4ucycling

Do you think that cycling to work sounds like extra effort, time consuming, dangerous or just plain crazy? Think again! Cycling to work is rewarding in many ways. It's easy to feel nervous and unsure before you get into bike commuting, but by actually taking action and getting on your bike you may find that bike commuting becomes one of the happiest parts of your busy day. To find out how you can benefit by riding to work, let's take a closer look at what you will gain: 1. Save time: You save yourself substantial time if you live in an urban area and work in a city centre. On a bike you pass the traffic instead of sitting in it getting bored, stressed and fed up. You can arrive at your desk, or back home earlier than you would by car. You also save time because you'll have done your fitness for the day. By riding to work you have no excuses to ride back home again, so you get your exercise done for the day and can then enjoy more family time or relax in the even...

So, the last time I hopped on my bike and decided to have a lovely bike to work experience, the adventure was over soon - before it had a chance to actually develop into something long term. It lasted a day. And a sweaty day, full of cycling disappointment it was. Almost three years later I was ready to give it another shot. I was quite happy with my car and congestion adventure until this May and yet another inhuman increase in gas prices. The fact that my colleague from work kept babbling on about all the wonderful benefits of cycling in combination with flashing her lovely cycling legs, just made me more determined to try again. I can do it, damn it! I too, with as little effort as cycling for 20 kilometers to and from work every single day, can have legs like that! Well, needless to say, my adventure began not like any adventure in any of the movies that Hollywood is able to produce. My once lovely little city bike became almost unusable after withering away for almost three ye...

I have a very interesting job title, I'd like to share it with you and talk a little about what I do. I am a strategic cycling officer and infrastructure consultant. Quite a mouthful right? Let me tell you what I do. I go to schools on a Monday (a different school every week) and I leave on a Thursday. On the Monday I hold an assembly with all the kids and teachers and tell them why I'm at school. Basically my job is to make an overall assessment of the school and its surrounding area in terms of its suitability for cycling. I tell the kids that I am here so that more of them can cycle to school. They are on my side. I spend the next few days cycling around the local roads and making reports about the suitability for cycle paths. I also look at the school itself, where can they put more cycle shelters- do they have enough cycle shelters? I liaise with the head of the school and give them information about funding - there is up to £5,000 available in grants for schools that ...

Every year about 300 people are killed on UK roads as a result of a driver falling asleep at the wheel. Driver tiredness accounts for one in five fatal crashes occurring on motorways and other major roads in the UK. Tired driver crashes are three times more likely to result in serious injury or death than other road accidents, because drowsy drivers do not brake or take other avoidance action. These accidents tend to occur most frequently at night, peaking between 2-6am and also in the mid-afternoon, roughly between 3-5 pm. Men, particularly those aged 18-24, are most likely to be involved in these accidents. But statistics also show that some occupations are at particularly high risk: Truck drivers Company car drivers Shift workers, particularly on the first night after a shift Skilled manual workers (e.g. bricklayers, carpenters, electricians) Microsleeps If you are very tired but continue to resist the urge to sleep, you will soon start to experience 'microsleeps...

ecades ago bicycles lost their place as a primary mode of urban transport  in many cities from Los Angeles to Beijing, with a few exceptions such as Copenhagen and Amsterdam. Now, with the boom in bike-sharing, the bicycle is coming back to take its well-deserved role in cities. Unless we screw it up. Since the early 2000s, bike-share systems started to pop up around Europe. China is now  host to most shared bikes thanks to public incentives in last 5 years. Recently, 3 bike-share companies in China, Mobike, Ofo and Bluegogo, have raised collectively $1 billion, igniting a bike-share boom around the country. In most metropolises of China there are now several networks of bike rental providers one can choose from, with tens of thousands of bikes belonging to each. Until only two years ago, bike-sharing was not considered profitable without public subsidies due to expensive technology. However startups like Donkey Republic have managed to change that perception. It is likely...

Smaller Batteries While firms such as Bosch and Shimano are always looking to improve and refine their drive systems, this year’s important e-bike technical developments are more likely to be associated with power sources. Battery size and efficiency is something that’s an important topic for a vast range of modern products — from mobile phones to electric cars — and with the digital consumer hugely reliant on electrical power on the go, battery manufacturers are constantly searching to make theirs smaller, lighter, and hold a bigger charge for longer. In the case of e-bikes that is particularly important because the battery is the main thing that makes pedal-assist models bulky, heavy and obviously different from ‘normal’ bikes. The battery’s ability to hold a charge is also key to an e-bike’s range — effectively regulating how far you can go on your e-bike before it runs out of power. However, one increasingly popular idea is that manufacturers will start shying away from routi...

Cycling Tips Equipment Know-How <<<(FAQ 6 of 12)>>> Back to Tip List Proper Shifting Helps Your Bike Last Longer, Work Better An important shifting rule is to reduce pressure on the pedals during shifts. Modern drivetrains will shift regardless of pedal pressure. But, if you can always ease up a bit, the shifts will be smoother and your chain, cogs and chainrings will last longer. Shift Before Hills The hardest place to ease pedaling, of course, is when you're struggling to get up a steep hill. The trick is to shift before the steep part of the hill so you can make the shift with little pressure on the pedals. Finesse Front Shifts Another thing to remember concerns shifting the front derailleur. You're shifting between chainrings that are significantly different in size. This means that the derailleur has to work hard to move the chain from one to the other. So, the light-pedal-pressure rule really applies here. If you can finesse this shift, yo...

