Bicyclists blazing new trails in Tijuana Clubs emerging and growing, and government now supporting bike community "
Arturo Viazcan is not afraid of Tijuana's potholes, boorish drivers or lack of bicycle lanes. He doesn't hesitate when merging onto a congested,
three-lane roundabout at rush hour. Even public buses, with their disregard for bikers' personal space, fail to ruffle his feathers. If one gets too
close, he lets the driver know he's there by pounding the sidewall with his fist.
Ever since high-profile drug violence began to ebb three years ago, Tijuana has seen an explosion in the number of cyclists, bike clubs and
critical-mass-style city rides called paseos.
This trend has sparked a wide-ranging, grass-roots movement to raise awareness of the benefits of nonmotorized transportation. One of those efforts
will be an Oct. 16 bike tour that's part of Tijuana Innovadora, a major expo to promote the city's business, scientific and cultural offerings.
Advocates see bicycling as a way to curb car pollution and combat Mexico's significant obesity problem. But it's also about cyclists standing up for
their right to the road.
"Who needs bike lanes when all of Tijuana is our bike lane?" Viazcan says.
Ana Maria Duran Mendoza, spokeswoman for the family-oriented club Grupo Ciclo Pista, says "Urban bike groups have created a new culture of getting
around. ... There is a new consciousness in the city."
Ciclo Pista, the inaugural urban cycling club in Tijuana, is today the area's largest. When the group started in 2004, it had less than two dozen
members. Now, its Wednesday night and Sunday morning rides through the city consistently draw 200 to 500 riders of all ages.
Ciclo Pista's success and the emergence of at least 15 new urban cycling clubs in the past three years may largely be attributable to Tijuanenses'
improved sense of safety. For years, the Ciclo Pista paseo was the only ride in town. These days, there are a dozen such rides every week - for women,
for specific neighborhoods, for charitable causes.
"The violence was the trigger that made us realize that more organization and security were necessary," Duran says. "People's confidence has been
growing ever since."
Ciclo Pista now has dozens of neon-vested volunteers who help keep the pack of riders together. They block intersections and assist riders with flat
tires. In case of injury, there is a government-supplied ambulance that brings up the rear.
Government support of the bike community is relatively new, says Alfredo Antonio Perez, director of the Municipal Cycling Commission of Tijuana.
An avid mountain biker, Perez founded the commission in January in an effort to bring some order to the proliferation of bike clubs. He works closely
with those groups and Tijuana's 27 competitive road and mountain-bike teams, helping them obtain city permits for certain events - such as
competitions - and finding the occasional corporate sponsor.
"It was chaos (before)," he says. "I was tired of groups charging for poor-quality events."
Perez works as an engineer for a San Diego-based defense contractor and manages the commission on the side. Although he runs the commission "like a
business," he says he uses any profits from permit fees to cover costs for future events.
Arturo Viazcan, on the other hand, sees economic opportunity in the growing popularity of bicycles. He has opened Tijuana's first bike-rental company
and offers cultural, gastronomical and nocturnal tours of Tijuana. While most of his clients are tourists from other parts of Mexico, he believes
cycling is helping to rehabilitate the city's international image.
"If people feel comfortable getting around by bike, that means Tijuana is safer," he says. "It may not be the right moment economically (to open a new
business), but it's the right moment for Tijuana."
Viazcan is something of a bicycle activist. He started TJ en Bici, a group dedicated to improving street conditions for cyclists, pedestrians and the
"mobile-challenged." He also works with Tijuana's health secretary to organize community bike events that underscore the importance of staying
physically active.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 30 percent of Mexican adults are obese. The figure is 35.7 percent in the
United States, the fattest country in the world, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To combat obesity and weight-related conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, some regional governments in Mexico have turned to bicycling to
inspire a more active populace. In Guadalajara, major streets are closed down every Sunday for bikers, skaters and joggers. This month, Mexico City is
beginning the second phase of its popular bike-sharing program, Ecobici, with plans to triple its size.
In Tijuana, the Municipal Planning Institute has spent the past year gathering data on bike use and has put together a proposal for an extensive
bike-lane network that would link the city's neighborhoods. While funding has yet to be secured, the institute's director says he hopes to have paths
in the city center, on the malecón beach promenade and along the Tijuana River completed by the end of next year.
Alan Bautista, director of the Tijuana Tourism and Conventions Committee, says he doesn't believe the surge in cycling groups alone will bring more
visitors but that it is helping to restore the city's image.
"The more you see people in the streets going about their day, families walking down the street, that helps," he says. "Everything helps."
Some San Diegans have begun reaching out to fellow cyclists south of the border. Hans Wangbichler goes down every month for Paseo de Todos, or
Everybody's Ride, held on the first Friday of every month.
Wangbichler was so impressed after participating in his first Paseo de Todos that he started promoting the event on his cycling blog. There's now a
group of San Diegans who meet up every first Friday at Mission Brewery before pedaling to Tijuana for the 8 p.m. ride.
"It's about conquering people's fears," Wangbichler says. "It's a foreign culture, but it doesn't have to remain foreign to you forever."
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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