A Ride Down La Cicloruta de la Decima

The newish Cicloruta, or bike lane, on Carrera Decima was built as part of the expansion of the TransMilenio line down that avenue. It's far from perfect, but we should be thankful to the city for building it - and, hopefully, maintaining it.

This bike lane heads south, past some rough, low-income neighborhoods. It also passes several old hospitals which have seen better days, one of which is vacant and the subject of dispute, as well as many small businesses. This area is just south of the city center and the seat of government, and the city has hopes of revitalizing it - altho that would mean displacing many residents. 

The bike lane is well marked on this section. But note the cyclist who prefers the street.

Watch out for the posts! Here it's missing a section. 

 

No space for cyclists in this section. The bike lane reappears, and continues down toward the 20 de Julio neighborhood. 

A TransMilenio bus competes with traditional ones on Carrera Decima. 

The bike lane was built as part of the construction of a TransMilenio line down Carrera 10. The project is way behind schedule.

A car doesn't hesitate to stop blocking the lane. 

...nor did this van. 

A pole in the middle of the lane means a tight squeeze for this delivery rider. 

The lane takes one past several crumbling old hospitals, including one that's closed. The city government has promised to fund the hospitals. 

Where's the bike lane? At least the sidewalk's wide. 

Small struggling businesses, like this pawnshop, along Carrera Decima. 

The rough San Bernardino neighborhood on the avenue's other side. Wander in there, and you'll lose your bike - and a few other things, too. 

Like many parts of Bogotá, air pollution is a chronic problem in this area. Here, a trash pile burns.

...and buses smoke away. 

Note the smoke plume trailed by this bus. The Presidential Guard doesn't seem to care. 

North of Calle 8 the bike lane disappears, altho one can detour into Tercer Milenio Park for a few blocks. Cycling on this stretch of La Decima is difficult.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Car-Free Day in Bogotá

A group of cyclists, mostly from the Universidad Central, on Ave. Septima.

Today wa Bogotá's annual Car-Free Day. Mayor Gustavo Petro gave the day a novel emphasis on bicycling by cycling to work himself, and creating a temporary bike lane on Ave. Septima and a Sunday-style Ciclovia on 26th St. 

But, while I saw more cyclists than normal, the two-wheeled turn-out seemed a bit underwhelming. 

A cycling poster that appeared today. 'I'll meet you pedaling over there. Let's hope they leave us our own lane.'

Cyclists make good use of the temporary bike lane on Ave. Septima. A good idea which should last. 

Cyclists on 26th Street, which was turned into a Sunday-style Ciclovia. But the turnout looked a little lonely. 

'Slow or with space?' A poster advertises car-free day. 

Exito supermarkets gets into it. 

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogota Bike Tours

The Man Who Helped Bring La Ciclovía to Bogotá

Gonzalo Medina displays a poster about La Ciclovia. 

In 1982, Gonzalo Medina visited Rio de Janeiro and was struck by how the city shut a shoreline avenue to car traffic each Sunday for pedestrians and bicyclists.

When Medina, then an official with Bogotá's transit department, returned home, he convinced city officials to try the same experiment on the Circunvular, the avenue running along the city's Eastern Hills. But after police complained that the closed road blocked access to a hospital, the new experiment called La Ciclovia was shifted to Ave. Septima.

One of Medina's goals even back then was to change the bicycle's image.

"Riding a bike was not only in bad taste," he said, but cyclists were seen "as people who couldn't afford a Renault."

La Ciclovia way back when. 

Over the following years, La Ciclovia won supporters and confronted opponents, Medina says, including some who wanted to restrict or even eliminate the institution in order to open roads for cars. La Ciclovia overcame its most recent threat several years ago, when a senator introduced a law closing La Ciclovia two hours earlier. The proposal met widespread opposition, including from cyclists and the city's sitting and previous mayors, and the proposal died. Over the years, La Ciclovia has also lost some segments, usually to make way for infrastructure projects.

A scene on La Ciclovía today. 

The Ciclovía concept wasn't born with Medina's trip to Rio. In the early- and mid-1970s a student initiative called the 'mitin de la bicicleta' created a Ciclovia on Avenidas Septima and 13. The idea was formalized by a 1976 decree, but it's not clear to me whether or not it lasted.

