Category Archives: Biking movement

Copenhagenize index

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The Copenhagenize index is a well-known index for every person who wants to know about urban biking. It punctuates cities from more than forty countries based on several points. It gives hints and demonstrates how to do good things to promote urban biking development. It shows that not only bicycle infrastructure is important, but also advancing towards cities for people. The Copenhagenize index is not a competition, rather a showcase of actions to enter this club and a road map about successful actions for specialists.

The Copenhagenize index has three pillars: a secure and connected bike infrastructure, specific politics to increase urban biking, and budget and support. Regarding the last point, Utrech (the number one in the 2025 edition) invested 66€ per year and citizen in urban biking. Additional issues such as 89 bike parking every one thousands inhabitants or almost one third of total displacements were done by bicycle made Utrech to appear on the Copenhagenize index. These and many more ideas can be extracted from it.

What is advisable when you want to start or continuing pedaling when after moving to an other country to work?

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It is normal that some doubts appear when moving to a different country. Some of them are related to biking.

It is logical that different countries follow alternative justices over using a bicycle daily, so the first tip is to take into account the local laws regarding it. Receiving a fine for not knowing the local law when pedaling is discouraged.

Next, choosing your future bike (if you did not bring it with you) is essential and for that take a look at the bicycles that local bikers drive. For instance, if the city/country is hilly, ebikes and mountain bikes use to be preferred. If in a flat city, a city bike is usually acceptable. Buying a first hand or thrift bicycle depends on your economic situation. However, never buy a bike without bill as it could be robbed and thus you would contribute to bicycle thefts.

Another tip is to look at local bikers: how they ride, where they go, what garment they wear regarding local climate. This allows you to anticipate the best behavior while riding.

Finally, if you want to meet bikers and make friends, one of the best ways is to participate in the Critical Mass.

Bike activism matters

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I distinguish two steps in bike activism depending on the urban biking moment. Firstly, bike activism is essential when there are few bicyclers on a city. The main action of them is just ride their bikes as most people tend not to try something new unless some other people have done it before. So, if pedestrians see bikers pedaling happily, they are more prone to do the same. After checking they can do it, more people want to enjoy bicycles. If parents ride bikes, children want to do it also. If children pedal, parents would do the same. It is a snowball. Secondary actions of bike activists at this point are fighting for infrastructures such as segregated bike lines, secure bike parking and urban design pro-biking. Many different actions can be done to convince politicians of the biking benefits. At the same time, motor vehicles drivers are being accustomed to bicycles.

Secondly, the final step starts when the number of displacements by bikes is a majority. Few countries have reached it at this moment, located in central and northern Europe. One can realize it when bicycle traffic stuck and use of motor vehicles in cities is less than 20%. They are societies in which a great majority of inhabitants are in favor of less pollutant ways of transport, and bikes above all. The impact of bike activists is less visual as almost everybody uses bicycles. Still, this type of activism is appreciated and its actions mutate into more specific issues. Examples are workshops on how to face social disasters, bike tourism (outside cities) promotion, non-competing sports events, bike concerts and bike leisure in general encouragement, among others.

To me, the natural, logical progression from step one to step two is something in which the majority of countries around the globe are immersed. We do not stop. Thanks to all bike activists!

The cuentakilómetros

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Some times politicians promise new bike lines in political campaigns and after they win the elections, they mysteriously forget what have announced thus cheating on their voters. Cities inhabitants have two options: Make as nothing happened or fight for the promised bike lines. Regarding the second point, there is un action, the Cuentakilómetros (in Spanish) originally created in Málaga (Spain) and replicated for other cities. It consisted in using an interactive map with a progress bar in Google Maps in which one could see the evolution of bike lines being built.

The urban bike group Ruedas Redondas was upset about the promise that the mayor proposed in the political campaign (to double the number of bike lines kilometers in Málaga, from 45 to 90) and the lack of pieces of news on media about the new projects and on the streets. So, they created the Cuentakilómetros (the technological tool that I have commented) for every person to see how the evolution was. For this gentle way of showing reality, Ruedas Redondas only had to check media and public trading platforms for newness and update it. This way, cyclist could see the evolution of bike lines creation and confirm that it is impossible to trust on politicians who promote motor vehicles instead of bicycles under a climate change challenge. Smart people will remember the lack of such bike lines when voting again.

Ideas for governments and companies

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It is well-known that going to work by bicycle is good for the glucose and cholesterol levels, stress reduction, good mood and productivity increment. Indeed, according to the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructures 80% of workers who pedal to work show a better compromise between companies and their jobs, and their work absenteeism diminishes. Moreover, diabetes is reduced by 20%. Not surprisingly, open-minded governments promote the use of bicycles with strategies such as giving social benefits to workers who buy bikes through firms (these get tax reductions), those workers who ride to the office obtain money per pedaled kilometer, urban biking promotion not only the Day of the Bike but 365 days in a year, a day for bike maintenance, free subscription to public bikes, bike lines and bicycle parking building. In return, sanitary costs are reduced and environment improves not only because bikes do not pollute in the using stage, but also as a result of if a person uses a bike instead of a car she provokes the same emissions diminishing as one tree every month.

