This week is a big week in the cycling year, as we’re sure most of you will know! This week’s round-up features:
The top image is from the European Cyclists’ Federation’s Facebook page, and is the best inspiration we’ve seen for a while for a revamp of the Ride25 offices!
The biggest event in the cycling calendar has arrived. This year’s Tour began yesterday, with stage 1 seeing cyclists riding from Mont-Saint-Michel to Utah Beach.
If you’re familiar with the Tour then you’l know what excitement lies in store over the next few weeks. If not, take a look at the beginners’ guide to the tour that The Guardian put together, or their team by team guide – both make for informative reading.
Highlights of the day:
This video from VelonCC captures the atmosphere of the event nicely, and features on-board footage from various riders’ bikes.
If, like us, reading about the Tour makes you itch for a(nother?) new bike, but you’re having trouble convincing spouses / relatives / friends that you need one, then you’ll appreciate this ‘New Bike Excuse Generator’.
If you click the image it’ll pause and, sort of like a Magic 8 Ball, give you a prophetic justification to buy some new wheels. The image comes from a post on Reddit by user Buzkazz.
In an exciting technological development, a Dutch company called SolaRoad has built a section of bike lane covered entirely in a surface that absorbs energy from the sun and converts it to electricity. Their ambitious aim is for this pilot test of the technology to yield results impressive enough to convince councils and governments around the world to incorporate it into their infrastructure.
The video below captures the enthusiasm of the company nicely, while briefly explaining how it works:
What do you think of this technology? Could it work, or is it far too ambitious? Let us know in the comments below!
Germany is implementing another ositive step in the direction of more, and more efficient, cycling.
The ‘bicycle autobahn’ they’re planning to build will connect 10 cities and remove an estimated 50,000 cars from the road each day, and was inspired by the huge amount of cyclists and walkers who took the opportunity to travel along a closed section of motorway in 2010.
The route is ambitions: it will be 13ft wide, closed to cars, fully lit, cleared of snow in winter, and will include tunnels and flyovers to reduce the amount of intersections.
We also read on Citylab about the East Coast Greenway in America. This is an in-progress route that connects communities along the country’s east coast. Currently ~850 miles are complete; eventually the route will cover around 3000 miles of America, traversing 450 communities and 15 states.
It’s exciting to see the scope and variety of the various cycle routes being developed around the world!
Canadian news outlet CBC has written a satirical report about a fictional employee who has been taking all possible steps to remind his colleagues about the “benefits of a bike lifestyle, or bistyle“.
“Jayke Hyland, 34, decided to purchase a bicycle last weekend at Canadian Tire, he knew it was now entirely up to him to convince everyone in his office of the benefits of a cycling lifestyle”, they write.
His fictional reminders to colleagues of how much money people can save by commuting by bike, and of the health benefits of cycling, are offset with them begrudging his loud “god damn cycling shoes” and his conversion to only eating PowerGel packets.
We liked it because it’s simultaneously a reminder of all the benefits of cycling, and to not be too evangelical about said benefits, in case of alienating people who aren’t quite so enthusiastic.
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