Lester Babiera on His First Bike Ride and the Road Ahead for the Philippine’s Cycling Community

It took a global crisis and an unprecedented lockdown for biking to officially gain ground in the Philippines. But for Lester Babiera, the mind behind cycling community First Bike Ride, hopping on his two wheels required a bit more than that.

Like many others, Lester had a grisly picture of Manila’s notorious traffic jams and deadly roads that withheld him from cycling sooner. But aside from the city’s hostile reputation among bikers, it was also intimidation that held him back.

“I thought before you can’t ride a bike in Manila. There are obstacles,” Lester told The Beat Asia in a video interview in mid-November.

When his friends were rushing to get their hands on a bike as the impact of COVID-19 paralyzed the country’s public transportation and handicapped the availability of ride-hailing apps, Lester, who used to be a “car-centric” person, resisted.

“When friends started to invite me to bike, sabi ko, ‘no way you cannot make me bike here in Metro Manila.’ I thought it was impossible.”

(When friends started to invite me to bike, I told them, ‘no way you cannot make me bike here in Metro Manila.’ I thought it was impossible.)

Pre-pandemic, biking was seen more as a hobby than a necessity. Tight-knit groups of bikers would traverse Manila’s potholed thoroughfares, dodging traffic jams and roadblocks in exchange for a nice and breezy ride somewhere out of the city. Manila’s streets have also gained a bad rap as being unsafe to bikers. In 2019, the Metro Manila Development Authority recorded 1,759 bicycle-related road crashes in the capital region—the highest in more than a decade. This included 19 fatalities.

But for the city’s working class who had to deal with hazardous roads and public trains that break down on a regular basis, the bike was the brave choice—and the only choice they had.

For Lester, having his car in case the roads get too dangerous for him as a biker is a convenience, even an entitlement. His four wheels, however, will have to wait for now as Lester now considers his bike as his main mode of transportation.

First Official Bike Ride

Lester bought his first bike in August 2020, thanks to relentless prodding from friends. He learned how to ride a bike as a kid, but had always treated biking as something one does for leisure and never as a viable option to get from one place to another for errands or work.

A casual bike ride to Diliman in Quezon City from his house in Sampaloc, Manila altered that belief.

Lester found it “striking” that he was able to get to as far as Marikina and back to Sampaloc with little to no traffic, a feat that’s extra hard to achieve if you’re riding a car.

“[I realized that] if I’ll choose to ride the bike instead of my car, nakatipid ako ng space. Ibigay ko na lang ‘yung car space to those who are in need, like pregnant women, [the elderly, or PWDs],” Lester said.

(I realized that if I’ll choose to ride the bike instead of my car, I’ll save space. I might as well give that extra car space to those who are in need, like pregnant women, the elderly, or PWDs.)

“Metro Manila pala is bike-able... It’s not as bad as I thought. And now it's easier kasi may bike lanes, and motorists are more aware now.”

(It turns out, you can bike in Metro Manila… It’s not as bad as I thought. And now it’s easier because there are bike lanes and motorists are more aware now.)

Since his first Manila-Quezon City bike ride, Lester has been pedaling his way through the outskirts of Metro Manila like Bulacan and Rizal and farther places like Bataan and Pampanga. He considers La Union, though, as his most favorite place for cycling because “it’s many things in one.”

Aside from having fewer obstructions and honking cars on the road, Elyu is closer to nature with its mountains and beaches that make for a nice reward after a long ride. Lester also fell in love with the local community that was formed during the pandemic. And it wasn’t just bikers. He forged bonds with creatives and former city dwellers who ditched Manila at the peak of COVID-19 to settle in the quieter and safer La Union.

These spontaneous interactions with people he meets on the road drive Lester’s First Bike Ride, which is made up of social media pages and a website dedicated to bikers around the Philippines.

