“…we can’t go back to old days, but we can still use bikes for some things”
MY PARENTS bought my first bicycle for me in Barbados when I was twelve to ride to school.

The bike was a Rudge. Older Guyanese may know the make, because it was British made. Most of the bikes in Guyana at the time (the late 1950s ) were British made. These were mainly Raleigh, Humber or Hercules, although I am told some Indian-made bikes were brought in.

The Rudge was in fact a brand name from the great British manufacturing Raleigh firm. The Raleigh company, in its heyday, was the world’s largest bicycle maker. They exported bikes all over the world. Contrary to popular belief, it wasn’t named after the English explorer, but from a Nottingham street where the original firm was located when businessman, Frank Bowden started it in 1887.

The bikes of the 1950s and 1960s were heavy. It took a lot of muscle power just to get them moving. And when at night you had to put the generator to rub on the front wheel to work the light on the handlebars, that slowed you down even more.

The only (flexible) cables used were for the gears (Sturmey-Archer three-speeds! Wow!)

The brake system was solid steel bars. And the Raleigh management in those days said, like Henry Ford, the automaker in the USA in the 1920s regarding cars: “You can have any colour, so long as it is black.” The chain system was completely covered by a metal casing, adding on a lot of weight.

But they made bikes to last in those days. My Rudge gave me good service for the seven years I had it. My Dad took it over and used it during the 1970s to ride to work when the oil crisis of the time sent gas prices soaring.

The key to the longevity of any machinery is maintenance. If you kept the bearings, gear and chain of your bike well oiled, you were ‘all set’. I can imagine Guyanese old-timers, just like their counterparts in Barbados, on weekends lovingly washing down their bikes with a cloth and some soap, putting in some oil from a tin, or touching up some spots with paint.

How times have changed. For one thing, not as many people use bikes for necessary transport these days. In Guyana, with the rise of spending power and the availability of motor vehicles and motorcycles, you don’t see them like before. Last weekend in Barbados, I made a point of looking out for any on the roads, and I only saw two: One was an old-timer who brought his bike to the Oistins beach for a late afternoon swim, and the other was being ridden by a teenager who snaked in front of my car on a busy rush hour traffic congestion, nearly causing an accident.

Apparently though, bikes are still selling well in places like European and North American cities. Sales there are driven by environmental and exercise motivations. Municipalities are encouraging the use of bikes in inner cores to cut down on pollution and vehicle congestion. There are special bicycle lanes. The Prime Minister of Norway, I think it was, made a point of riding his bicycle to work to set an example.

People ride for exercise. When I lived in Toronto in the 1970s, I had a ten-speed just for that purpose. The brand? Why! A Raleigh, naturally! I must add that it was a Canadian-made Raleigh (they had a plant in the town of Waterloo in Ontario province), so I could not be accused of not ‘buying local’ in my then adopted home country.

My present bike is also Canadian-made, I believe, also by a Raleigh-controlled firm. It is called a Venture Roadrunner. I bought it for a song (Bds$50) from a distant relative, who brought it down from Toronto. It is what is known as a ‘Mountain bike’. Unlike the ‘racing machine’ styling of the Raleigh with ultra thin frame and fine wheels, the ‘mountain bike’ has double- sized wheels, wider saddles, and other sturdier construction features. I keep it well greased up and take it for a spin every now and again, to buy newspapers from the shop for example.

The amount of bicycle riding in any given country is a function of economic imperatives. Related cultural influences also impact on such activity. In the US and Canada, the main output of bicycle manufacturers, such as the Schwinn company, was for children. It was for the teenage market. This was because of the ready availability of mass transit systems and car ownership. Things changed in the 1970s, because of the environment/exercise concerns. Bicycle sales in the US, for example, doubled between 1971 and 1975.

In Britain and Europe in general, bicycle riding remained popular among adults, perhaps because it was there that the first proper bikes were first developed and manufactured in the mid and late 1800s. Interestingly, the rise of the women’s rights movement at the time encouraged women to ride… and they did.

In developing countries, it was an economic necessity from square one. Despite the vast improvements in India of their railway systems, vehicle, including bicycle, production and transportation infrastructure, there is still a relatively high number of bicycles for people riding to and from work for example. In 2006, the Communist government of West Bengal province of India announced plans to ban bicycle-drawn rickshaw-type taxis because of health and road safety reasons. But despite the cheaper vehicles and motorcycles coming on line, bicycles are still part of Indian (and African, Chinese and several other countries) transportation culture until further technological changes in mass transit takes place.

There is still value to bicycle riding. In countries such as Guyana, where there have been mass transit and increased spending power improvements, cycling will mainly be for exercise and environmental concerns.

I forgot to mention the organised sport side. I am always happy to see the sports cyclists (both men and women) on the road practising for their meets. Guyana cyclists regularly come to Barbados to participate. The excitement and friendship building of such get-togethers is sensitively created in Trinidadian author, Michael Anthony’s novel, ‘The Games were Coming’, about a young man’s devotion to the sport.

And then there are the backpacker tourists. Every now and again, we get young visitors in Guyana touring South America on their bikes. This healthy, time-honoured tradition in Europe is the best way to linger and really get to know the people and a country’s history, they say. Let us continue to welcome them as part of our growing tourist sector.

Cycling. Let’s us not go back to the days of hardship, but always remember that there are some things about old transportation technology that can still be useful.
(NORMAN FARIA <nfaria@caribsurf.com> IS GUYANA’S HONORARY CONSUL IN BARBADOS)