Even on a poor fitting, badly adjusted and questionably maintained bike, cycling can still be enjoyable. Just don't expect maximum performance. The bicycle is the most important means of transportation in Cuba. With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, and the economic crisis that ensued , the Cuban government made available to its citizens several million Chinese-made bicycles. Bicycles outnumber motor vehicles, both on the rural highways and in the cities.
Cuban cyclists are vehicular cyclists.
They act as if they belong, and they are treated as if they belong. Almost everybody I saw respected the rules of the road. The only person I saw riding on a sidewalk was a tourist. I only saw a couple of instances of wrong-way riding in the city of Camaguey and at the one traffic light that I saw, also in Camaguey, all of the cyclists stopped for the red light. Many bike advocates claim that the rules of the road are made for cars, and that in the post-automobile Nirvana that they dream of, such rules would be unnecessary.