Storytelling and Cycling

First Bike Ride started as an Instagram page. Its debut post, dated Sept. 1, 2020, was a word of encouragement for those hesitant to ride a bike, like Lester used to be just months before. But while biking is relatively new to Lester, storytelling and taking photographs aren’t. From a series of random, inspirational posts about cycling, Lester transitioned his page into one that features actual stories of bikers he encounters on the road. A few snaps of his subjects and their two wheels, captioned with a few sentences that are just enough for Instagram users to digest while scrolling through their feed. And then people, even those outside the biking community, started paying attention.

While Lester took time to warm to biking, storytelling came naturally to him. A journalism degree holder from the University of Santo Tomas, Lester writes about books and the arts for a newspaper and regularly contributes stories to lifestyle sites. But when the pandemic ground events to a halt, he had to look for other opportunities.

During the early stages of the pandemic, Lester spent weeks cooped up at home studying social media management, digital marketing, and website development in preparation for an e-commerce business he was supposed to launch with a partner. Afraid that his writing skills might get rusty while awaiting press assignments, Lester created First Bike Ride. He treated the page as a practice ground where he can apply his learnings from marketing an e-commerce business, but also as a venue that ditches intimidation to encourage more people to use biking as a public transportation option.

He then commissioned somebody to build a website for him to complement the limits of Instagram and Facebook, giving birth to an extension of First Bike Ride on the web where Lester toys with the longer form to tell interesting narratives of common bikers.

There’s a story about a former BPO employee who lost his job to the pandemic and is selling instant coffee on a bike; a tea shop owner who always carries leaves, hot water, and a ceramic tea set while out for a spin; an 84-year-old Ilocano who braves the roads with a BMX; and a female doctor who continues to bike despite, or maybe because of, being catcalled on the streets.

“I want First Bike Ride na maging encouraging friend. I got into [biking] because of encouraging friends. Kung wala sila, I think hindi ako magba-bike.”

(I want First Bike Ride to be an encouraging friend. I got into biking because of encouraging friends. Without them, I don’t think I’d try biking.)

Drawing from his own experience, Lester shared that many are reluctant to try biking because there’s no one to guide them.

“Kung ikaw lang mag isa mahirap…because you don’t know what to do unless someone's guiding you. And I know many people are like that: they won’t bike because no one's with them,” Lester said.

(It’s difficult if you’re just alone…because you don’t know what to do unless someone’s guiding you. And I know many people are like that: they won’t bike vecause no one’s with them.)

But he also acknowledged that not everyone has a friend who not only knows how to bike but is willing to brave the city’s dangerous roads for a ride. First Bike Ride, Lester hopes, will fill that gap.

“Iniisip ko, at least when I put up the social media pages of First Bike Ride, maybe I can be that friend, an online friend for the meantime just to encourage them na ‘o magbike ka na.’”

(I thought, at least when I put up the social media pages of First Bike Ride, maybe I can be that friend, an online friend for the meantime just to encourage them and say, ‘hey, let’s bike.’)

Aside from cycling stories and biker profiles, Lester also entertains questions from readers. Although he admits he isn’t a pro yet, he hopes that other veterans would join the discussion to create a safe biking community for everyone—noob, pro, casual cyclist, or someone who’s still finding their way into bikes.

The Road Ahead

More than a year after its first official post on social media, First Bike Ride has now more than 17,000 likes on Facebook and over 5,000 followers on Instagram, a considerable achievement for a project that was meant to be temporary and is being run by Lester alone. He still dabbles in writing projects—First Bike Ride is operating out of his own pocket after all—but Lester sets his sights on bigger goals for the social media pages and website he built. His next target is to expand to other mediums.

“Kasi nage-enjoy talaga ako sa storytelling. Siguro nag-e-enjoy ako kasi it's my work... People like it so medyo nakakatuwa and very supportive ‘yung cycling community.”

“[I want to] expand storytelling beyond my means…to tell stories, to encourage people to ride the bike.”

To know more about Lester and First Bike Ride, visit their Instagram, Facebook, and website.