Bogotá's Wednesday Night Riders

Every other Wednesday night Bogotanos are treated to a novel spectacle in a city normally clogged with cars: hundreds of cyclists pedaling by, filling streets and - wonder of wonders - obliging the motorized traffic to stop for them!

It's the bi-weekly Wednesday night ride, or Ciclopaseo, which has become an institution in Bogotá cycling, at least on the city's north end.

The rides make for a fun, social time with other cyclists, even if Bogotá's urban scenery isn't so spectacular, especially at night. But the rides demonstrate that cycling has a place and a fun one, in this big and chaotic city.

The Ciclopaseo has been going on for six years, and have attracted as many as 600 people, altho the typical number is 300, says Andres, the organizer and leader. Most of the participants are university students, many from the private Los Andes University, but middle aged people and a few children show up too, as well as the occasional pet dog. While university is in session the ride happens every other Wednesday, and every Wednesday during school breaks.

Routes take in avenues, parks and wetlands, mostly of north Bogotá. But Andres doesn't fear leading the group thru rough areas, such as the narrow alleys of the poor Belén neighborhood during this week's ride, which started in central Bogotá in honor of Bogotá's annual Bicycle Week. Some of the participants rode Specialized and other high-end bikes which, under normal circumstances, would likely experience a sudden change of ownership in some of these rough neighborhoods. But there's strength in numbers during the Ciclopaseo. The ride normally starts in the far north, perhaps because most Andes University students live at that end of town. For those of us who live in the center, however, that makes participation difficult, since it means returning home near midnight.

As the Ciclopaseo has grown in numbers of participants, it has also in sophistication and assertiveness. Uniformed support people carrying walkie talkies stop traffic while the crowd of cyclists pedal past - undoubtedly annoying drivers, but also making the point that two-wheeled traffic deserves respect on the road in a city in which motorists take for granted that they have priority all the time in all situations. On the other hand, it seems to me that the Ciclopaseo could find a better way to handle flats, which seemed to happen every few blocks during this ride, obliging the whole group to stop and wait for the patch job. Perhaps one of the support people could lend their bike to the person who flatted, repair the flat and then catch up, to keep the group moving. However, a participant I talked to said that tonight's number of flat tires was exceptional - perhaps because south Bogotá's streets are tougher on tubes, especially the fixies' thin tires - even tho this group was small than usual (probably because of the rain).

My more substantive criticism of the rides is its failure to incorporate bicycle activism. It'd be a great opportunity to collect signatures, recruit activists, etc. for cycling causes. Why not use the ride to rally at some establishment that lacks bicycle parking? How about documenting the sad state of a cycle lane, or pointing out a dangerous intersection?

But, activists or not, the cyclists do make an impression. On the gritty Ave. Decima people asked what was going on and stood in doorways to marvel at this unusual phenomenon. With time, hopefully, mass cycling will become a common sight in Bogotá.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogota Bike Tours

Bogotá's Fifth Bicycle Week

Bogotá's fifth Bicycle Week kicked off today with events in the National Park, including contests for working bikes and weird bikes, bike races and other fun stuff.

As always, I wish that these events included promotion of practical and mundane biking, particularly bike commuting. Instead, there's the bicycle-as-toy and these forums. But we've had plenty of forums and speeches already.

A flying start for Bicycle Week.

A future cyclist learns to pedal. 

 Cycling advocate Green Man makes friends.

Jesus David Acero, bicycle point man at the IDU, says he hopes public bikes will be rolling by mid-2013.

Bike license plates for sale in a flea market say 'One Less Car', 'More Pedal, Less Motor' and others.

Weird bikes. 

By Bogota Bike Tours

Back When Bicycling Was Bad: Gabriel Garcia Marquez on Cycling

Bogotá's finest confiscate law-breaking bicyclesin 1955 (Photo: El Espectador)

Bogotá bicyclists, including yours truly, love to complain: about the chaotic, inconsiderate drivers who behave like bicycles don't exist; about the bicycle lanes in bad shape or useless; about the vehicles which belch plumes of smoke into our faces; and so on and so on.

But I felt better - or, at least, less bad - after reading a decades-old story by Nobel Prize winner Gabriel Garcia Marquez published recently in El Espectador about bicycles' travails and crimes in Bogotá.

