And this year BIFA’s trail art installation was particularly impressive…..
Trail Troll- MTB Art
This year Danish artist @thomasdambo created the most awesome thing I’ve seen in a long time on an MTB bike trail (aside from the actual wicked bike trail systems themselves).
A massive Trail Troll made from out of wood from the surrounding forest.
The best part of this part of this Trail Troll?
Hidden inside is a heart-shaped stone the local kids gave the artist when he was building the installation.
And – only those who ride (or walk) up the trail can access the sculpture.
Source: BIFA 2018
For those who want to see it: Start at the trail sign at the east end of the Northern parking lot and walk up the trail to stairs. At the top of the stairs take a left and then a right onto Moonstone Trail and hike up the trail for 20-30 minutes.
The Trail Troll installation, BIFA and @breckcreate collectively, are brilliant models of how the trail using community (riders, walkers and others) can collaborate with industries to extend and innovative tourism, sustainability and public/arts opportunities and access.
It is a unique meshworking and celebration of all things active, outdoors and creative.
Inspired by themes of environment and mountain culture, the Breckenridge International Festival of Arts brings together a variety of performances, installations, exhibitions, screenings, workshops, talks, and surprise collaborations, with an eclectic mix of music, theatre, film, visual and street arts, and family entertainment.
BIFA 2018 was held August 9-19th.
The festival’s key themes are:
Music & Performance
Visual Arts
Multidisciplinary
Film and Cinematic Arts
Contemporary Circus
Acoustic Flow
Workshops, Talks and Demos
….and most importantly for MTBers- the TRAIL MIX program!
Source: BIFA 2018
What is the BIFA Trail Mix?
Trail Mix combines art, music, hiking and biking along the trails of Breckenridge through free outdoor concerts and environmental installations, featuring pop-up performances throughout BIFA. Featuring artworks by Nicole Banowetz, Thomas Dambo and Edina Tokodi. Co-presented with Breckenridge Music Festival.
The Trail Troll was a key part of this year’s Trail Mix Offering.
So if you are in the area – grab your bike and get on Moonstone Trail to check it out.
For those who are not in Colorado – perhaps the Trail Troll will fire up the imagination and action for an installation for your local trail.
How easily we forget or disregard that which is not part of our immediate daily experience….like the plight of elephants.
Elephant populations have declined by 62% over the last decade, with 24,000 Elephants poached last year in Africa alone.
Sunday (August 12th) was World Elephant Day 2018.
To celebrate the majestic elephant – and as a reminder that just because we don’t see them every day – much still needs to be done for those elephants still left.
So, here are a few ways that cyclists are progressing elephant conservation, both off and on the bike.
Source: Ride a Bike not an Elephant
Ride a bike, not an elephant – Khatsahlano Street Party
One way to show support off the bike is by wearing a t-shirt like one of these below, which comes from annual Khatsahlano Street Party.
This event had local bands, artisans, food trucks, and giveaways. The T-shirt featured here was a key part of the event fundraising campaign to protect elephants from the unethical tourism industry. 100% of the net profit of these T-shirts went to free an abused elephant to a sanctuary in Asia.
Source: Bring the Elephant back home
Bike for Elephants 2018
‘Bike for Elephants’ is a 2-day charity bike tour arranged as part of the Dutch group Bring the elephant back home group. This bike ride is in eastern Thailand and the cost of participation goes towards innovative wild elephant conservation projects. This ride is promoted as an adventure and fun biking trip through the mountains and plantations and through forests in Chantaburi Province.
Cost includes safety instructions, a t-shirt, overnight stay, mountain bike rental, helmet, all meals and drinks. Also included are opportunities to meet the research team, see live elephants and new conservation techniques (like the beehive fences) in action and being part of an experience that is a one-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Source: Spreadshirt
So what’s all the fuss?
Elephants are amazing creatures.
Green Global Travel’s website is focused on drawing attention to the challenge elephants face – and goes on to state that:
In the early 1900s African Elephant populations were estimated to be in the millions, while there were around 100,000 Asian Elephants. According to World Wildlife Fund, today there are around 700,000 African Elephants in the wild, and just 32,000 Asian Elephants.
