During his first bike ride around Metro Manila, Lester Babiera thought that it would be awesome to create internet content about cycling. He’s a storyteller anyway and he has a lot of free time because of the lockdown brought by the pandemic. He was studying lessons about social media and thought that this might be a good practice application for the things he learned.

That time, he’s not yet really invested into cycling. In fact, before his first bike ride, he disliked the idea of biking in Metro Manila. He decided to buy a bike after being influenced by friends and realized that it was not bad. He saw the potential of bicycles as a way of solving the traffic problem of his city and a tool in promoting sustainability. It was fun too, this dude thought, and would love to see more people on their bikes.

In September 2020, Lester created a Facebook and Instagram page for First Bike Ride, initially targeting his friends and their network to join him in his bicycling adventures. He wanted to make content that would make more people try cycling without getting intimidated and for the community to be reminded that every cyclist is a human being with unique and interesting stories to tell. That they are more than just a cyclist.

The pages grew, he made new friends, learned a lot of things and made a Youtube channel, among others.

The storytelling eventually evolved and now we’re here.