Free of cars and care, cyclists forget spirit of the day

This year’s Car-Free Day — last Sunday — was a disappointment. It made me feel like being part of an irresponsible cycling mob, rather than in a peloton campaigning for public transportation use. Despite the increased number of cyclists and better traffic arrangement, the crowd seemed to forget that the spirit of Car-Free Day wasn’t exclusively for the two-wheelers, but for anyone who gives up their private cars for public transport or other ways of getting around.

It’s not totally their fault. The cyclists had taken up the streets on Car-Free Day for so many years that they thought it was their day and tried too hard to make their presence felt in the city centre.

‘‘Weren’t we trying to convince people to share the space and be environmentally responsible?’’

I felt like I was in the middle of a demonstration while sitting with thousands of others on the hot concrete in the melting midday sun, and without any shade from trees or tents.

We ended up parking our bicycles within sight, without any racks or locks to secure them, eating from breakfast boxes.

While we took over the mall’s plaza, hundreds of early shoppers began to arrive. Many gave us unfriendly looks, telling us how they were upset we had prevented them from using the walkway and entrance.

A few hours after the event, an embarrassing photo was shared on social media. The image featured dozens of plastic bottles and food cartons left on the ground after all the cyclists and their vehicles had gone.

Their only excuse was the lack of dustbins to accommodate the crowd; there were only a few garbage bags piling up near the food booths on one end of the plaza.

Such a scene would never have happened at Lumpini Park where we could eat under any of the big trees and dispose of our waste in the countless dustbins provided. Still, it was a lame excuse not to walk to that sole spot, located a few minutes away, or not even helping to gather the waste in one pile for easier removal.

Apart from that embarrassing photo, there were also complaints on an online public forum that the cyclists didn’t try to share the road with motorists and pedestrians. Some of them didn’t bother to stop at red lights and almost ran into pedestrians trying to cross the road.

Weren’t we cycling around the city for a good cause? Weren’t we trying to convince people to use public transport and share the space, and to be environmentally responsible? What have we done?

Not everything was disappointing, though. Among the thousands of cyclists who gathered at Sanam Luang, it was great to spot a man on rollerblades and another in jogging shoes.

With more rollerbladers and joggers next year, it will become a real CarFree Day.

Sirinya Wattanasukchai is a features writer for theBangkokPost’sLife section.