In 1989, CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) banned the international ivory trade. Yet poaching for ivory has been steadily increasing, with 800,000 African elephants killed over the last three decades.
In addition to poaching, habitat loss and conflict with human populations are key threats facing Elephant populations. Climate change projections suggest key Elephant habitat will become hotter and drier, so poor foraging conditions may threaten the survival of more calfs in the future.
So sometime this week, take at least one small step to support elephant rescue and conservation – and show the world that cyclists are connected and care about our world – both on and off the bike.
And next time you’re riding with cycling buddies, here’s a few other interesting elephant facts you can share…
Elephants are incapable of jumping, but these massive mammals can run at a maximum speed of 25 miles (40 km) per hour.
Elephants, like people, have a ‘prefered side’ of using their tusks: Some are “lefties,” others are “righties.” They’ll favor that tusk when fighting other Elephants, picking things up, or stripping leaves and bark off trees. Because of constant usage, their preferred tusk gets shorter over time.
The elephant’s trunk (called a proboscis) contains 16 muscles.
Elephants have incredibly poor digestion, with only 50% efficiency. As a result, they release an incredible amount of gas (methane) and produce around 250 pounds of manure a day!
Elephant skin is over an inch thick. But because it’s loaded with nerve endings, their skin is also highly sensitive. Elephants from the same herd will often use touch to greet each other, either wrapping their trunks around each other or giving each other friendly “hello” taps on the body.
A big thanks to Papa Al for passing on this inspiring story to share! NG.
There can be few better examples of where bicycles create more positive community change than through the bicycle work of Bernard Kiawia.
Bernard Kiwia started out as a bike mechanic in his home country of Tanzania.
While repairing bicycles, he began applying his skills to use pedal power to create products and tools that directly improve to the lives of people in his community.
In 2011, Bernard made a bicycle-powered cellphone charger (see below).
Bernard is now a well-respected social entrepreneur – and bikes still feature prominently in many of his new inventions.
His current work is now focused on applying his (and other people’s) mechanical and technical skills towards addressing manual labour and technology issues in his area.
What we want to show people is they have skills to make their own technology that they can afford, they can repair, they can find the spare parts that they need
With local people, their income is always small and the kind of machines you can buy in the shop are not made for these local people because they’re expensive. That’s why I’m focusing on local.
I create technologies because I realise it’s something that can help my family and the community.
Source: Twende-tanzania.org
Twende – Accelerating Social Innovation
Bernard established Twende, which is a community inventor’s workshop. Twende is a creative workspace for people to come and use tools, problem solve ideas and experiment with making prototypes.
In this way, Twende functions similarly to a Men’s Shed, as it is an open workspace that has tools, resources and people there to support projects.
It also runs three workshop streams
1. Creative Capacity Workshop -entry-level workshops for any level.
Affordable Flashlight (~6 hours)
Automatic Switch (~7 hours)
Solar-Powered Phone Charger (~10 hours)
2. Built It Workshops – mechanically-focused workshops which include:
Spirit Stove (~3 hours)
Bottle Opener (~2 hours)
Electronics Workshop for secondary schools
A few of the Build Its Workshops are also integrated into some schools electronics curriculum.
3. Advanced Offerings – requires some advanced skills and tools (like welding)
Drip Irrigation
Bicycle-Powered Maize Sheller
So far, over 800 local innovators have used Twende, of which most are secondary school students, small-holder farmers, women, and microentrepreneurs.
Bicycles are ubiquitous and versatile (especially as a means to produce energy-efficient power) so it is not surprising that they feature in many of Twende’s inventions.
Source: Flickr Erik (HASH) Hersman
The Twende innovation hub was established as a space to “collaborate with students and community members in Tanzania to identify their challenges and design & create their own solutions to their problems will contribute to a world with improved access to technologies that improve people’s lives, a stronger local economy, and a nation of innovators and problem-solvers.”
are designed with (not just for) communities & partners
…and they make some of their own inventions for use and sale as well
Source: BBC News 1 Video
Twende is such an important grassroots social venture.
