Bike Touring

(Originally published in the Oct. 14 to 20, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

BICYCLE touring has much in common with backpacking and mountaineering --- they are both form of self-propelled travel and bring the participant into close contact with the natural world in both its gentle and harsh moods.

According to The Sierra Club Guide to Outings on Wheels, “there is a special appeal to bicycle touring that makes it unique among the various types of self-propelled travel . . . the bicycle is a practical means of transportation as well as a recreational vehicle”.

There are many advantages of a bicycle as a means of getting around. It is relatively cheap and economical. It does not consumer fossil fuel (except for the relatively small amounts of fuel needed to build it and manufacture replacement parts such as tires and brake pads), it is compact to store and can be easily picked up and carried into a house or other building. It is a personal vehicle so that is is ready to go when and where you are. It is fast enough and efficient enough to cover considerable distances in reasonable time periods. 

A bicycle is the ideal vehicle from which to see the countryside. It allows you to travel fast enough to move from one pace to another at a reasonable rate but slow enough to permit you to enjoy the scenery along the way. It is quiet, so you can hear the songs of the birds and the wind in the trees. The touring cyclist isn’t cut off from his surroundings by walls of glass, metal and noise as in touring by car (road trip)

And because of its practical uses, the purchase of a rather costly, good-quality bike actually may save you money in the long run, unlike most other purchases of recreational equipment. 

Questions about gears preoccupy anyone starting out to a bicycle tour. Mistakes in choosing equipment can be disheartening as well as expensive. The touring bicycle us a precision machine that is highly sophisticated in design and the cyclist is quite dependent on its proper functioning. Good equipment does not make you a good cyclist, but even the best cyclist cannot ride well without equipment that meets certain minimum standards. Equipment provides a means of having a good time, of directly experiencing the world around you and of enjoying companionship of friends.

A bicycle tour can be a one-day event, a three-month journey across the country, or a decade-long adventure around the world.

THE LONG DAY TRIP: This is actually just a very long single-day bike ride and not really a “tour” in the strictest sense of the word “tour”. Typical rides of this type can go as far as 100 kilometers as compared “bicycle touring” which is typically an overnight activity.

THE GUIDED/SUPPORTED TOUR: This type of a tour is where your gear (food, clothes, camping equipment, etc.) is carried in a vehicle that meets you at various checkpoints along your route. Some of these tours require that you pay to be a part of them where the tour leader drives the van or truck while you get to ride your bike. The benefit of this type of bicycle touring is that you don’t have to carry a whole bunch of equipment on your bicycle as you ride and you can simply sit back, pedal, and enjoy the scenery. 

THE CREDIT CARD TOUR: Credit card touring is when you travel by bike and pack almost nothing but the clothes on your back and a credit card (or cash) to buy things along the way. Instead of carrying a tent, you pay to sleep in a hotel each night and instead of cooking your own food, you buy food along the way. 

THE GUIDED SELF-SUPPORTED TOUR: This is a tour where you carry on your bicycle everything (food, clothes, tent, stove, etc.) you need to survive while a guide from a touring company leads you along a specific route. With these types of tours, you ride with a small group of people and are then escorted on a daily basis by an experienced bicycle touring guide.

THE FULLY SELF-SUPPORTED TOUR: Then there is the self-supported bicycle tour, which requires you to travel alone (without a guide) and carry all the clothes, tools, and gear you will need to survive for days, weeks, or months on end. This is perhaps the most popular ways to travel by bike.

Until then and have a safe ride by putting on that cycling helmet each time get on your bike. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EAGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL.*

The “Ten Commandments” of safe driving

(Originally published in the Oct. 7 to 13, 2012 issue of the Baguio Chronicle ---

a weekly newspaper based in Baguio City, Philippines ---

by Sly L. Quintos, Associate Editor.)

A UNITED Nations’ study revealed that nearly 1.3 million people are killed on the world's roads each year --- and is forecasted to rise to 1.9 million people by 2020 --- while up to 50 million people are injured and many remain disabled for life.

Ninety percent of the annual road deaths occur in developing countries like the Philippines and road traffic injuries are the number one cause of death for young people worldwide and by 2015, road traffic injuries is forecasted to become the leading health burden for children over the age of five years in developing countries.

At the same time, road traffic injuries place an immense burden on hospitals and health systems and the economic cost to developing countries is at least $100 billion a year.

In the Philippines, road accidents is the fourth leading cause of death among Filipinos and the Department of Health (DOH) feared that if this problem is not resolved quickly, road accidents could be the top leading cause of death among Filipinos by the year 2020.

Latest available records from http://www.car-accidents.com say the Philippine National Police reported in 2006 about 15,000 traffic accidents or an average of 41 traffic accidents per day which resulted in 674 fatalities, 3,767 injuries and 10,623 instances of property damage. 

