VEERING AWAY from the usual races and fun runs, members of the Health and Environmental Cluster (HEC) spearheaded the first ever Bike Festival in Ateneo history.

HEC Head Marucs Javier explained that most organizations resort to fun runs because of the ease in planning them. “[However,] eventually people tend to forget why they’re held in the first place,” Javier said.

Javier is also the Project Head of the HEC Bike Festival.

HEC, which is under the Council of Organizations in the Ateneo (COA), wanted to promote biking as exercise, an alternative form of transportation, and a fun activity; thus the conception of the event.

Proceeds of the Bike Festival will go to Ateneo Gives Back, the medical mission of the Pre-Medical Society of the Ateneo (PMSA) for the nonteaching faculty of the university.

The event was held in the University Residence Halls area on November 26.

Promoting biking

Javier pointed out that despite Ateneo’s efforts to lessen the school’s waste—the Bring Your Own Baunan project, waste segregation efforts, among others as examples—the campus is not bike-friendly.

“There are no bike lanes, the roads are narrow, and biking isn’t promoted in general,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.

Meanwhile HEC Secretary-Treasurer and Bike Festival Co-Head Aimee Choa-Yu hoped that the event would encourage students to start using bikes for a healthier campus.

Bike Festival Logistics Head Ray Philip Duterte agreed and wished that the event would urge the administration to put up bike lanes.

“Less smog, less pollution, [healthier] students,” he said.

Good turn-out

Although the core team faced problems such as the near-cancellation of the event because of complications with the Office of Administrative Services and Office of Student Activities, they were happy with the results of the sign-ups and the turn-out.

According to Programs Head Alisa Carla Robin, their initial fear was that no one would join the Bike Festival since the venue was far from the main campus.

But the core team’s woes proved to be wrong. “In the first hour, we already had more than 10 bikers,” Programs Head Alisa Carla Robin said in Filipino. Choa-Yu added that four hours later, they already had 40 participants.

Fairs, runs and pledges

Aside from the bike fair in the morning, a bike run was held late in the afternoon.

While the bike fair catered to those who were interested in leisure biking, the bike run involved participants requesting pledges from their friends, depending on the number of laps the participants pledged to make.

Robin added that two weeks before the event, pledge books were given to participants so they could record their friends’ pledges.

She said, “For example, my friend pledged P2 per lap [and] I made 10 laps during the Bike Run, my friend [now] owes me P20.”

The bike fair was held in the dorm area while the bike run was set up at the Bellarmine field.

Points to consider

The participants said that they enjoyed the whole event but shared some points for improvement should HEC hold the event once more next school year.

Freshman Alvin Cabalquinto said that it would have been more fun if the event was able to cover the whole campus.

Meanwhile, sophomore Geneva Guyano was disappointed to find that, contrary to what they heard, there were no instructors available to teach how to ride a bike properly.

“My blockmate really wanted to join the event but didn’t know how to [ride a] bike,” Guyano said.

Javier admitted that there were a lot of things they should have ironed out, but he said that these would be considered the next time HEC plans an event of the same kind.