The story, 'Cycling Fever in Bogotá,' was originally published in 1955, back when the future novelist was an up-and-coming newspaper reporter. (It was republished to honor the 30th anniversary of Marquez's Nobel Prize for Literature.)

Today, many cyclists complain about helmet laws. Back in Marquez's day, it seems, cyclists were required to have drivers' licenses and license plates. Consider this line - which I at first thot was satire - after Marquez describes 5-year-old children "throwing themselves amidst the automobiles on tricycles," Marquez goes on to observe that "Some of these bicycles don't have license plates, and the majority of their riders - including the children on tricycles - don't have drivers' licenses."

And get ready for another cycling offense: "In Oskar Park, in the Santa Fe neighborhood, a child without a driver's license rode a tricycle without a license plate down the middle of the street. The vehicle didn't belong to him - it had been rented by an agency for 30 cents for 15 minutes."

Even more shocking than unlicensed tricyclists, if that is possible, are the schoolchildren's neighborhood bicycle races, fed by the excitement of the annual Tour of Colombia. And, last but not least, many bicyclists violated the prohibition against cycling in the city center except by those with a special license.

In response to this criminal onslaught by unlicensed pedalers, including those terrible five-year-old tricyclists, the police spent a whole day doing nothing but punishing cyclists' irregularities, Márquez reports, and confiscated 300 bicycles.

That was then, this is now: Cyclists on Ave. Septima, where cars are prohibited from a 25-block section.

And that was only the beginning, writes Márquez. Municipal authorities planned new regulations to control the bicycle problem, in particular by enforcing the licensing laws.

For all that we complain, today at least city authorities have realized the bicycles are a solution, to be encouraged, rather than a problem (even if their actions don't always match their words). Even tho the bike lanes, called Ciclorutas, leave a lot to be desired, at least we have them. And, while bicycles were mostly banned from downtown in Marquez's time, today a chunk of Ave. Septima is pedestrianized during the day.

So, while we cyclists need to continue demanding our rights and improved conditions, it's also worthwhile reflecting on how far we've come.

And get ready for another cycling offense: "In Oskar Park, in the Santa Fe neighborhood, a child without a driver's license rode a tricycle without a license plate down the middle of the street. The vehicle didn't belong to him - it had been rented by an agency for 30 cents for 15 minutes."

Even more shocking than unlicensed tricyclists, if that is possible, are the schoolchildren's neighborhood bicycle races, fed by the excitement of the annual Tour of Colombia. And, last but not least, many bicyclists violated the prohibition against cycling in the city center except by those with a special license.

In response to this criminal onslaught by unlicensed pedalers, including those terrible five-year-old tricyclists, the police spent a whole day doing nothing but punishing cyclists' irregularities, Márquez reports, and confiscated 300 bicycles.

And that was only the beginning, writes Márquez. Municipal authorities planned new regulations to control the bicycle problem, in particular by enforcing the licensing laws.

For all that we complain, today at least city authorities have realized the bicycles are a solution, to be encouraged, rather than a problem (even if their actions don't always match their words). Even tho the bike lanes, called Ciclorutas, leave a lot to be desired, at least we have them. And, while bicycles were mostly banned from downtown in Marquez's time, today a chunk of Ave. Septima is pedestrianized during the day.

So, while we cyclists need to continue demanding our rights and improved conditions, it's also worthwhile reflecting on how far we've come.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Public Bike Prototypes at the National University

Discussing a yellow bike prototype.

Today, National University students exhibited prototypes of bikes designed for Bogotá's perpetually-promised-but-never-realized public bicycles program.

Bogotá officials' latest public bikes promise is to create the system next year - way behind Medellin, which is expanding its own public bikes program.

The students deserve plaudits for the bike designs, altho not all struck me as appropriate to be used as public bikes. A public bike should be inexpensive and sturdy, since many people aren't gentle with borrowed bikes. In a city with a theft problem, the bike should not be particularly enticing, and parts like wheels and chainrings should be unique, so that they can't be stolen for use on other bikes.

This model is designed to have a dynamo in its front wheel and
internal gears in back - too sophisticated and expensive
for a public bike. 

