hot headed drivers who think the biker is a road menace, territorial dogs, fumes, etc. But still, everytime i head out, i still look out for them, ALWAYS. Manila's streets are very very dangerous. Not for the weak of hear ika nga. i agree with fafa ronald about the sidestreets, yun lang, dami dogs.
|
|
|
Post by anthrax76 on Jan 5, 2007 13:07:29 GMT 8
sabretooth, brad my dad has a deterrent for dogs, he he he. he uses a radio antenna. folds like nothing, weighs very light. extends to about 2 feet using your hand and mouth then whak the dog, he he he.
|
|
|
Post by sabretooth on Jan 5, 2007 13:27:07 GMT 8
@anthrax: hey dude! ok yan! azto, my bike buddy carries with him a retractable iron batuta. some hundred bucks daw in quiapo. my friend in college who was always victimized by a troop of stray dogs brought some cyanide from the university chem lab, put some in a loaf of bread and scattered them along a dark alley. the next day, no more rabid stray dogs...only dead ones. hehe. morbid, but true!
|
|
|
Post by anthrax76 on Jan 5, 2007 13:49:16 GMT 8
waaa ha ha ha, cooool, cyanide, he he he, only dogs? no rats? he he he.
what i fear most actually are pedestrians. when suddenly they want to play patintero with you in the middle of the street
|
|
|
Post by marcs on Jan 5, 2007 14:01:22 GMT 8
that's kind of dangerous. what if some street kid ate that bread?
|
|
|
Post by Ben Dover on Jan 5, 2007 14:14:06 GMT 8
that's kind of dangerous. what if some street kid ate that bread? no more street kids? hmm...marcs has a serious point there ah.
|
|
|
Post by sabretooth on Jan 5, 2007 15:27:26 GMT 8
we were against his plan. but the dog-gang menaced him almost every day everytime he goes home in the wee hours of the morning. there was no stopping him. well it happened almost ten years ago. god bless the souls of those dogs near UP shopping center. :-)
|
|
|
Post by sabretooth on Jan 23, 2007 14:07:19 GMT 8
i felt like being sentimental...
Bike
Most of my “thinking moments” nowadays, I do on my bike. I’ve had a few close calls because of thinking too much while on the saddle, but it’s good I’m getting another form of exercise inside my coconut shell. On a bike, I appreciate my mortality more. A wrong turn, a wrong decision, even a tiny rock could send me to the afterlife, if there was any. I appreciate life more. Though I turn green in envy every time I see pictures of mountainbikers enjoying lush greeneries while trail riding, I see no point in not biking on a deadly street because its the only available playground for me in this godforsaken city. You see, on my bike, I get to exercise my body to live longer. I also get to kill it slowly by inhaling all the fumes those darn jeepneys emit. But danger, my friend, is something we all live with, every single day.
Life is like a bike ride. Well, I dunno about you but mine is. I know where I’m going. I know how long it’ll take me to get there. I know what route to take. I know what to do. BUT, there are countless other variables on the road that can alter my ride. A speeding ten-wheeler truck could run me over and send me to kingdomcome. A disgruntled jeepney driver who has just survived a shouting match with his wife this morning might not notice me flailing my arms signaling him I’m about to make a sudden turn. An absent-minded student daydreaming about his high school crush might not see me coming toward him on a downhill portion of the road. Or God could, at the very moment I’m directly under his microscope, smite me just because He thinks it’s fun to do. Anything could happen. But will I cringe in fear of the possibilities and hide inside our house? No. I’d still do what I love doing.
With all the turmoil happening around me, I have no other time to think, except on my bike. Maybe that’s the reason I seem to crave for more rides. My new house seems sooo comfortable that I tend to relax all the time when I’m home. Work? I’m working myself to death, but nothing seems to have changed much this past year. I’m still one good-looking poor guy. It’s hard to be a “head of the family” when you very well know you can’t provide everything your family needs. But we must all pretend we can, if only for the peace of mind of our loved ones. But heck, I’d still work my butt off anyways. I know there’s some kind of lesson in this, but I can’t figure it out just yet.
