EDITORIAL – Unibikes, anyone?

Two men have been creating a stir in Cebu City recently. Noriel Gimarangan and Cris Tropa, who claim to belong to a heretofore unheard of group called Philippine One Wheel Equals Recreation (POWER), have been going around the city in, well, unibikes.

A unibike, as the name suggests, is a pedal-driven vehicle with only one wheel. To those who have not seen one, just imagine a bicycle with one of its wheels missing. But that is where the “near-similarity” ends.

A unibike does not have a handlebar to help the rider steer the darn contraption. To make a turn, the rider will have to twist his body in the desired direction and hope the unibike gets the message (ha ha). And as it has only one wheel, a lot of balancing goes with the ride.

Now, not only have Gimarangan and Tropa (wonder what his relation is to the late Lamplighter Mission top guru Fr. Eleuterio Tropa, the founder of the Cebu City Zoo) been going around the city in unibikes, they are also making their arduous tour in long sleeves and ties.

As the name of their group suggests, what they are doing is a form of recreation. But their use of “smart casuals” implies the possibility that people can mimic what they do in their everyday lives, such as going to school or to the office.

We do not know about students, but we are very uncomfortable with the thought of executives going to the office on unibikes. This is not intended to demean or cast aspersions on anyone, but an executive on a unibike does not strike a very credible or respectable sight.

Besides, in case you have not noticed it yet, global warming is starting to wreak havoc on this tropical climate of ours. The days and nights are getting hotter, so that going around in unibikes in office attire does not seem particularly appealing.

Recreation, yes, but for office or school commute? We do not know about Gimarangan and Tropa. If their intention is merely to attract attention, they certainly succeeded. Beyond that, we do not see any takers, unless the sole aim is to break into sweat, or lose some teeth.