Most fundamentally, tho, Bogotá needs to make itself more bike friendly and give cycling real status if any public bikes program is actually to be used. The National University's own public bikes program, called BicirrUN, was shut down after many bikes were damaged or stolen. (Today, some students told me they hope to bring bicirrUN back.) Unfortunately, as long as streets are chaotic, as long as cyclists must swallow vehicle exhaust, as long as parked cars and homeless scavengers routinely block bicycle lanes, only a brave few will venture out on two wheels - as is the situation now.

The National University, whose walls are emblazoned with murals of leftist revolutionaries, is best known for protests and radical politics. But perhaps now it will lead a transit revolution.

Repairing a flat. Public bikes must be tough, because borrowers don't want or know how to make repairs. 

These simple, sturdy yellow bikes look like they could do the job.

Fenders are useful for Bogotá's frequent rains: but will anybody borrow bikes in the rain in the first place?

And the reality on the road for Bogotá cyclists:

But the reality for cyclists: a homeless squatter squats in this bike lane. 

And this man decided the bike lane, and sidewalk, were a convenient place to park his car. 

Bogotá's only relatively succesful public bikes experiment has been on the 20-block stretch of Ave. Septima which is closed to cars. 

Bikes are lent for free, but can only be used on this 20-block stretch of street. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

To the Nacho by Bike

Learning to patch bike tubes at the National University.

More and more students seem to be cycling to the National University's huge Bogotá campus, but they're still a small minority of the 40,000 who study here. A group of students concerned about the environment and sustainable transport are trying to change that by teaching students how to repair bikes and training them in cycling skills.

The group, who are studying a variety of majors, holds workshops one afternoon most weeks and also arranges monthly group rides.

The project, which started last semester, has attracted about 15 students to each workshop and up to 25 for the monthly rides, said Tomás Suarez, an anthropology student who is one of the organizers.

At the workshop this afternoon a group of students learned how to fix flats, which is a particularly useful skill to have in Bogotá, where most of the bike shops are bunched onto just a few streets. Previous workshops have covered general bicycle maintenance, the best routes for bike commuting and cycling's health and environmental advantages.

The project at Colombia's largest university is one of several initiatives at Bogotá's private and public universities, which seem to be taking the lead in actively promoting two-wheeled transit in the city. For example, groups of students and teachers at the private Jorge Tadeo University, Central University and Los Andes University have promoted cycle commuting and organized group rides to campus.

'A la Nacho en Bici.'

But the National University, fondly known as La Nacho, undoubtedly has the largest number of cyclists, if only for economic reasons. Most public university students are poor or middle class and often can't afford cars or even bus fares.

Suarez says he's noticed more bicycles on the Nacho's campus.

"Today, something happened which hasn't happened to me for a long time," he said. "I couldn't find a place to park my bike because the rack was full."

There doesn't seem to be an accurate count of the number of people who ride bikes to the National University, altho it would be easy to make one just by posting observers with clipboards at the four entrances. A security guard at one of the entrances said that about 500 bikes enter there daily, suggesting a total of between 1,500 and 2,000, or 5% of the university's 40,000 students.

But while there usually are enough of spots to park bikes, Suarez would like to see better security. Even tho guards at the university entrances check bikes onto and off of campus, there have been cases of thefts. (That's not hard to believe, since someone actually stole an adult, pure-bred bull from the university's ag department last week.) Suarez also hopes to see a return of the university's shared bikes program, which was ended after many of the bikes got damaged or stolen. Other initiatives, it seems to me, could include a prohibition of motorized bicycles on campus and the installation of a repair shop on campus.

Perhaps the monthly rides could also develop into a Bogotá Critical Mass demonstration. After all, if La Nacho is known for anything, it's protests and activism. Several years ago, a woman from California tried to organize a critical mass ride at the Nacho, but the idea died after she returned to the States.

A la Nacho en Bici is on Facebook here.

A bike parking rack gets good use evening in the evening.

The university's central plaza, named after Che Guevara. the very leftist National University is better known for loud protests and colorful leftist graffiti. 

By Mike Ceaser of Bogotá Bike Tours

Public Bikes for Bogotá II?

A cyclist squeezed by cars on Carrera 10.
How many non-cyclists will dare to pedal Bogotá's streets?

Bogotá's city government has, once again, promised to create a public bicycles system, this time before the end of next year.

Bogotá already made a trial run on two sites, which seemed to find real demand. But the trial was halted, while Medellin has launched its system and is expanding it.

