I have always loved biking. I remember learning how to ride a bike at the age of 6 or 7 courtesy of my father. Since then, I have always wanted to bike. In fact, my greatest wish is for the Philippines, or even just Davao City where I live now, to have a public bicycle program that will encourage people to use their bikes in going to and from their destinations similar to Denmark and Japan.
Looking back to the old days when I often went biking with my big brother, cousins and friends inspire me. My two brothers used to be professional bikers and joined several competitions and I'm proud of them. Today, my big brother continues his passion and brings his bike wherever he's assigned to work in. Another cousin of mine before got hooked to mountain biking.
One of the greatest memories I have was when me, my two brothers, my younger sister, three male cousins and a male househelp went biking around Iloilo City early in the morning. That was fun and truly unforgettable. We were all prepared for that tour the night before. The truth is, we all slept in my cousin's room that night already in our biking getup so that when morning comes, we're ready to go.
I also used to tag along my big brother whenever he goes out to bike. Each of us had a bike then so I would bike along when he meets his friends at the plaza. It's also from him that I learned to do some tricks such as biking hands-free.
There are just so many good memories I have about biking that it urges me to do something more than mere riding a bicycle. Hopefully, I can turn that into reality.
For now, I do bike around the neighborhood once in a while using my son's BMX bike. Sometimes, I bike alone or other times, my little girl would ride along with me. I'm even amazed how fast my 5-year-old Charlotte was able to learn to bike and I taught her only once or twice by guiding her and giving her a little push. The next thing I knew, she's already biking on her own using her friend's bicycle.
It's great to be hooked on biking. It gives any rider a great feeling. The health and environment benefits should also not be forgotten.
