I was inspired by this thread. https://www.nairaland.com/6761227/why-cant-nigerians-adopt-cycling

The objective of this thread is to expose why Nigerians can't adopt cycling.

From my experience...
During my undergraduate days I spent a lot of money on transportation and a lot time on holdups due to the nature of business I did. To solve that, I bought a bicycle. Bicycle unarguably makes movements inexpensive and fast, but it comes with a lot dangers in unorganized societies like ours.

First, there are no bicycle lanes. If you drive on the service lane, transporters will hit you into the gutters. Drivers don't even see you as a road user. When they look at their mirror and see you coming, they don't feel like anything is coming. If you drive on the speed lane, Corolla drivers will run over you. You drive where pedestrians use, then you will have to carry your bicycle on your head. Even pedestrians don't reason you. They see bicycle coming, they keep going. They block you, you say sorry. You hit them, you say sorry. There's absolutely no provision for cyclers on our roads and there are no alternative routes either.

With time I developed a lion-like heart. I drive on the speed lane and dull all my senses to car horns and courses from drivers. I cycled as fast as my leg could carry to avoid causing obstruction for long and makes my journey faster.

Secondly, there are no parking lots for bicycles. If you're going to market, you'll end up carrying your bicycle on your head because nowhere is safe to park it; you can't even push it inside the market because everywhere is already jam-packed. I remember the day I went to Douglas road with my bicycle . It's a story for another day.

Third, comfortable cannot exist in the dictionary of a cycler. Imagine pedalling rapidly for 30 minutes in the morning to work or school? You will never feel comfortable for the rest of the day. Mind you, because of the nature of our roads, you can't pedal softly unless you're on the service lane; but you must have signed your death warrant...You can't move slowly on the speed lane.

Fourth, our roads are bad. Bicycle is good on dry land or paved roads. But I don't need to describe the nature of our roads.... I remember the day I fell inside a gutter right in front of our department at the full glare of my coursemates. Heavy rain caused flooding. Coming down from my bike means walking in the flood, so I kept moving slowly until I hit a pothole and fell inside a gutter. The experience is...

Summarily, bicycle should be strictly for sports and at designated sports locations unless you don't live in busy cities.

Your legs go don long finish

xpressionx:
Your legs go don long finish

lol. It's been six years since I did it

Enlightening...

Quite a lot of valid points raised there.

If na for Lagos, Danfo for Don kill you since, you would av been dead and gone.


All those danfo drivers wey their sense dey roll for their tire.

Was to highlight this same points of yours... It's a suicide mission in most if not all of our roads in Nigeria

chiefbuchiV12:
Was to highlight this same points of yours... It's a suicide mission in most if not all of our roads in Nigeria

you're correct

OkuFaba:
If na for Lagos, Danfo for Don kill you since, you would av been dead and gone.


All those danfo drivers wey their sense dey roll for their tire.

Lol. Traditional transporters are the same everywhere

It's good for estate movement if the road is OK. I like cycling and walking

I understand your worries. Because of these dangers, my mother wouldn't let me ride my bike alone when I was a kid. It was very frustrating because all my friends were walking and riding around town, and I had to run after them. But now I realize that it was dangerous for a young child to ride alone like that. Now I wonder why my friends' parents allowed it. Maybe that's why I didn't learn how to ride a bike well and when my doctor advised me to take bike rides, the best solution for me was TheBikersRide.

GabriellePeake:
I understand your worries. Because of these dangers, my mother wouldn't let me ride my bike alone when I was a kid. It was very frustrating because all my friends were walking and riding around town, and I had to run after them. But now I realize that it was dangerous for a young child to ride alone like that. Now I wonder why my friends' parents allowed it. Maybe that's why I didn't learn how to ride a bike well and when my doctor advised me to take bike rides, the best solution for me was TheBikersRide.

People that grow up in suburbs and rural areas have no problem riding bicycle, unlike those in the cities. Many parents don't even consider risks associated with certain actions their children take

cj4humanity:
It's good for estate movement if the road is OK. I like cycling and walking

Very very OK within estates. But that temptation to trespass will always be there