A Pinoy Biker’s Philippine Rural Adventures

Alright, I get your reaction, this is not an original title and perhaps may even be quite hard to present as I go on writing this piece.  However, my point is to provide a biker’s simple point of view where drivers can get a cue from, and facilitate mutual communication leading to better relationship on the road.

In the original John Gray book, the author writes about differences between the sexes and to highlight this, he proposed the idea that men are from Mars and women are from Venus.  I think he is quite right in focusing on this difference, as it could serve as the underlying thread to finally make both sexes understand each other.  Men and women both react on the same event, but by nature, they do so on different platforms.  Men for example complain because they seek answers, while women do so because the need people to acknowledge their problems.

It is along this thought that I am proposing the same line for bikers and drivers.

Bikers are from Mars
No, they don’t have pointed ears and are not green. What they do have is the sense of hearing capable of detecting cars behind them, so that drivers don’t need to honk five times to get their attention.  Bikers are quite attuned to their surroundings, especially when on paved roads frequented by motorized vehicles.  They know that between a 2,000 pound car and the hard surface of the road, nothing can survive so they take care to be acutely aware of those coming from behind.  They know how to scan the road, behind and ahead, to pinpoint potential hazards so they can avoid them on time.

Oh, but they are green, sorry! No not in the mind, but in their mindset to help preserve the environment from pollution emitted by motorized transport.  Bikers don’t burn fossil fuel, so they don’t have harmful exhaust fumes.  Green is their color because they realize that nature can only take so much and would retaliate by going overboard and unleash her wrath, affecting the world’s climate.

Bikers cannot travel through time, but they can cut travel time by half as much than cars on heavy traffic.  They can squeeze in between vehicles stuck in the grid and get ahead of the lot. Now, some car drivers resent this. While they have to sit it out waiting for traffic to ease, bikers can get ahead and arrive earlier at their destination.  This is for city driving of course, because out there in the highway, motorized vehicles reign supreme.  No doubt about that.

Bikers can get away with this not because they disregard traffic rules but  because this is their advantage and I for one, try to exploit this when I find myself in the company of so many cars.  In intersections, I try to position myself ahead of the rest, for two reasons:  there are less exhaust fumes there and I could readily start pedaling when the light turns green without any cars obstructing my path.

Martian life forms would likely have the ability to obtain all their water needs from water vapor in the atmosphere.  But I would think that once they have migrated to Earth, they cannot do so. They would need to imbibe the liquid through some contraption. But even before coming to that, bikers from Mars lose a lot of water through perspiration, especially during hot weather. They would then have a hard time pedaling and gaining grounds.  They slow down and may seem to be taking time going forward.  Some Venusian drivers would interpret this as a deliberate way to obstruct traffic and so when they pass the biker, they would give them the finger or shout expletives.  It’s a good thing, most bikers don’t bring their zappers with them when they bike.

Bikes, unfortunately, by nature are poor in acceleration, as compared with their motorized counterpart. So in a bind, they cannot just up and run away, and when tired after biking for some grueling hours, bikers may be tired and need to slow down. They have to recover so they can bike some more.

I don’t know if you have ever encountered a drunken biker.  I have and it should be easy to describe one but I will not do so now.  What I am sure of rather is that you have seen or may even have been a victim of a drunk driver. It’s not an easy thing to describe, much less think of.  No one should drink and drive; it’s a maxim that cannot be disregarded.  Not a biker, and never a driver.

Tomorrow: Drivers are from Venus.

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Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus (published in May 1992) is a book by John Gray offering many suggestions for improving husband-wife relationships by understanding the communication style and emotional needs of the opposite sex. – Wikipedia.