ANGELES CITY -- Recreational Outdoor eXchange (ROX) hosted its Third Bike for a Cause in Clark, Pampanga recently.
The said biking event aims to raise the awareness of the youth on how to improve public health and environmental protection.
The Third Bike for a Cause gathered a total of 800 bike enthusiasts from Central Luzon and National Capital Region.
According to Jumbo Tayag, organizer of the said activity, the Bike for a Cause has been an important venue for enticing more members of the biking community to join their health and environmental advocacies.
“Definitely, more people are becoming aware because of the different illnesses that people encounter today such as hypertension, high cholesterol that’s why we need all these exercise activities especially the Kapampangans who love to eat. We all know the benefits of exercise,” shared Tayag.
Ruby Palma, Assistant Vice President of ROX Philippines, said that biking not only benefits a person’s health but also the environment.
In fact, ROX Philippines has been coordinating with the Department of Tourism to promote eco-tourism in the country through bicycle riding, she said.
The ROX Philippines, Palma said, wants to tap the potential of the growing popularity of cycling in the country in order to foster clean environment and vibrant tourism.
“The Philippines is really great in terms of the natural resources in the different places where it’s very nice to bike. It’s an exercise at the same time you get to save the environment,” said Palma.
The said biking event also showcased the creativity of the Filipino bicycle makers. Aside from promoting the bicycle as a tool for exercise, some of the participants told Sun.Star Pampanga that they also want to exhibit the ingenuity of the Filipinos in creating high-quality bicycles.
“The Pinoys are really good in terms of craftsmanship. Besides exercise, I also promote bamboo ingenuity and indigenous materials,” shared Reyes referring to his bamboo bicycle which is very famous in Tarlac province.
Michael Donadilla of the Tiklop Society of the Philippines also showed his foldable bicycle which is very popular among the biking enthusiasts for its convenience.
“I joined the event for bike and environment awareness. We are also presenting the bike community to let people know about bimodal transportation,” explained Donadilla.
Other attention-grabbing bicycle designs during the event include the Kapampangan-made “traysikleta” and a high-wheel bicycle, which became popular in the 1800’s.
The beneficiary of the event was Pampanga High School which received three sets of bike racks. The bike racks can be used by the students who are using bicycles when going to school.
“This will also encourage high school students to consider riding a bicycle going to school instead of commuting,” said Tayag.
The ROX Philippines is expecting an increase in the number of participants next year who will share their health and environment advocacy.
Meanwhile, the biking enthusiasts are requesting the government to create more bike lanes in order to ensure the safety of the bikers.
“Unfortunately, the country still has insufficient bike lanes. Maybe in the future the officials should consider putting bike lanes in the roads,” said Tayag.