The report concluded that most the traffic accidents in 2006 were caused mainly by driver errors (4,182 instances or 27 percent), vehicle mechanical defects (15 percent), speeding (13 percent). The report also cited cell phone use while driving as an increasing cause of road or traffic accidents.

Between the months of January to June this year, the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group (PNP-HPG) reported 2,300 injuries and 593 deaths caused by car crashes, again, driver error, vehicular defects, and bad road conditions as the principal culprits.

In a similar study, thephilippines.ph said that road accidents actually are largely caused by the lack of knowledge and understanding of motorists about traffic signs and road markings on the road as well as lack of personal precautionary measures when on the road. 

“But not only non-omniscient road motorists themselves contribute to their own respective accidents on the road, but also road ignorant people crossing the roads,” it said. “However, the ignorance of the people is not actually their own fault but rather the fault of the government to ensure proper education of the people especially the motorists regarding traffic signs and road markings the government have installed, especially the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in the Philippines who are in charge of this public obligation.”

“It is obvious that many drivers still fail to follow the basic rules of safety,” wrote Alexander Villafania of YahooNews adding that many suffer from vehicular accidents with high incidence of deaths despite the Philippines having joined more than a decade ago the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety.

Formally launched on May 11 last year, the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety has the official goal of establishing and reducing global road traffic fatalities by 2020, seeing global road death and injury as “a major public health problem with a broad range of social and economic consequences which, if unaddressed, may affect the sustainable development of countries and hinder progress towards the Millennium Development Goals”.

Thus, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety from 2011 to 2020 in a landmark Resolution co-sponsored by 100 countries, again, including the Philippines.

There is also the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic --- an international treaty designed to facilitate international road traffic and to increase road safety by establishing standard traffic rules among the contracting parties. The convention was agreed upon at the United Nations Economic and Social Council's Conference on Road Traffic (from October 7 to 8 November 8, 1968) in Vienna. It was ratified by 70 countries, including the Philippines.

Meanwhile, the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) offers the  Unified Ten Commandments of Driving Safely. While these “commandments” are targeted at companies with heavy load transporters, they are equally necessary for drivers and traffic managers in keeping with the goal of road safety. These have been shortened to help readers to immediately grasp the essential parts.

1. LEADERSHIP AND ACCOUNTABILITY. Leaders at all levels of the company must visibly and personally demonstrate their commitment to managing all aspects of operational safety. For driving safety, there is a clear definition of role, responsibility and accountability to nominated individual down through the management structure.

2. REGULATORY REQUIREMENTS. All drivers and helpers must wear the seatbelt when inside an operating vehicle. Drivers must be familiar with and must respect vehicle codes, laws and regulations (i.e., speed limits, stop signs, load limits, etc.). Drivers must not drive and work under the influence of alcohol, drugs or any other substance or medication that could impair their ability to safely operate the vehicle.

3. PERSONNEL QUALIFICATION, SELECTION AND TRAINING. Drivers and helpers must be qualified, fit and capable of driving safely or spotting according to established criteria. Drivers and helpers must be within the legally prescribed age limit.  Drivers must be with valid licenses with the applicable restriction codes.

4. STAYING ALERT AND FATIGUE PREVENTION. Drivers must be appropriately rested and alert when operating the vehicle. Hauler companies shall monitor and follow the principal company's prescribed work hours for drivers and helpers.

5. VEHICLE SELECTION AND SPECIFICATION. Selecting the right vehicle for the task will ensure that transport activities are carried out effectively with minimum risk to the driver, to the load and to other road users. Hauler companies must ensure that all minimum regulatory requirements: Tires, horn, lights, mirrors, seat belts, emergency devices, wheel chocks, early warning devices.

6. VEHICLE MAINTENANCE AND SERVICING. Car owners must ensure that all vehicles are in a roadworthy condition and well-maintained. A system must be in place to monitor, record and ensure that preventive maintenance is conducted for all units (i.e. interval based odometer reading or operating hours). Vehicle must be routinely inspected prior to their daily journey through pre-start checks.

7. HIGH-VISIBILITY (DRIVERS AND VEHICLES). Vehicles must have all lights working at all times (head lights, tail lights, warning lights)

8. JOURNEY HAZARD MANAGEMENT. All risks must be assessed, particularly risks associated with long-haul journeys, night-time driving, use of higher-risk routes and areas, weather conditions, etc. When scheduling new journeys, drivers must help to identify and mitigate all known and potential journey risks.

9. ON-SITE ROAD AND TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT. There must be road traffic management plans where driving is required to separate people from moving vehicles.

10. INCIDENT REPORTING AND INVESTIGATION. Companies with fleet of vehicles must report incidents including near-misses within 24 hours to the principal. All incidents shall be investigated and learning points shared.

Until then and have a safe ride all the time by putting on that cycling helmet each time get on your bike. Remember: YOU CAN BEAT THE EAGG WITHOUT BREAKING THE SHELL. Most of all, road crashes are preventable. There is no such thing as an accident.*