Bikes and natural disasters

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Bicycles have been used in man-made and natural disasters. One example of bike use was done in Second World War when both Allies and Axe took advantage of them to move behind enemy lines and carry supplies. Regarding natural disasters, bicycles are also very handful, for instance in the case of the DANA (High-altitude isolated depression) on the Valencia, Spain, region on 29th October 2024.

To sum up, the DANA is a succession of heavy rains in a short period of time. This time it flooded inner villages and those downstream, closer to the Mediterranean sea where heavily affected by a tsunami of mud. As a result, the area was under a deep lid of mud which destroyed stores, industries, some road and train infrastructures, and provoked hundreds of deaths. How did the Valencian bikers act? The Valencian Massa Critica coordinated to bring food and drinkable water since the next day (30th October 2024). That day dozens pedaled with backpacks and saddlebags plugged with basic food. In the next days, cars and vans were not allowed to access the villages due to there were destroyed cars all around and inside villages that had been moved by the force of mud and had created physical barriers for such wide vehicles. The tightness of bikes allowed them to overpass such barriers. The next days (31th October 2024 and 1st November 2024) social nets made it possible to see hundreds of bikers with traditional bikes, cargo bikes and bikes carts pedaling together in convoys to carry first need food and other products to villages such as Paiporta, Catarroja, Alfafar, Benetúser, Torrent, Albal and Sedaví. Indeed, bikers where the first volunteers to coordinate themselves in bringing such essential products for human life in La Rambleta, Valencia. After these days, additional volunteers (pedestrian, medical people and persons who provided APIs) used La Rambleta as a headquarter. The next week, food was not always wanted by those who suffered the disaster, rather they needed cleaning (bleach, ammonia, etc.) and  hygienic (shampoo, gel, detergent, soap) products. Again, bikers carried them to injured villages. Additionally, riders all over Spain donated bikes and others objects such as bicycle wheels, brakes or chain grease in order for urban bikers in those villages continuing pedaling.

This is the force of bikes in natural disasters: Bicycles reach places that cars can not come.

The next video shows the work Massa Critica did (in Spanish):

Maddy Novich

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The use of cargo bikes has been increasing over the last years. Even in countries so pro-car as the USA, this kind of bicycles remains a clear alternative to cars. Maddy Novich, Criminal Law teacher at Manhattan University, knows it in deep. This mother of three has five cargo bikes and uses them to carry couches or big wardrobe, and also her three children. The children enjoy the rides while playing, eating, or chatting in the box. Moreover, she is always open to answer questions in relation to bikes and particularly cargo bikes to others moms who want to gain independence and take care of their health and environment. Maddy advises about issues like what cargo bike model to choose or how to drive a cargo bike.

She has also visited several European countries and appreciates specially those who offer good, physically separated bike lines from car lines. Indeed, Maddy started using cargo bikes in Amsterdam back in 2019. Moreover, she highlights the difference mentality of European and American car drivers. She affirms that in general European car drives respect bikers more in the sense that they reduce speed and keep more safety distance when they see a bicycle.

Cicloffice

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Imagine that you are riding your bike without the essential tools on an inhabited, unknown place and it suddenly suffers a fault such as a tube puncture or a spoke break. Imagine also that there is not a bike store or a bicycle workshop. Some bikers would ask for help whoever they see in the street. Some others would try to solve the problem with whatever they have in hand. Finally, some other people would ask for a cicloffice.

A cicloffice is an informal place in which you can find a myriad of tools to repair your bike. Moreover, there use to be bicycle parts so that you can use them to substitute yours. And even you can find a bike technician who will teach you how to hone your bicycle, but the person who will do it is you. He will give you the theory and you will put into practice it. Thus, you will learn some handy tricks for the future.

Furthermore, you can carry to a cicloffice whatever bike or part of bike which you no longer use. This way others can take advantage of it. And guess what, it is free, you do not have to pay anything when using a cicloffice, neither for the master class of the technician. This is a clear example of a collaboration for a better future.

Going a step further

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Urban biking intends to make a better world for everybody. It promotes a way of living differently from the one in Western countries in the XX century: More bikes means less polluting vehicles on streets, less noise, better human physical health, better human psychological health, better environment, more surface for people, you name it.

Social movements like feminism and LGTBI+ share an equal ultimate point: Make a better world for everybody. Thus, it is not rare to cooperate between movements with similar, universal targets. If as Susan B. Anthony said (“I think [bicycling] has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world”), and there are of course LGTBI+ bikers, we as urban cyclists should support and even encourage them. Summing up allies to growth is key to advance.

The European Cyclists’ Federation

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The European Cyclists’ Federation (ECF) is an international organization that acts as an umbrella over the European countries bicycle organizations. There are at least one bicycle organization by country. It interacts with the European Commission, the European Parliament or the Council of Europe as well as the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe or the World Health Organization.

The ECF puts into practice its influence to support laws which promote biking, avoid those which harm it and maintain cyclist in the politics agenda. Moreover, the ECF coordinates the Eurovelo and organizes the Velo-City every year.

According to its president, three factors have contributed to the boom of biking in the last years: Climate change, COVID-19 and the Ukraine war. This last point contributed to increase the price of raw materials. Furthermore, he indicates that most moves within a city are as long as 5 kilometers, a perfect distance to pedal, and the main contribution to climate change and pollution at city level is produced by combustion engine vehicles. Thus, bicycles are perfect to face it.