Perhaps one of the common problems faced by bikers is finding a safe parking space. You see, bike theft is real and it’s not just happening in the Philippines. There’s also “bike stripping” where thieves only steal certain parts of a bicycle like handlebars or wheels.
Justin de Dios is a junior architect who also handles the social media page @manila.commuter. On that account, he documents his commutes in Metro Manila (most of the time using his Cinelli Gazetta 2012) and shows some of his interesting finds in the metropolis. Our favorites so far: his ride carrying a big ice cooler and his adventure of transporting a 25-kilo sack of rice.
He started bike commuting back in his uni days in De La Salle College of Saint Benilde.
“I was the typical protected kid, hatid-sundo ako sa school. And then my parents allowed me to commute from Tomas Morato to Taft when I entered college,” he said. “Noong una, I only ride the train. And then I started to gain interest with other modes of public transportation, then eventually nag-bike na rin ako to school.”
Right now, Justin usually works from home but he’s cycling most of the time—sometimes when he’s asked to do groceries or when he delivers the products of their food business.
He thinks that it was a bad idea when public transportation was halted by the government during the start of the community quarantine because it became difficult for the public to move around. However, he added that he’s hopeful because public transportation guidelines are taking place and that alternative modes like cycling are getting positive impressions.
Look at his bicycle, it sure is eye candy. And the quality of his bicycle’s parts? Excellent. So we can’t help but to ask if he’s afraid to park it. In just a snap, Justin said yes.
“Oo, nakaka-kaba talaga but that won’t stop me from getting around. Bike pa rin,” he said.
Justin added, “there’s now a slow demand for bike parking. It’s easy for establishments to make a system for it. Imagine, one car parking slot can already be occupied by five bicycles.”
He said that when he parks his bike, he usually befriends the security guards so they’d know that his bike is there and he owns it. We also saw on his Instagram posts that he sometimes uses two locks.
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