Participants in a mass aerobics class, called La Recrovia. 

Since its beginnings La Ciclovia has extended to hundreds of kilometers, added cycling courses and mass aerobics practices called La Recrovia.

The idea has also expanded across Latin America and into the United States, altho Colombia's version is still the largest and most frequent. There's even an International Network of Ciclovias organization to promote the concept. La Ciclovia, along with the TransMilenio express bus network and the city's bike lane network, once gave Bogotá a reputation for progressiveness and urban ingenuity, altho that image has since faded.

Medina says the biggest improvement to La Ciclovia over the years was Mayor Enrique Peñalosa's addition of the annual Ciclovia Nocturna, or night-time Ciclovia.

But the Ciclovia Nocturna happens only once a year, and part of its route is so packed with pedestrians that you can't ride a bike.

More important, it seems to me, is the way that La Ciclovia's become an essential Bogotá institution.

Various studies have found that the Ciclovia concept benefits not only participants' health, but also the economy, by saving on medical expenses.

"I'm proud," Medina says of his work. "It was an important contribution."

In Havana, Cuba, where Medina's wife works for the Colombian embassy, and where he says biking is risky, he continues pushing for better cycling conditions.

But to get more people onto bicycles, Medina believes that bikes mustn't be seen any longer as the 'poor man's vehicle.' In Bogotá, most bicycle commuters are still low income people who ride bikes to save on bus fare. In Colombia's class-conscious culture, the middle class and wealthy want to be seen in cars - even if that means spending hours trapped in traffic jams.

"There should be executives on bikes, so that the bike has status," Medina says.

Medina also advocates more space for pedestrians and cyclists, including car-free streets in the historical center.

Those measures would help Bogotá fulfill more of La Ciclovia's potential - to get Bogotanos to use their bikes not only on Sundays, but every day.

See some videos of Mr. Medina commenting, in Spanish, here, here, here and here.


By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

Bogotá's Missing Bike Lane - and Missing Bike Planning

 Bicyclists share the road with cars on Carrera 60, which leads to Parque Simon Bolivar.

Carrera 60 has plenty of room for adding a bike lane.

Simon Bolivar Park is Bogotá's biggest green area and very possibly the city's most popular destination for cyclists.

The 26th Street Cicloruta is the city's longest, newest and undoubtedly its most expensive bike lane.

But, altho 26th St. passes within a kilometer of the park, Carrera 60, which connects the two, lacks a bike lane - altho it has ample space to build one.

Why? You'll have to ask the geniuses at City Hall who design these things.

A map of Simon Bolivar Park and some nearby bike lanes.

Sure, you can get to Simon Bolivar Park by bike. One of the city's nicest bike lanes, called Ciclorutas, connects it to the National University along Calle 53 - which begs the question even more strongly why the 26th St. bike lane isn't connected to the park.

And, Carrera 60 connects to Calle 26, with its newly-rebuilt
lane for bikes.

My hunch is that this is the result of the tangle of city entities - parks, transit, the Institute for Urban Development and others, all sticking their fingers into bike lanes planning. And, at least in the past, they did so without the benefit of input from cyclists (altho that may finally be changing). 

Racks for dozens of bicycles in Renacimiento Park,
but I've never seen more than a few bikes here.
Who decided that a 100 cyclists would all want to park
together in this small public park? 

For an even more dramatic example of zany cycle planning, check out this photo of these dozens - or are they hundreds? - of vacant bike parking racks in Renacimiento Park. I took the photo on the New Year's Day holiday while Ciclovia was happening on 26th St., just yards away. I've never seen more than two or three bicycles in this sea of racks (and the park has a second, albeit smaller, equally unused bike rack at its other entrance).

Meanwhile, many important destinations, such as government buildings, banks, supermarkets and many TransMilenio bus stations have no bike parking at all.

Half of Calle 60 does get shut to cars during La Ciclovia, on Sundays and holidays.

A boy bicycles in Simon Bolivar Park. 

A girl bicycles in Simon Bolivar Park. Would she risk sharing a street with cars?

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours

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