Biking on UP campus

FOR a fee of P500, a student at the University of the the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City can use a Padyak bicycle for a semester. Some 60 Padyak bicycles are now in use on the sprawling campus, providing students an alternative to taking a public utility jeepney or using a car or motorcycle.

The benefits of using a Padyak are many, including helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions and enjoying the freedom to move quickly around the campus at one’s convenience.

If the students on the waiting list are any indication, there’s an unmet demand for an environment-friendly mode of transportation on the campus.

Compared with the student population of some 23, 300, the number of Padyak bikes is small. Support from the alumni and groups for the UP Mountaineers-initiated program will certainly boost the number of Padyak bikes in the coming semesters.

‘I help lessen smoke emission’
By Ina Ocampo
UP MA Education student

Padyak is a convenient means of transport for me to go around the campus. I was one of the first people to try out the Padyak bikes. I started using it in the 2nd semester of schoolyear 2007-2008.

I usually take the jeep or walk to get around the campus. With the bike, I can go around the university for my classes at the College of Education, but at times I use it to go to other buildings and tambayan. My college is roughly a kilometer away from my residence.

There’s a regulation that Padyak bikes be used just inside the UP campus. The distinctive design on the wheel helps the organization keep track of the bikes just in case the rider goes out of the campus.

What are the advantages of using a bike? One is, I get to exercise. Another is, it’s easier to go around the campus, especially now that there’s a bike lane and one-way academic oval. (The bike lane was launched almost at the same time as Padyak.) I save money because I don’t need to ride the Ikot jeep.

I also save time because I don’t have to wait for an Ikot jeep. I don’t use a car, so I help lessen smoke emission. I still look good riding a bike. My clothes are not limited to pants or shorts; I can wear a skirt.The bike has a basket in front and a rack at the back where I can put my things.

There are designated parking areas for the bike, but not all buildings have bike racks. When it’s raining, I can’t use the bike unless I don a poncho.

How has the bike changed my routine on campus? I’m not as stressed as before because I don’t have to rush when I need to go to another place at once.

Before, I either walked fast which was really tiring or waited for the Ikot jeep. Now, I can relax because I know that I can easily get to where I’m going because of the bike.

Sam got me to know every nook and cranny of university
By Isabela Maria S. Aguilar
3rd Year Bachelor in Secondary Education

Last summer, I saw my friend Ina wearing a green shirt with Padyak written on it. I didn’t mind it at first until I saw the Padyak itself. It was a green bike with special green disks on the wheels.

She told me that it was a project of the UP Mountaineers. “Is this why a bike lane suddenly sprouted on the academic oval?” I asked myself.

A few weeks later, I went to Ina’s house and saw Padyak. Yep, she named it that, since it was one of the first bikes used for the test run. I jokingly asked Ina to lend me Padyak. She said that she’d ask if I could, since she was not enrolled.

A few days later, I got a message saying that I could use the bike for the summer. I wasn’t prepared; I couldn’t even remember the last time I rode a bike. Fortunately, I didn’t lose my skills. I got to my class on time. I only had one class, but it was at the other end of the campus.

Before I had the bike, I either walked and arrived in class sweating and tired, or waited forever for that Toki jeepney to come.

When I was on the bike and my backpack in the basket, I got to class on time and still fresh for the day’s lesson.

A new schoolyear started, and I got to ride another Padyak. This time it was a red one, a mama-chan with the basket in front and a rack at the rear where you can either tie things onto, or like in the Korean TV series “Full House,” take a friend for a ride.

Having classes just a few steps away from the dormitory, like in Palma Hall and Benitez Hall (the College of Education building), didn’t stop me from maximizing the use of the bike, which, by the way, I named Sam. I would bike my way to the Shopping Center, my friend’s house in Area 1, the gym and even to the UP Coop store, which is near Krus na Ligas.

My friends and I even rode all the way to the Executive House, parked our bikes and walked a few meters to have lunch at KNL.

Padyak bikes are to be used only on the campus. This is quite a disadvantage since biking your way to almost everywhere helps you save a few pesos and help lessen pollution. It is a good way to exercise, too.

Nevertheless, using the Padyak helped me get to where I need to go and know every nook and cranny of the university. My friends and I would, from time to time, plan to have a few rounds on the oval, especially at night and whenever it would rain.

The Padyak has made me see distance as something that one can conquer in any way one can, even if it means walking from the Shopping Center to the new Physics building.

(These articles are also published in Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Talk of the Town. Photos by Manix Abrera)

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