Folding tires (illustration) make a significant difference in handling and ride quality. For example, there's road rubber that uses special materials and construction to improve the suppleness of the tire, resulting in a much smoother ride. And, there are models designed for sky-high pressures, which on Folding tires cost more yet are lighter, easier to remove, and fit in packs and pockets, too!super-smooth surfaces, reduce rolling resistance and assist all-out racing efforts. And all folding tires are lighter for improved climbing and acceleration. Carry A Spare An often-overlooked advantage of these folding road tires is that it's easy to carry a spare. Folders pack small enough to fit in a seat bag, jersey pocket or suitcase (when you travel with your bike). This means that you can easily carry a replacement if you're concerned that one of your tires is ready to fail. Easy On And Off You'll also find that folding tires, both road and dirt models, are usually easier ...

Many cyclists enjoy treating their bike to new equipment even if it doesn't need it. Irrelevant as to what type of bike you have - getting the right saddle is the most important factor in being able to ride comfortably. Sitting on the wrong one can lead to quite an unpleasant experience. Riding style With many choices out there and with very subtle differences to the untrained eye, it can seem confusing which saddle is the one for you. Just like the unique specifications of an individual, a saddle is a unique and personal product. There are many different variations of shapes and sizes that not only fit your riding style, but also the width of your sit bones. Consider your riding style and position on the bike first. Are you sitting upright? Or are you leaning your body towards the front of the bike? Once you know this, it narrows down the selection process. Some saddles have very helpful packaging where it describes its intended riding style, which makes your decision a lot ...

Be rewarded for cycling? That sounds tempting, right? May 2016 sees the launch of the first test phase of Bike Benefit program in Vienna, Graz and Bremen - supported by the Integrated Applications Promotion programme of the European Space Agency (ESA). The participants can cycle their way to great coupons and discounts from local businesses. With this project, Bike Citizens hopes to create incentives to help motivate more people to cycle in the city. How does the Bike Benefit program work? The idea of the Bike Benefit program is as simple, as it is brilliant. How do you get more people to travel by bicycle and also further motivate those who already travel by bicycle to continue doing so for their daily transportation? It’s quite simple: You reward them. The Bike Citizens App serves as the technical foundation. Registered cyclists who cycle with the App can accumulate so-called Finneros, a fictitious currency. If the user of the App, for example, goes on 8 rides in 4 days, then the u...

Finding a bike to take on your daily commute is not that hard, if you keep in mind some basic things. Here you will find five tips that will help you choose your first commuter bike. So, if your last bike ride was twenty years ago and you're trying to figure out how to approach the unfamiliar world of using valuable commuting time to keep yourself in better shape, look no further. 1. Ride Length Matters Knowing the length of your commute could make all the difference in your wallet and your ride comfort. Every three miles or so, the general requirements and goal of your commute will change based on what the length of your ride does to your body and what your bike should be designed to handle. Be aware of cycling conditions in your city and try to accurately gauge how much you’ll be riding throughout the week. If you find yourself riding less than three miles per day, any bike will fit your needs. At six miles your ride comfort will decline without paying special attention to yo...

Diet and exercise fads come and go with few of them creating long lasting benefits. The only way to lose weight and keep it off is by making sustainable lifestyle changes. Professor Gary Foster from the University of Pennsylvania found that sixty-five percent of dieters regain the weight lost within three years. I have long been an advocate of cycling for weight loss. My reasoning is related to the practicality of cycling when compared to other fitness options. It is also worth looking at the latest trends and science in food as exercise only contributes to weight loss while diet plays the central role. As beneficial as it is, our daily commute only makes up a relatively small portion of the day. What we eat and how that affects our metabolism is an ongoing process. Practicalities and benefits of cycling In my experience, cycling is the best form of exercise when it comes to burning energy. Cycling does not burn more energy per unit of time than other activities, but it makes it po...

…you can adopt strategies for general prevention and reduction of conflict in road traffic situations. “Science presents a very useful approach here. It would also be a good way to raise awareness among the general public of the following point. Not every reaction on the part of another road user is necessarily intended in a malicious way,” says Risser. Often, we are unsure how to judge the reactions of our fellow people on the roads. In our uncertainty, we tend to “automatically assume the worst intentions on the part of the other person. This negative tendency presupposes that the other person’s behaviour is wrong, stupid or malicious.” With this type of negative tendency, conflict is then more likely to occur. However, it does not need to be this way. We don’t need to view everything based on this negative tendency. This thought should also be promoted to the public in campaigns. If you make a conscious decision against this negative defensive position, then you are giving yourself...

If you want to travel quicker, diminish those parking worries, save money and the environment then hop on your bike and let the efficiency commence. Want to know how, just take a look at the facts…. Rush hour: You are 5-8mph faster than motorised vehicles Commute by bike in the UK’s major cities and you’ll get there in half the time of other road users. In fact, if you drive in Cardiff’s rush hour, you’ll spend over 30 minutes going absolutely nowhere and average just 7mph, compared to averaging around 12-15mph while cycling. You travel around three times as fast as walking For the same amount of energy and that’s with taking into account the ‘fuel’ (food) you put in your ‘engine’ (stomach), you travel three times faster by bike than by walking. Humans on bikes move more efficiently than any other creature on earth In terms of energy efficiency, on bikes humans have even surpassed natural evolution: to move 1kg of body mass 1km, a cyclist on a normal bike uses only 0.136 calories wh...