The best bike route is rarely the one with the paint. After a month of riding to work, three routes stood out for being calm, direct and mostly shaded.
Sampaloc to Intramuros
Stay off España and use the parallel streets through the university belt. The school zones keep cars slow, and the final stretch along the walls is the most pleasant ten minutes of riding in the city.
Marikina river path
Marikina built its bike network years before anyone else, and it shows. The river path runs most of the length of the city without a single car crossing at peak hour.
Kapitolyo to Ortigas
Before you ride
All three routes are best before eight in the morning or after seven at night, when traffic is lighter and the heat is bearable. Carry water, a rain jacket from June to October and a lock that is heavier than you think it needs to be.
Schools are the friendliest places to cross big roads: the guards stop traffic for students, and they usually wave cyclists through too. Avoid the big intersections on Aurora and EDSA entirely; there is always a side street that gets you across further down.
Most offices now have somewhere to park a bike if you ask. Ask on your first day, not your first rainy day.
What would make it easier
Protected lanes on the big roads would help most, but even small things make a difference: bike racks at train stations, clear signs at crossings and fewer cars parked in painted lanes. Several cities in the metro have started counting cyclists, which is usually the first step before building anything.
For now, the side streets do the job. They are slower on a map and faster in real life, and they take you past bakeries, schools and corner stores the main roads never show you.
Short, flat and lined with cafés that let you park inside. Lock up properly and bring lights: the side streets are dark after seven.
