Is biking to work conceivable in Cairo? Nashwa Abdel-Tawab meets a young businessman who has dared to park his car and use his bike for transport The four-wheeled vehicle has its allure. It's relaxing, air- conditioned and prestigious. No one can deny, however, that it has now become suffocating as well, especially in a traffic-jammed city like Cairo, in which the average speed of cars rarely exceeds 30km/h in most areas. Pollution detectors run by Danish stations in Cairo have intercepted dangerously high levels of pollution due to the exhaust fumes emitted from approximately six million vehicles traversing the city on any given day. Owning a vehicle has turned to a liability for many lately as the price of gasoline shot up 45 per cent last month. Furthermore, a swelling number of people are either suffering from diseases resulting from pollution or from obesity and its side effects due to a sedentary lifestyle that is the by-product of car dependence. With all its drawbacks, why is our car culture not waning? Is it still an option for Egyptians to try and save money, save the planet and burn calories all at the same time by letting go of their addiction to cars? Could the alternative possibly be as simple as a silver metal over two rubbers -- a bicycle? A bike is small, handy and cheap. It promotes an active lifestyle and is an excellent means of saving money and preserving our environment. Unfortunately, biking is not seen as all that glamorous since it has traditionally been the sole means of transport of the lower classes. Children enjoy biking within the confines of sports clubs, but are never allowed to bike on Cairo's perilous streets. The Maadi district is the only place in Cairo where some people use their bikes as a means of transport, due to its relatively safer roads. It is still the only area in town where men and women can bike without being ridiculed or stared at. A long-forgotten government plan to turn the downtown Cairo area into a pedestrianised zone had been scrapped many years ago. In the 1960s, a famous young radio and TV presenter, Shafie Shalabi, amazed his audience and colleagues by going to work on his bike. Despite his highly-rated programmes and unique character, his breaking out of the mould unfortunately never endeared him to his higher ups. Our 21st century trailblazer is Mohamed Walid, a well- educated and well-to-do young man who has decided to make a major change in his life. "When I tell people that I ride my bike to work, they say 'that's great' but they look at me as if I'm crazy," Walid said. "With most people, our conversation stops there. A few say they would like to ride a bike to work, but then go on to give a list of excuses why that would be virtually impossible to do in Cairo." Walid has been biking for a year now and he still believes the pros outnumber the cons of his experiment. "Everyone's got a 'reason' why they can't ride their bike to work. What baffles me is that I don't hear anyone giving reasons for why it has become unbearable to ride cars in this city. I think that the key to any change is for people to believe that they can actually change their lives to the better." Walid received his BA in engineering from a university in England last year. Upon returning to Egypt, he worked in the field of business. "During my studies in England, I used to walk and bike for three years," said Walid. "When I came back, I bought a sports car and was quite happy with it, until I realised that I waste two hours a day just stuck in traffic. This affected both my work and my social and family life. Many times, I had to open my laptop during heavy traffic to send mail through my cellular phone. I was wasting my time, money, health and sanity. Behind car wheels, I felt I was in control of the car, but not in control of my life at all." Breaking cultural handcuffs is never easy in a country like Egypt, Walid said, but he had to live his life in a way that satisfied him. So Walid bought a mountain bike, braved the ridicule directed at him on the road and biked himself to work. He began his daily bike ride from his house in front of the Orman Garden in Doqqi to his work in Wadi Al-Nil Street in Mohandessin last winter. The trip that used to take him one hour only took between 17 and 20 minutes by bike. "Once my father left his office, which is near mine, before me by car, but I reached home before him by bike," Walid said. Walid bikes to work daily during winter, spring and autumn. At night, he uses the car when he hangs out with his friends. In the summer, he uses the car in the sun's heat and moves by bike in the evening. He commutes a maximum distance of 10km at a speed of almost 50mph. For now, he uses his car for longer commutes. "Like anything in life, start slowly, and gradually test your limits," he said. "So many of the instances we use our cars nowadays are for distances shorter than 3km that could easily be travelled on foot or bike." At first, biking for Walid was a means of getting to work quickly and a means of exercise. Then he started to view biking as his way of chipping in to change the country to the better. "I was happy to be helping in saving the environment. I began to see that there was a bigger issue at stake than my own immediate needs. The country needs us to individually help by coming up with uncommon solutions for its many problems. I feel responsible and so should everyone else." Walid said his biking trips are far from easy. "There are no bike lanes and riding alongside cars is dangerous because drivers do not look out for bikers. Sometimes I have to use small pavements that are either very high or too narrow and that often have random obstacles in the way, such as trees, lamps, kiosks, sewage and pedestrians." Walid said it took him some time to get used to cars driving past him. "But it really is not much different from cars driving past cars if you think of it," he said. "If we try and change our attitudes, the government just might respond by building lanes and respectable sidewalks for people. It's not impossible, just difficult." Walid said that he gets both negative and positive comments by lay persons on the street. However, he acquiesces that it is still difficult for women to bike in this country without being harassed. Walid bikes in a casual light T-shirt and sneakers and carries a backpack. On most days, he can remain casual at work, but when he has a meeting, he carries a change of clothes with him to look more formal. According to Walid, biking is still dangerous in Cairo. "There are risks and one should take precautions. Wear helmets, bright clothes and use reflectors. While in motion, try to maintain a steady line. I was going to be crushed several times were it not for the grace of God. People are not used to it on the streets. We have to change the mentality of the Cairenes, develop new awareness and promote new concepts among youth because they can challenge the norms and change the world around them." "Think about it. If one in every 100 people in Cairo used a bike just one day a week, imagine how much less congested our roads would be," he said. "Park your cars, change your way of life and take charge of the problems we created that are threatening our societies. Try to change a mentality and spread an awareness so that the government can be freed up to address the larger issues. If we are just a few who can collaborate with each other, it would be a good start." As the Egyptian saying goes, the thousand-mile trip begins with a step. For more information contact: [email protected]