It fosters creative ingenuity, recycling, upskilling, empowers local skills, is cost-effective and addresses locally-identified issues – as well as providing a welcoming space for people to test mechanical and technical ideas that have an immediate positive impact.
And all this grew out of one man’s exploration of how a bike could make work and life better – awesome!
Nina Ginsberg and Dale Bracewell (Manager of Transportation Planning. City of Vancouver, Canada).
Recently I attended a very interesting event hosted by BikePedTrans. It was a presentation by Dale Bracewell, Manager of Transportation Planning for the City of Vancouver.
Vancouver has a particular sustainable and social interaction angle for its urban improvements that has created incredible positive change towards biking and active transportation – to a point where Vancouver is an exemplary urban cycling role model almost without rival.
As a bike enthusiast, this is very exciting! I wanted to hear more!
So here’s a quick overview of Dale’s session. It was called ‘FromaTrickletoaStream: Achieving a Major Bike Mode Shift in Canada’.
Ambitious Plans: Achieving a Major Bike Mode Shift in Vancouver
In 1997, Vancouver’s Transportation Plan identified there would be no increase in road capacity for cars and that walking, cycling and transit would be prioritised.
It also set an active travel mode share target of 40% to be achieved by 2008.
Significant progress has since been achieved and the plan was updated in 2012 that increased the targets even more – to 66% of all travel to be via walking bike or PT transit by 2040.
Remarkably, Vancouver achieved these goals well ahead of time – whereby 50% of travel set for 2020 was actually achieved by 2015.
Implementation of an impressive protected bike lane network and an Active Transportation Promotion & Enabling Plan saw daily cycling trips in Vancouver increase to over 50% from 2013 to 2016.
Vancouver’s vision is to support happy and health living by inspiring and enabling people of all ages and abilities to walk or cycle as their prefered way of getting around Vancouver.
Vancouver’s mission is to be leaders and partners in creating and promoting a world-class Active Transporation network in Vancouver.
Vancouver is looking beyond transport and mobility as the foundation for their Active Transportation policy. Their focus addresses and prioritises other eco-socio-cultural dimensions of urban living, to include health, safety, accessibility, economy, public life, environment and resiliency.
Vancouver has 5 Key Cycling Directions:
Upgrade and expand the bike network with routes that are comfortable and convenient
Improve integration with other modes, including via public bike share
Provide secure and abundant paring and end-of-trip facilities
Focus on education and safety
Promote cycling as an everyday option
The implementation principles for Vancouver’s Active Transportation Promotion & Enabling Plan are:
Think Big Picture
Be Opportunistic
Work Together
Invest Wisely
Innovate
Learn and Adapt
Data and Monitoring is key to everything!
Monitoring is key to tracking changes, recording data and observing trends. It is also imperative as evidence to prove positive changes and to encourage (stubborn?) politicians and administrators to act on increasing active transportation.
Vancouver’s monitoring program is impressive. Dale said a number of times that ‘you need to love the data!’. For example, evidence on the time spent sitting and being sedentary can be used to demonstrate causal impacts on health and physical activity outcomes. Dale also stressed the importance of female participation rates as an indicator of achievement of all ages design. Collect data and use it as evidence of success and to justify future initiatives.
What were some of the most interesting ideas?
Dale’s presentation was filled with interesting facts, ideas, learnings, suggestions and insights about Vancouver’s 2040 Transport Plan for biking. There was so much that was interesting, more than I can share here (contact Dale for more!). A quick review of some of the most interesting ideas include:
All ages and all abilities design – the end goal is for all Vancouver cycling infrastructure to all AAA standard. What a great idea!
Must have solid policy backing. Policy needs to recognise and drive issues that are broader than just mobility, for example, safety, health, accessibility, housing affordability, liveability and environment.
High-frequency mass transit is critical in shifting more locals towards using active transportation modes and away from private vehicles. To achieve this, having a minimum grid, forward-thinking strategic decision making and close consultations with stakeholders were key to building interest and momentum.
This presentation was the first time I heard the term ‘conversational bike lanes’ as a way to describe the width of a bike lane. This is used to describe how some bike lanes need to be wider in some places where two bike riders can ride alongside each other (to chat conversationally) as well as having room for one rider coming in the opposite direction (as opposed to just one bike width going both directions). What a lovely ‘social’ way of understanding bike lane usability.
It was inspiring to hear from Dale what could be achieved with political will and a clear strategic vision. What a brilliant model for other cities – a bikable city is achievable.
I am sure I was not the only one in the audience thinking why/how Brisbane could get to this same kind of state.
A trip to Vancouver anyone?
Twitter: @Dale_Bracewell
All images my own and/or from Dale Bracewell’s PPT presentation.
Today is Nelson Mandela’s centenary commemoration.
If he was alive today, it would be a very Happy 100th Birthday.
Nelson (Madiba) Rolihlahla Mandela was born July 18th 1918 and died aged 95, five years ago on December 5th 2013.
Internationally, Nelson Mandela was well-respected and admired for his courage, honesty and integrity.
He was a family man, a lawyer, a politician – and most memorably (and as best expressed in the immortal words of Rage Against the Machine), he was a ‘Renegade of Funk‘, whose philosophy and action unequivocally changed the course of history.
Equality, human rights, education and freedom were key fundamental principles that underpinned Mandela’s work.
Mandela was an incredibly eloquent man – and has left us with a bounty of inspirational and humbling quotes like:
“The purpose of freedom is to create it for others.”
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
“As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.”
Freedom Ride
The Freedom Ride was a social everyone-is-welcome 35kms bike ride that celebrates the spirit and legacy of Nelson Mandela – as well as to raise awareness about cycle safety, and bicycles as a form of transport and recreation.
The first Freedom Ride was held in 2013 and from what I can see online, it had a good turn out for a few years. The original route linked together the communities of Johannesburg and Soweto, which were historically divided by apartheid.
So I went online to see what was happening for this year.
There are many Freedom Rides online, but they are for other issues, like human trafficking, homelessness and abandoned animals. Some are on bikes, some are on motorbikes, but none were ones I was looking for.
I wondered if this had anything to do with the unfortunate 2014 official event t-shirt fiasco.
In 2014, the event T-shirt had one of Mandela’s famous quotes on the back. However, 5,000 of the official T-shirts had a serious misprint/typo: the word “freedom” it was instead “freedoom’.
Oh dear.
This meant 5,000 of the T-shirts (see below) read:
“The purpose of freedoom is to create it for others.”
I am pretty sure that oxymoron is NOT what Mandela meant.
Source: AP/New York Press
But I doubt a typo is why there is no 2018 Freedom Ride.
Freedom Ride aside, today is the day to celebrate Nelson Mandela.
I am going on my own Commemorative Mandela Freedom Bike Ride!
For my ride, I will be pausing and reflecting on the legacy, courage and change that Mandela stood for and achieved.
I will be thinking about Mandela’s principles, hopes and actions and how I can use them to create more positive change in the world – one ride, one day, and/or one action at a time.
I see it as our global challenge to continue what Mandela started.
In Afghanistan, many children do not go to school. Literacy and school are especially limited in the rural areas, where distance and a lack of access and resources mean that education is unrealistic for many families who live in villages where the closest school is 3 hours away.
Education is paramount to reducing poverty and increasing quality of life.
One local, Saber Hosseini is trying to rectify this.
Every weekend, Saber loads up his ‘bicycle library’ and travels to six surrounding rural villages to share his library so that the locals (who have no access to books) can learn to read and have an opportunity to read.
Adding to this, Afghanistan has a mountainous geography and vast tracks of barren land, which make travel to school impossible. Even if travel was possible, so many schools were destroyed and education was so severely restricted, that rural children from remote villages were forced to drop out.
The Afghani teacher who bicycles books to rural villages
Saber has been riding his bicycle library since 2016. Saber bought his first 200 books with fundraising support from his friends and local literary circles.
Saber had to travel to the Iranian border to buy most of the books as previously, most publications, literature and books were essentially forbidden.
Over the years, Saber has been supported by friends and local volunteers – as well as people overseas. Now his library has 3,500 books and Saber has since been able to open the first ever public library in Bamiyan.
Reports are that literacy rates in the area are rising as a direct result of Saber’s bicycle library.
At the start, the books were simple, but now, more advanced titles have been added as local reading rates have improved.
The library is now so accepted and popular within these communities, that adults are coming to use the library and are borrowing advanced level children’s books.
Saber uses the opportunity to talk to the locals about peace, avoiding drugs, and being more understanding of different people’s beliefs, lifestyles, culture and choices.
The following story about Saber is from the Global Citizen: One time, Saber spoke to children about guns, and used the slogan:
“Say no to guns, Say yes to books.”
The next time he returned to the same village, the children collected all of their toy guns and handed them over to Saber.
This was a heartwarming gesture, but the kids wanted to bargain: they would forfeit their guns if they could be the first village in the next round of book deliveries so that they could get the first pick.
Saber has brought joy to many communities, but there are costs to his endeavor. He has received many threats and many have opposed his caring works.
Even still, Saber continues to make room for the opportunity to learn. A library is more than just a pile of books, it is also a community of individuals willing to learn and discuss and grow
“When I hand the books out to them, I can see their excitement and joy,” Hosseini said. “It is the joy of being able to learn. I am also inspired.”
Below is a video about Saber’s bicycle library.
High Stakes: Girls’ Education in Afghanistan
Saber’s efforts are particularly important given that illiteracy is a major issue in rural Afghanistan.
A recent Joint NGO Briefing Report of Girls Education in Afghanistan entitled High Stakes: Girls’ Education in Afghanistanreports that female education has faced significant obstacles in Afghanistan, yet there have been enormous gains since 2001. Under the Taliban, the majority of girls’ schools were closed and gross enrollment fell from 32% to just 6.4%.
The report also states that:
Female students have high aspirations for their educational achievement.
Many schools do not have the infrastructure needed to provide a quality education.
Poverty was seen as the single biggest obstacle to girls’ access to education. Poverty as a major barrier to girls attending school.
Poverty is also linked to early or forced marriage, which is an additional major obstacle to girls’ education.
The number of available female teachers is insufficient to meet demand.
Availability of education is insufficient to meet demand.
Distance, along with attendance in mixed classes or interaction with male teachers, becomes increasingly problematic as girls approach adolescence, when cultural norms regulating their behaviour become more restrictive.
Decision-making around whether or not girls go to school, and for how long, is complex and extremely varied from province to province and even household to household.
The World Bank’s 2017 Poverty Status Update Report on the socioeconomic progress in Afghanistan, indicates that the last 15 years of growth in Afghanistan is now being undermined by a recent rise in insecurity.
Let’s hope Saber keeps riding his bike, sharing books and helping others – and that his commitment inspires others to do the same.
All Images: Now This/The Daily Motion (video still) unless otherwise indicated.
Plastic is a systemic global issue. As a local Morton Bay rider, I regularly see first-hand the terrible environmental and sealife impact of plastic pollution in our oceans and waterways.
I hope that cyclists and bike riders are active role models – both on AND off the bike – for their families, teams and communities of individuals who are taking positive steps to address the plastic pollution problem.
What do you do as a bike rider to promote a more sustainable, plastic-free future?
Garbage covers the beach days after an extended storm hit the shoreline of Zouq Mosbeh, north of Beirut, Lebanon, on January 22, 2018. Environmentalists say the winter storm pushed a wave of trash onto Lebanese shores, stirring outrage over a waste-management crisis that has choked the country since 2015. Image: Hussein Malla- AP
Plastic pollution is a major social and environmental issue.
There is a growing global awareness of the collective action now needed to deal with the amount of plastic that already exists, and greater pressure for people to take more immediate and direct personal and community responsibility to reduce current single-use (and use in general) plastics.
This week was a perfect case in point, with two major international commemorative dates spotlighting the growing worldwide plastic issue.
June 5th was World Environment Day. The theme this year was ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’. For me, the most compelling evidence for World Environment Day came from a series of photos curated by Alan Taylor, (some of which are shown here) which details the disturbing importance, scope and severity of impacts of plastics in various places around the world.
Then, a few days later, on June 8th, it was World Ocean Day. The focus was again was on plastics – but this time on preventing plastic pollution and encouraging solutions for healthier oceans.
Plastic items float atop a garbage-filled creek in Manila, Philippines, on May 12, 2018. Image: Noel Celis AFP
Beat Plastic Pollution – on your bike.
So what has plastics got to do with cycling and bike riding?
A few cyclists have really taken this issue to heart
In her article for Adventurers Against Plastic, Helen Taylor showcased a number of athlete/activists who are working to raise awareness and clean up of plastics. Of these, there are two cyclists from London who are combining their creativity, ingenuity and love of cycling to tackle the plastic issue head-on. Here is what Helen said about the two bike-inspired eco-projects:
1. Dave Cornthwaite.
Dave is the founder of London-based social enterprise SayYesMore, has organised a 1,000-mile community relay along England’s rivers and canals, where a different person each day will ride a specially-made aquatic bicycle whilst removing plastic rubbish from waterways.
He aims to remove one million pieces of rubbish in 25 counties engaging youth groups, schools, and local clean-up initiatives along the way and says: “All in all, not one group, individual or project can solve all aspects of the issue, but it takes a communal mindset to instigate change. Using an innovative adventure relay to get more people outside will help with this – ultimately if people don’t walk or paddle along rivers they don’t care about what’s going on there. If they see for themselves bottles and crisp packets floating alongside wildlife, they’re more likely to take action.”
Images: Emma Karembo Taylor & Tanya Noble
2. Dhruv Boruah.
Dhruv is also using a quirky handmade bamboo waterbike to solve the plastic crisis at the source. As part of his Thames Project, Dhruv has been engaging the public in the issue by using his eye-catching waterbike contraption to collect plastic litter.
Dhruv realises that reactive cleaning isn’t the solution to the problem, but sees the project as an educational process: “Cleaning up is a good way of showing people what’s in the canal, it’s a good way to get people involved, when they come and see what’s in the canal they go back home and think twice – adventure activists need to go in and interact with local communities, engage with them and get them out in their spaces and on the waterways.”
Dhruv has also been lobbying policymakers – environmental charities, London councils and the Mayor of London’s office, the BBC, and large supermarket chains – to encourage them to change their single-use plastic habits, as well as promoting a circular economy.
Images: Adventure Uncovered & Canal Boat.com
Such bicycle projects are admirable.
But not all cyclists need to go to such lengths to take action.
I like to think that my fellow cyclists make their own regular and impactful contributions to improving the environment and reduce plastic waste.
This may be making your own power snacks that forge the copious amounts of packaging used in gel packs, to picking up pieces of rubbish during a ride where possible and putting them in the bin at the cafe at the end of a ride. Seemingly small actions like these are not only needed and necessary, but also demonstrate that cyclists are taking definitive action to reduce plastic pollution.
So next time you are out riding, think about one easy step you are comfortable that will help to reduce plastic dependency and that shows cyclists and bike riders actively care for our beautiful environs.
May all your rides be plastic reduced!
Garbage covers the beach days after an extended storm hit the shoreline of Zouq Mosbeh, north of Beirut, Lebanon, on January 22, 2018. Environmentalists say the winter storm pushed a wave of trash onto Lebanese shores, stirring outrage over a waste-management crisis that has choked the country since 2015. Image: Hussein Malla- APSource: @RedTRaccoonA black-footed albatross chick with plastics in its stomach lies dead on Midway Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands on November 2, 2014. The remote atoll is a delicate sanctuary for millions of seabirds. Midway sits amid a collection of human-made debris called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Along the paths of Midway, there are piles of feathers with rings of plastic in the middle—remnants of birds that died with the plastic in their guts. Each year the agency removes about 20 tons of plastic and debris that wash ashore from surrounding waters. Image: Dan Clark
I hope you, your bike and your riding mates had a great day yesterday.
I had an awesome time riding Leki ALL DAY!
Leki and I cruised around our local neighbourhood, caught up with friends, locals and other riders. In fact, I rode so much that I ended up loosing my voice and was quite tender the next day. Success!
Ride more, be happy, get fit, enjoy the outdoors and build positive community!
Leki & I went for a number of rides on World Bike Day. We ended our last ride looking out over Morton Bay. Stunning!
devote particular attention to the bicycle in cross-cutting development strategies and to include the bicycle in international, regional, national and subnational development policies and programmes;
encourage improvements in road safety and integrate it into sustainable mobility and transport infrastructure planning and design, in particular through policies and measures to actively protect and promote pedestrian safety and cycling mobility, with a view to broader health outcomes, particularly the prevention of injuries and non-communicable diseases;
encourage stakeholders to emphasize and advance the use of the bicycle as a means of fostering sustainable development, strengthening education, including physical education, for children and young people, promoting health, preventing disease, promoting tolerance, mutual understanding and respect and facilitating social inclusion and a culture of peace;
Encourages the adoption of best practices and means to promote the bicycle among all members of society, and in this regard welcomes initiatives to organize bicycle rides at the national and local levels as a means of strengthening physical and mental health and well-being and developing a culture of cycling in society.
Source: UN Photo/Andre Istria
There were many events locally and internationally celebrated World Bicycle Day.
Below are three places – one in Australia (Adelaide, South Australia) and two international (India and Denmark), that caught my eye this year.
RADelaide (Adelaide, South Australia).
I have a particular place in my heart for biking and Adelaide. It is a city that has an unwaviering passion for cycling – as well as being stunningly beautiful and having some of the freindliest locals I’ve met (and all of them were bike crazy!)
So I was interested to see what Adelaide did for WBD 2018.
The Port Adelaide Bicycle Users Group (PortBUG), celebrated World Bike Day 2018 with a BISA/Bike SA Community Ride from Victoria Park to Elder Park. This event had several hundred bicyclists turned up all ready to celebrate in style as you can see below…
In India, it was the politicians getting involved to celebrate World Bicycle Day.
In New Dehli, Vice President Naidu (below on the bike) said that “cycling is the best and cheapest form of exercise to keep ourselves healthy and people must be encouraged to adopt such environment-friendly mode of transport.”
One of the local newspapers, the Daily Kiran reported that VP Naidu addressed “a gathering of cyclists and environmentalists after inaugurating the Bicycle Rally and NDMC’s Smart Cycle Station for Public Bike Sharing on the occasion.
He said that the campaign to promote the use of bicycle must be taken up on a sustained basis and it should not be confined to a ritualistic exercise on the World Bicycle Day”.
Source: Daily World. New Delhi: Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu unveils the Smart Cycle on the occasion of World Bicycle Day 2018. Also attending is Harsh Vardhan, the Union Minister for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences and Environment, Forest & Climate Change.
Denmark
Copenhagen and Amsterdam are well known for consistently being the top two cities in the world for cycling. Both capital cities are considered to be the benchmark that other places look to for ways to improve urban cycling planning, infrastructure and participation.
This fun fact-filled video released for World Bicycle Day 2018 by Visit Demark servers not only as an inspiration to aspire towards, but also as a wonderful promotion for the best that urban cycling can offer. Here’s to hoping…(*sigh*)!
However you chose to celebrate it
I hope you had a fun first ever World Bicycle Day!
Regular readers of this blog know that I have a particular love of the night sky. Each night before bed, I take my dog Zoe for a walk under the heavens to get my daily/nightly quota of starlight.
For me, this is as equally important as the recommended necessity of daytime sunlight.
This blog has posted on a range of fun (and often unexpected) ways that bicycles and our solar system are connected.
