After almost nine months in quarantine, we have taken all the precautions and measures necessary to enjoy some free time outside. A fun way to spend that time is by riding a bicycle. In my personal experience, I’ve known how to ride a bike for my whole life, but I’ve never done intense cycling all over the city until quarantine started. We obtained something good from this lockdown, which is that with all this extra time in our hands, we’ve tried out new things that some of us never thought about doing nine months ago. 

A big improvement in our city (Santo Domingo) has been the implementation of bikeways. Bikes are one of the cleanest ways of transportation since it does so little harm to our planet Earth, unlike cars and vehicles, which we use frequently to transport ourselves. The bikeway has been planned for years until they finally implemented it the 3th of june of 2020. “The District has many possibilities for bicycles because it is almost all flat and the distances are very short, in 10 kilometers around I find everything I need,” explains Frank, an important contributor to the bikeway project. The bike path covers the stretch of the Ecological Avenue, Parque Mirador Norte from the Hermanas Mirabal station of the Santo Domingo Metro.This way it seeks to promote sustainable modes of transport and care for the environment. 

This bikeway has been a big motor for the new cyclists to try out this sport. In my personal experience, at first I thought the cars would beat me down, but as time went by, I started feeling more safe and in control. It was beneficial for bicycle stores, since they, as all businesses, were hit hard by the pandemic.  At the moment, they are  selling a considerable amount of bicycles, helmets, lights, speakers, sports clothes, and many others. With Covid measures, cycling is a good sport to practice  since you can ride with your mask on and avoid touching others, unlike football or basketball, which involve a lot of physical contact. I really recommend you to try it out. It’s a great way to get some fresh oxygen and clear your mind while having fun and doing something good for your health and body.

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