In a bike ride, just like in life, the road ain’t always flat. There will be punishing uphills (darn I remember pushing my bike most of the time in Maarat) and sweet downhills. Some of us will fall off the cliff or end up as a roadkill for the birds and ants to feed on. Some of us will make it. Some will get to their destinations ahead of others. Some will arrive eons later. Some won’t.
|
|
|
Post by joes on Jan 23, 2007 14:09:56 GMT 8
kapitan basa strikes. hehehe. nice post.
|
|
|
Post by Patrick on Jan 23, 2007 21:43:22 GMT 8
my friend in college who was always victimized by a troop of stray dogs brought some cyanide from the university chem lab, put some in a loaf of bread and scattered them along a dark alley. the next day, no more rabid stray dogs...only dead ones. hehe. morbid, but true! Is he dumb or what? as simple ajinomoto on raw meat will do, no risk for humans (even to himself).
|
|
|
Post by joes on Jan 23, 2007 23:23:07 GMT 8
parang scene sa silent hill ang dating. hehehehe.
|
|
|
Post by alien_scream on Jan 24, 2007 11:08:37 GMT 8
yeah!!! silent hill!!!! or maybe resident evil!!!! hehehehehehe!!!
|
|
|
Post by gadgets88 on Jan 24, 2007 12:59:38 GMT 8
my friend in college who was always victimized by a troop of stray dogs brought some cyanide from the university chem lab, put some in a loaf of bread and scattered them along a dark alley. the next day, no more rabid stray dogs...only dead ones. hehe. morbid, but true! Is he dumb or what? as simple ajinomoto on raw meat will do, no risk for humans (even to himself). OT but I have a very itchy question and therefore has to scratch it now... Oprah said that CHOCOLATES are bad for dogs. How true?
|
|
|
Post by anthrax76 on Jan 24, 2007 13:47:03 GMT 8
|
|
|
Post by BrusKO on Jan 24, 2007 15:25:51 GMT 8
OT:
Google is your friend.
|
|
|
Post by krx on Jan 24, 2007 20:55:10 GMT 8
i felt like being sentimental... Bike Most of my “thinking moments” nowadays, I do on my bike. I’ve had a few close calls because of thinking too much while on the saddle, but it’s good I’m getting another form of exercise inside my coconut shell. On a bike, I appreciate my mortality more. A wrong turn, a wrong decision, even a tiny rock could send me to the afterlife, if there was any. I appreciate life more. Though I turn green in envy every time I see pictures of mountainbikers enjoying lush greeneries while trail riding, I see no point in not biking on a deadly street because its the only available playground for me in this godforsaken city. You see, on my bike, I get to exercise my body to live longer. I also get to kill it slowly by inhaling all the fumes those darn jeepneys emit. But danger, my friend, is something we all live with, every single day. Life is like a bike ride. Well, I dunno about you but mine is. I know where I’m going. I know how long it’ll take me to get there. I know what route to take. I know what to do. BUT, there are countless other variables on the road that can alter my ride. A speeding ten-wheeler truck could run me over and send me to kingdomcome. A disgruntled jeepney driver who has just survived a shouting match with his wife this morning might not notice me flailing my arms signaling him I’m about to make a sudden turn. An absent-minded student daydreaming about his high school crush might not see me coming toward him on a downhill portion of the road. Or God could, at the very moment I’m directly under his microscope, smite me just because He thinks it’s fun to do. Anything could happen. But will I cringe in fear of the possibilities and hide inside our house? No. I’d still do what I love doing. With all the turmoil happening around me, I have no other time to think, except on my bike. Maybe that’s the reason I seem to crave for more rides. My new house seems sooo comfortable that I tend to relax all the time when I’m home. Work? I’m working myself to death, but nothing seems to have changed much this past year. I’m still one good-looking poor guy. It’s hard to be a “head of the family” when you very well know you can’t provide everything your family needs. But we must all pretend we can, if only for the peace of mind of our loved ones. But heck, I’d still work my butt off anyways. I know there’s some kind of lesson in this, but I can’t figure it out just yet. In a bike ride, just like in life, the road ain’t always flat. There will be punishing uphills (darn I remember pushing my bike most of the time in Maarat) and sweet downhills. Some of us will fall off the cliff or end up as a roadkill for the birds and ants to feed on. Some of us will make it. Some will get to their destinations ahead of others. Some will arrive eons later. Some won’t. sabretooth,
this is a nice piece. Can I re-post this at "fireflynews" egroup??