A cyclis in the National University. A public bicycles
program here was ended after many bikes
were stolen and damaged. 

But, before setting up such a system, the city needs to look hard at issues such as crime, the wealther, how to charge and the city's cycling conditions. The only sustained shared bikes program tried in Bogotá was in the National University's campus. But even tho the campus is a closed area with guards at entrances and exits, the university ended the program after several years because many of the bikes were damaged or stolen. On campus, users simply picked up a bike to use and dropped it off at their destination.

One key difference with a municipal system, presumably, is that users will be identified and responsible for returning bikes in good condtion.

City employees lend bikes on Seventh Ave.
But the free program only covers a six-block stretch. 

Still, look at Bogotá's crime, chaotic streets and often-useless bike lanes, not to mention its hills and rain, and I have to wonder about this system's potential. A more mundane concern is the low rate of credit card/bank account use among Bogotanos, which will complicate charging systems.

If the system is tried and works, then great. It'll boost cycling, improve the city's chaotic transit, get people exercising and contribute to the city's image. Hopefully it'll also spur officialdom to improve conditions for all cyclists and drivers to give cyclists some respect. But if it fails, it'll be a black eye for cycling and mean more opposition to all cycling initiatives.

Somewhere on this sidewalk, probably underneath the cars, is a bike lane. 

A bike lane with a post in it. 

A homeless person found this bike lane to be a good camping spot. If he were blocking cars, the cops would move him. 

A bicyclist wears a facemask to protect himself from pollution.

A nice bike lane near the National Univesity. If they were only all like this one. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Is a Bicycle With a Motor Still a Bicycle?

Motorized bicycles, called ciclomotores, for sale in central Bogotá.

They're noisy, highly polluting, fast and dangerous - just about everything a bicycle is not. So, can they be called bicycles?

Take a bike, add a motor, and you get a motorbike.

The proliferation of bicycles equipped with 50-cc motors, called ciclomotores, is causing controversy here, and for good reason. These light motorbikes cause lots of pollution, since their loud and dirty two-stroke engines have no emission controls. They're also faster and heavier than normal bikes. And they're just plain unpleasant to be around, especially when you're stuck behind one choking on its fumes.

But their users insist on calling them bicycles, and taking advantage of the privileges of using a bicycle, such as riding in bike lanes, in the National University, and sometimes even on La Ciclovia.

Today, as salesman told me that these ciclomotores start at 850,000 pesos (about $500), or that he could equip my own bike with a motor for 550,000 pesos. They can do 40 kilometers per hour and cover 90 kms on their half-gallon gas tank. There were selling "quite well," he said happily, and gave me his card.

A motorized bicycle on the campus of the National University,
where this guy wouldn't have been able to enter on a
regular motorcycle.

Perhaps these vehicles can play a role in the city, at least for people who can't pedal a bike for some reason. But they should be equipped with basic emissions and noise controls. And, most of all, they should be with other motorized vehicles, since that's what they are.

These things violate all of bicycling's positives: they're dirty, noisy and generally unpleasant and don't do their riders' health any good, since I've almost never seen anybody pedal one. But, they're much cheaper than regular motorcycles and battery-powered bicycles.

A proud motorized bicycle rider.
He zoomed away with a trail of fumes.

City officials say that these things fall into a legal vaccuum, since the laws covering motorcycles are written to apply to vehicles with machines larger than 50 ccs. That's why they can't be legally excluded from bike lanes, sidewalks, or La Ciclovia, which is supposed to be all about health and exercise. Fortunately, however, I have seen the Ciclovia's 'guardianes' applying good sense by telling these motorized monsters to either shut off their motors or leave La Ciclovia. Naturally, adverse as they are to pedaling, they leave La Ciclovia.

Ironically, Bogotá has recently tried to phase out two-stroke engines, which are highly polluting. Unfortunately, the city backed off of this policy in the face of protests by motorcyclists, and now these ciclomotores are making the problem worse.

Do I look like a bicyclist?

Safety's another issue. Imagine pedaling along in a bike lane, feeling protected from vehicle traffic, only to have a motorized bicycle roar past you at 40 kmh and leave you gasping its fumes?

Adding insult to injury, I'm worried that these monsters will discourage riders of real bikes, by making life in Bogotá's bike lanes dangerous and unpleasant.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours