To bike or not to bike

“Once upon a time life in the Marianas was simple. People hiked from village to village and used only the stars to navigate between the islands, but those days have long since passed as walking gave way to driving and paddling gave way to the motor boats and airplanes.”

– Anonymous

With the price of gasoline forcing consumers making minimum wage to spend more than their hourly earnings to get to their jobs, more and more people are opting for more efficient ways of getting from Point A to Point B.

While this may come as a welcome change for those preaching the ways of living a healthy lifestyle, their efforts have been hampered by the lack of a bicycle lane along Saipan’s major thoroughfares.

As recently as a couple of months ago there was the remnants of a previously allotted bike lane along Beach Road from Gualo Rai to Garapan, but that has since been removed in favor of wider lanes.

In light of the apparent loss of space for cyclists to pedal their wares, more two-wheeled machines are joining motorists along the paved roadways during the morning drive, the lunch rush, and the ride home.

While some cyclists are working, training, and enjoying a daily ride, they all share one thing in common—they all have a right to the road.

According to Department of Public Safety Operations Supervisor Joe Flores, there’s only one option for motorists and cyclists to take when it comes to traveling on Saipan.

“Basically we have to share the road as much as possible. There’s ample space for them but the speed of the motorists and the speed of the cyclists don’t jive. What we should recommend is to make a bicycle path,” he said.

Recently some cyclists have expressed their frustrations with the treatment that they have received from drivers, to include verbal taunts, obnoxious honking, and even a government employee driving a government vehicle removing his betel nut from his mouth and throwing at them. The driver continued his harassment by pulling his vehicle over on the side of the road and shouting at the cyclists.

Police officers were called to respond in the last situation but the cyclists refused to press charges. While that situation is rare, Flores said that anyone facing a similar situation should call DPS immediately.

The operations supervisor also said that drivers and cyclists share responsibilities and that the lack of a motor doesn’t constitute an excurse for not following the rules of the road.

“Basically the drivers should be attentive to the cyclists on the road, but even the bicycle guys still have to follow the rules of the road. If they come to an intersection with a traffic light they have to stop too,” he said.

Flores said that cyclists need to remain aware of their surroundings and provide enough space for faster moving vehicles to maintain their rate of speed along the road.

“We used to have a bicycle path but now we don’t so persons riding a bicycle on the highway cannot ride more than two abreast except on the path. When they’re riding on the highway they basically have to ride single file,” he said.

To better keep everyone safe, cyclists are also required to ride single file on the road and should make themselves visible to drivers at night by using lights that are visible from both directions from a distance of no less than 500 feet.