Thanks!
kRx
|
|
|
Post by sabretooth on Jan 24, 2007 21:11:15 GMT 8
ay talaga? sure!
|
|
|
Post by sup on Jan 24, 2007 22:56:32 GMT 8
I just found this video. Crazy bikers this time around. No helmets, zipping through pedestrians/auto's with only a foot gap, counterflowing, the works! There's a same video entitled "bike messengers are on crack". lol! Bike commuter gods are from NY.
|
|
|
Post by jr on Jan 24, 2007 23:28:45 GMT 8
I just found this video. Crazy bikers this time around. No helmets, zipping through pedestrians/auto's with only a foot gap, counterflowing, the works! There's a same video entitled "bike messengers are on crack". lol! Bike commuter gods are from NY. Lots of bikers in the street of NY are messeger. Delivering documents from place to place.
|
|
|
Post by sup on Jan 25, 2007 17:38:50 GMT 8
Yes, jr! I think I saw an old film before that moves around the story of bike messengers (and the tv series of Jessica Alba). hhmmm.. I wonder what the statistics for bike messenger related accidents would be in NY.
|
|
|
Post by jakecastle on May 30, 2007 2:51:42 GMT 8
A co worker apporached and asked "why do you have to ride that bicycle or yours to work, its just weird." So for a change I tried to ride the bus to get home from work one late afternoon. From the 50th floor of the PBCom bldg. over at Ayala I tried to hail the PVP Bus heading for nagtahan. A bus passed by after fifteen minutes but refused to convey me stating that they dont allow passengers to board on that specific bus stop. I HAD to walk all the way from PBCom to the one near RCBC. Grinding my teeth in frustration I walked for ten to fifteen minutes to get to the "designated" bus stop. It took another ten minutes for the next PVP bus to nagtahan passed.
Sigh THAT bus was FUll and crowded so much that the airconditioning was simply overwhelmed. The heat wasnt enough. The funky smelling passenger standing in front of me complied to the bus conductors command to act like sardines as we reached the Makati post office. I cringed and realized that the traffic was just absoltely horrible!!!! From RCBC tower to the Train station at buendia took almost half an hour (for God's sake walking would have been faster). Standing crammed inside that hot and humid bus I tried desperately to take my mind off from the insanity and rage of why I even tried to take the bus. With my fellow passenger poking his elbow on my face on every bump I couldnt help but this that this might qualify as cruel and unusual punishment. It took a an hour and a half to reach to Espana from Buendia. Overthrilled that I was finally getting off the bus I aligthed from the bus at Espana. Relieved from that nightmare I walked another ten minutes to my door step.
All in all my one way journey home on the bus (waiting+walking+waiting+traffic+walking took TWO hours).
It only takes me twenty five minutes from the rear exit of the office building. It maybe 'risky' to commute by bike but for ME it is actually far more convinient and relaxing. I get to enjoy my ride and never have to worry about waiting for the bus.
That partiular bus ride was EXHAUSTING. In comparison my BIKE ride was FUN. I dont care what my co workers might think but I have a simple choice and weird as it may seem for them... I am never gonna ride that bus again.
|
|