These are things that he doesn’t usually wear in his five years of bike commuting
Construction worker Marco Chang parked his single-speed bicycle beside a fence while looking at EDSA’s heavy traffic. He’s strategizing his move because he’s cycling back home after a day’s work.
He wears a face shield, something that was required by the government to everyone going outside their house. Because of this, Marco said that he needs to put it on while biking along Quezon City until he reaches Manggahan in Pasig.
“Kung ako papapiliin, ayoko mag-face shield kasi istorbo sa katawan. Mabigat kasi ito gamitin sa tenga, tapos minsan babagsak at dudulas. Parang delikado,” he said. “Sabi kasi ng misis ko sinisita na raw kapag walang face shield sa labas.”
Apparently, he’s not yet informed that Pasig City recently announced that cyclists are exempted from wearing a face shield. As of this writing, Quezon City hasn’t given any update yet after the recent IATF guideline.
Straight after work, Marco gets on his bike without removing his company’s hard hat. He doesn’t wear a head cover that’s specifically made for bikers.
“Wala akong pambili ng bike helmet eh,” he said. “Dati sumbrero lang ako.”
Marco has been bike commuting for five years now and the only problem that he encountered all these years was getting his bike broken in the middle of the road. He hopes to see vulcanizing shops in major thoroughfares.
This construction worker noted that it’s generally safe to cycle in Metro Manila and he feels safer now that there are bike lanes—at least when it’s respected by motorists. However, he pointed out that traffic is really bad especially this month.
Why is Marco bike commuting? He said that his fare going to and from work costs 100 pesos and he can’t afford it. One exerts physical effort in riding a bicycle but he prefers that than paying for transport.
The bicycle that he is using is his son’s single-speed. His bike had problems so he had to borrow this rusty ride. It looks fine but he knows that it’ll have a problem soon. We hope Marco arrives home safe tonight.
