One Month of Biking in Manila and How My Brompton Connects Me To My City

It's been a month since my husband gave me my bike and I feel like celebrating a "monthsary" with my new "Bromance" (to be clear, "Bro" refers to my Brompton bike). Never before have I felt such a strong connection, such empowering chemistry with my equipment! Not with my old skating boots, not with a favorite badminton racket, not even with a laptop I used for years to write my dissertation... This bike has unlocked something in me, has opened a secret chamber of courage and competence I didn't know I had. 

I embark on my explorations of Manila's scary streets with confidence because I do so on a bike that allows me to feel the roads in my hands. It is punishing on my palms and wrists, to feel every hump, and bump, and manhole cover... every cobblestone, and cracked concrete... My hands feel the crunch of gravel, and absorb the punishing vibrations from biking on pavers -  riding a foldie with small tires and no shock absorbers is a sensory onslaught - one I am very thankful for! 

Feeling the road as I do now, I realize why my husband's fancy mountain bikes, the ones he lent me in the past in his attempt to get me to bike with him, didn't do the trick. They were too high, and were designed to protect the biker from the rough stuff. I didn't know I preferred to have a real feel for the road, until now.  I love how easily I can stop the bike at intersections, with the road within easy reach of my feet. I love how easily I can jump off my bike to walk it across a pedestrian lane, or lift it up on a sidewalk. I love how I can fold it fully, or partially and take it with me for a coffee break, without fears of it being stolen in this crime-infested town.  I love how the bike invites conversation from strangers from all walks of life. I love, I love, I love!!!! 

Maybe in the future I will try other kinds of bikes, and I am curious about them - but for now, the folding bike, in all its simplicity and accessibility - and the Brompton in particular, for it's reliability and stability, and its beauty!!! ....is all I need.  

It is a bike that connects my body to my city, allowing my beloved Metro Manila to leave its mark on my body. The blisters on my palms mirror the potholed state of our imperfect streets. My sore wrist, perpetually strained from too much gripping of brakes as I maneuver my way through Manila's crazy traffic, is my daily reminder that the enjoyment and meaning we derive out of our choices is commensurate to our willingness to suffer for them.

I chose this city. I chose to bike. I chose to get married to my husband and have kids. All these choices are crazy painful and unceasingly punishing. And I'm so in love it hurts :-)