There were many ‘stargazing parties’ across Australia and you needed to have been registered to have been ‘counted’ in the attempt. Brisbane had a massive contingency on the night in the heart of town – and it was great to see so many locals out to support it.
So, in celebration of this amazing feat – here’s a quick look at one way that bicycles are used in space.
Astronauts’ bodies have to withstand a zero-gravity environment. While in space, they often lose between 1 to 2 percent of their bone mass each month, so they have to exercise regularly to keep tone and mass.
On the International Space Station, astronauts are advised to exercise between 90 to 120 minutes every 24 hours (more than on Earth) to maintain fitness in zero-gravity. In order to achieve this, cycling is one of the most popular exercise choices for astronauts.
The astronauts use a purpose space-built stationary bicycle to use. The video below features Astronaut Doug Wheelock explaining the features and equipment used for cycling while on board the International Space Station. (Forward the video to 4’30” if you want to skip the explanation and go straight to the cycle harness demo. NG).
And a few other random ways bicycles and space come together…
Happy news for cyclists – a few weeks go in Brussels, the UN declared:
June 3rd is World Bicycle Day!
Previously, countries have independently self-initiated a day to celebrate the humble bicycle, but following a passionate and very well researched campaign lead by the World Cycling Alliance (WCA) and the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF), on 12th April, 2018, at the 72nd Regular Session of the UN General Assembly, full consensus and support of the 193 UN member states was reached.
This is a great win for cycling, bicycles and riding worldwide.
Just in the nick of time – June 3rd is fast approaching!
I am actually surprised that it took so long for the UN to recognise the significant value and positive impacts that bicycles have in relation to progressing local and global economic, environmental, health and sustainability priorities. Especially considering some of the other ‘International Day of the …’ that have been officially recognised by the UN for a long time.
April 18th – International Day for Monuments and Sites
May 2nd – World Tuna Day
June 16th – International Day of Family Remittances
Sept 30th – World Translation Day
Nov 21st – World Television Day
Yup – the bicycle is now up there with only the best!
How did it happen?
It took two and half years of persistent advocacy headed up by the WCA and the ECF and the production of a report detailing how amazing bicycles are.
Bike Europe reported that “We are extremely happy with this declaration,” said Dr Bernhard Ensink, Secretary General of the World Cycling Alliance (WCA) and the European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) who campaigned for a UN-designated World Bicycle Day since 2016.
“Cycling is a source for social, economic and environmental benefits – and it is bringing people together. This UN declaration is an acknowledgement of the contribution of cycling to the sustainable development goals.”
Sustainability
WCA and ECF delivered a document to the UN in 2015 in which it is shown that cycling delivers directly on at least 12 of the 17 sustainable development goals, titled ‘Cycling Delivers on the Global Goals!’.
The declaration invites all Member States and relevant stakeholders to celebrate and promote awareness of the World Bicycle Day. The declaration encourages Member States to devote particular attention to the bicycle in cross-cutting development strategies and to include the bicycle in international, regional, national and subnational development policies and programs.
H.E. Ambassador, Aksoltan Ataeva, Permanent Representative of Turkmenistan to the United Nations, introduced the draft resolution, co-sponsored by 56 countries, to the General Assembly for the vote.
Cycling Delivers on the Global Goals
The Cycling Delivers on the Global Goals report is a very thoughtful, infromative and easy read.
It highlights main areas where bicycles contribute significantly to progressing Global Sustainable Development Goals.
The European Cyclists Federation state that: the Global Goals, as stipulated in the preamble of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), seek to realize the human rights of all. Cycling is already delivering on these goals worldwide, and this is a good reason to invest more in cycling. Making transportation more sustainable is of critical importance for humanity and the planet.
Moreover, active mobility is a human right on all scales – including the right to cycle. Governments at all levels should provide safe access to public space, protect those that walk and cycle, and ensure – through mobility – equal participation in society.
Hooray!
Bicycles really do create change!
Viva la Bici!
Put this auspicious date in your diary.
Time to organise something awesome on two wheels for June 3rd to celebrate! See you there!!
All images: Cycling Delivers on the Global Goals Report (2016)
