4ucycling

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...

The bike-share industry is exploding and for good reason. Bicycles are essential to solving a persistent, everyday problem, traffic. My – call it bold – prediction is that bike-share companies will eventually become bigger than car-based services such as Uber. This, however, depends highly on getting the regulatory framework for bike-share systems right. Bicycles will win because in the trafficless future of liveable, sustainable cities only a few will afford or want to drive a car every day. Infrastructure will favor the majority, cyclists, and self-driving cars will make streets safer for biking. Bicycles will win, and bike-shares will play a key role as they allow for better modal integration, especially for the rail and bike combination. The venture capital world has finally woken up to the potential of bike-sharing. So far Ofo and Mobike have each raised upwards of $500 million. The remaining 30+ bike-share startups, including the one I’m co-founder of, Donkey Republic, have a...

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...

Once you've rounded up the essentials (helmet, pump, seat pack, patch kit, spare tube, tire levers, mini tool, cycling shorts, gloves, jersey, shoes/pedals), these accessories will make your cycling even more enjoyable. Floor pump: The frame pump (often called a "mini-pump") is essential for emergencies on the road and trail, but for everyday use you'll want a floor pump. It'll make short work of airing your tires and save wear and tear on the frame pump. Cyclo-computer: One of the joys of cycling is being able to cover lots of ground and a cyclo-computer can tell you how far, how fast and how long you've ridden. Some even have extra functions such as heart rate, cadence (how fast you're pedaling), altitude, and temperature. There are wireless models for a super clean installation too. Vehicle (car) rack: The trails or roads you bike aren't always riding distance away, so you may want a rack designed to easily and safely transport your bike on yo...

Get the right bike for you If you are new to cycling, you will probably want to start with a bike that is fairly stable and easy to ride. Mountain bikes are great for beginners because they have fairly wide wheels and a good range of gears. Racers or road bikes have much thinner wheels and are built for speed. You will need to keep a careful eye on the road or path ahead. Potholes or large cracks in the surface of the road are more likely to knock you off a racer bike than a sturdy mountain bike. Many people find hybrids or commuter bikes a good compromise between speed and stability. Frames come in many different sizes and you should try and get one appropriate for you. Your seat should be high enough so your legs can completely straighten. This helps with your pedalling efficiency. Make sure you can be seen Black is definitely not the best colour to wear when you are riding, as it makes you the same colour as the road. You are at increased risk of being hit by a car if the drive...

Vintage bikes, especially steel racing and track bikes, have always had their fans and collectors. In the 2000's, a new generation of riders have also taken interest in owning, collecting and in the best case, riding these beautiful machines as an everyday commute or in events like L´Eroica or Tweed Rides. If you consider buying a vintage racer for yourself, make sure you are spending your money on the right one. What makes a vintage racer valuable? Some collectors favour nothing but handcrafted bikes that were manufactured only by the dozens to low hundreds. Bikes made by the master builders like Ugo De Rosa, Faliero Masi and Ernesto Colnago are some of the most sought after in the world. These bikes will probably retain their resale value the best in the long run. Other icons like Cinelli, Colnago, Pinarello, Peugeot and Gios are very desirable brands among buyers, even though some or all of their models were mass-manufactured in great numbers. Complete bikes usually cost mor...

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...

The bicycle was invented in Mannheim over 200 years ago: the draisine, a velocipede. Since then the bicycle has experienced a revolution, also with regard to social development. It all started with the eruption of a volcano: the climate changed; harvests failed and many horses – which in those days were not only used in farming but also served as a means of transport for people and goods – starved to death. Without these animals life became even more difficult than it already was. Then Karl Freiherr von Drais had an idea: In 1817 he invented the draisine, which was supposed to replace the horse but was so expensive that the majority of the population were unable to afford one. For a long while after the invention of the velocipede nothing much changed. Not until the beginning of the 1860s, when Pierre Michaux began developing bicycles with pedals. Michaux presented his invention in Paris at The International Exposition of 1867. It was an out-and-out success. Only the well-to-do bourgeo...

Catherine, you prefer a bike as your means of transport. Why? A bike is a fast and inexpensive way of getting around. And it does me good to get a bit of exercise after uni, for example. I save on going to the gym and it’s fun. What do you like most about cycling? What I like best about cycling in the city is getting from A to B quickly. There’s no waiting, unlike with public transport. With the bike, I don’t have to worry how many minutes I have to wait for the tram. I just ride off. And when I go cycling at home (I’m actually from the countryside), it’s a great contrast. Especially in summer, when I want to ride to the lake or along the river. And if you had a choice, which city would be your favourite for cycling? Hmm … maybe somewhere in Iceland. I think Iceland’s great. Where I wouldn’t feel safe as a cyclist would be in Los Angeles or Barcelona. LA isn’t for cyclists who want to get to their destination in less than three hours. The promenade along the beach in Santa Monica ...