Pedaling forward…

The bicycle is part of the family in many Cuban homes. During the hard decade of the 90s, during the so-called Special Period (the economic crisis in Cuba after the fall of the Socialist Camp), bikes flooded the island and became the means of public transport used in the country.

The infamous Chinese bicycles arrived in Cuba with such suggestive brand names as Flying Pigeon, Phoenix and Forever, which were assigned by one’s places of work or study. National brands also appeared, but they were heavy, aesthetically poor and of bad quality. These became part of our memory and popular jokes.

Under the hot sun, at night, in the cities or in the fields, Cubans traveled by bike (I remember pedaling after some memorable wedding…). The pedicabs then followed; and soon after places that fixed flats became popular and any suitable space was used as a bike parking lot.

We’ve left these times behind and no longer are our bikes protagonists on Cuban streets, replaced by smoldering taxi drivers who drive like crazy persons, constantly snuggling their car to the right where earlier the bicycle had paraded and reigned during the Special Period…

However, at this point it is not unreasonable to think that in a country of so many monuments, to build one representing two giant wheels would be a fitting tribute to history.