One of the great things about touring in Cuba is seeing all the ways bicycles are used in daily life, and how much is done with so little.
Bicycles are a key method of transport for the average Cuban, whether they’re taking their kids to school or selling produce at a street market. Here are just some of the photos we snapped of Cubans and their bikes…
This carrot seller was spotted in the central city of Cienfuegos.
He wasn’t the only one selling food by bike. We encountered this man near Viñales, taking bok choy and spring onions to market on a bicycle that wouldn’t look out of place back home in the Netherlands.
This man was selling apples in Santa Clara.
Even cakes were being transported by bicycle!
Also in the streets of Santa Clara, we saw this lady taking her daughter across town.
She was using a bike seat like this. We saw thousands of these wooden children’s seats on bikes across Cuba.
Wood was also used to create make-do pedals.
Such repairs were probably done by a road-side bike mechanic, like this one in Trinidad.
Or possibly by one of these guys, who were selling bike parts at a market.
They didn’t have anything fancy to sell, but they did have a basic selection of parts including gear cables, bearings and pedals.
Back to people selling (and carrying) things by bike, we were impressed by this very large box on the back rack of a bike in Santa Clara. We don’t think the bike was actually carrying a washing machine – probably the box was filled with something lighter. We often saw such boxes being used to carry multiple loaves of bread, for example.
We also took note of this fellow, who had his hands full as he cycled through Trinidad!
And finally, this Bici Taxi driver showed us how hard he worked for his fare in Havana. We hired him for a ride to a local restaurant and marvelled as he propelled all of us – plus his heavy bicycle – through the traffic.
Kudos to the cyclists of Cuba!