Kuklos sa Kolektiv: A bike festival

When I first heard about Kuklos sa Kolektiv, I wondered if there would be enough space to bike in The Collective. As soon as I got there however, I realized it was a bike show and festival, meaning people would be on two feet, not on two wheels. Still, the courtyard was packed, the fullest I'd seen The Collective in the daytime, especially as a large area was reserved for the entries in the open bike show. Bikes of all shapes and sizes were on display, from an 1892 Columbia chainless model to low-riders that looked like they had been on a "Pimp My Ride" episode on MTV. The speakers were blasting lively music as a small crowd gathered around an exhibition in front of the Yadu store, whose main window featured bike bags hanging from a bike, which was also on sale. Yadu recently added bike bags to its collection of one-of-a-kind bags after they were requested by bikers, including Kuklos organizer Pia Faustino. "We asked them to make us bike bags, then they got really excited about the idea and they suggested The Collective as a venue for an event. It seemed like a no-brainer," Faustino recalls. Three months later, Kuklos sa Kolektiv came into being. "Kuklos" is Greek for both "bicycle" and a "circle or collective of like-minded people."

Venue for interaction One objective of Kuklos sa Kolektiv is to give bikers a venue to interact. Usually, a biking event just means riding together and people don't really get to talk to each other. "With something like this you can stand around next to your bike and people can ask you about it, like 'Where'd you get that?'" Faustino said. With the colorful lineup of activities, it's not difficult to see how Kuklos sa Kolektiv would be fun for practically anyone. After all, apart from the open bike show, there was:

a BMX Tricks Demo by Flipbykes;

a Bike Talk by the Firefly Brigade;

a Biketrials demo by Pinoytrials;

a Bike Talk on the Marikina City Bikeways Program;

the UP Padyak Project;

folding bike demos, and

a performance by Fuseboxx band. People who prefer to stay away from crowds could opt to catch a bike-related film or two at Good Spirits. Films featuring bikes were shown, like:

"Life Cycles;"

"Bogota Change;"

Tim Burton's 1985 cult-classic "Peewee Herman's Big Adventure;"

the French animated film "Triplets of Belleville" "'Pag bike geek ka, makakita ka lang ng bike sa movie matutuwa ka na," Faustino says.

Bikes never looked this delicious. Photo by Monina Eugenio

"A lot of the biking events that have been done are rides, like the Tour of the Fireflies which is a 50km ride in Manila. If you're not a biker, or you don't have a bike, it's kind of intimidating to join something like that...so this kind of event where people are just standing around and looking at bikes, it's more friendly and it's non-committal, not like 'I'm going to bike 50 kilometers today,'" says Faustino. While most people looked at the bikes on display or watched the exhibitions, some gravitated toward the the smell of grilled corn and hotdogs from B-side's barbecue, a quick and easy snack to go with beer or a fruit shake. Biking enthusiasts and newbies Although most of the crowd last weekend were bikers, there were more than a few who were new to the scene. My friend, who doesn't even know how to ride a bike, enjoyed the show. "Maganda kasi eye-opener siya, especially for those who aren't familiar with bikes. It's also a good way of showing how to conserve fuel and be more earth-friendly," she said. Mavi Deocampo of the Concerned Artists of the Philippines, who was invited by her friends, was expecting a race but was pleasantly surprised to find that Kuklos sa Kolektiv was an exhibit. "Lalo akong natuwa, kasi marami kang makikitang bike from bamboo to lumang lumang bike, tapos may info pa, na parang kaya pala ganun yung design ng pambabae para 'di sumabit yung skirt," she said. Cartoonist Manix Abrera also enjoyed the event. "Masaya, sobrang na-inspire ako. Gusto kong magbike. Tapos ang dami kong nakitang mga ibang klaseng mga bike na nagagawa, kunwari meron palang chainless bike na dati pa, na ngayon ko lang nakita," he said.

This 1892 bicycle was a head-turner. Photo by Monina Eugenio

Unusual bikes

Bambikes' Bryan Benitez McClelland has been biking "since he was a baby." Photo by Monina Eugenio

Biking enthusiasts enjoyed talking to curious people about their bikes. Bryan Benitez McClelland gladly told us about his unique bike, which had a bamboo frame and a rattan seat. "There's no exact costing for the local market yet, but it would probably be around 70,000 pesos," he said of their electric bamboo bike prototype, which can go up to 40 kilometers per hour. That's definitely on the expensive side, because second-hand bikes can go for as low as P3,000. Next to it was another bamboo bike with blue detail, which McClelland called an Ateneo Campus Cruiser. Bambike works with Gawad Kalinga in Victoria, Tarlac, where they make sustainable bicycles using locally-sourced bamboo and abaca. One of the sleeker-looking folding bikes was more than P100,000, but when you consider the fact that you'll never have to spend for fuel, it doesn't sound like a bad idea at all. Great-looking bikes Apart from being practical, bikes can also be very stylish. Faustino says many people are not aware that bikes can "look great." "Kasi mga mall bikes, mountain bikes - baka for some other people they're not as aesthetically pleasing. We wanted to bring out some beautiful bikes. Mahilig sa fashion ang mga tao - pag nakakita sila ng bike na cute, gusto nilang bumili," she says. "This event is trying to cater to urban cyclists, hindi sila nagkikita-kita. There's no strong sense of unity in the culture. This event is trying to bring everyone together in one place, to appreciate what's nice about biking in the city and biking as a lifestyle," says Faustino.

It's hard to resist a velvet ride like this one. Photo by Monina Eugenio

Not bike-friendly Faustino laments that the local biking scene has been dominated a lot by mountain biking. "Manila is not bike friendly. So where are people gonna go biking except in the mountains or out of town?" she says. Although Manila is definitely not the ideal place to bike, areas like the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman, Quezon City and Marikina are proof that bike lanes can be implemented. Events like Kuklos show that there is a big demand for a bike-friendly city. Foldable bikes are already allowed on the LRT, and the MRT has agreed to have trial runs. It's a good thing that the bike festival was such a hit, because the organizers are planning another event soon. Visit the Kuklos sa Kolektib Facebook page for updates. "It was just a one-time idea but because there's been such good feedback, and we realized there's a lot of things we could do better, and a lot more we could do, we want to do it again," says Faustino. - VVP/YA, GMA News