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Bike Week (cycling)

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This article is about the bicycling event. For the Daytona Beach motorcycle rally, see Daytona Beach Bike Week. For the African American motorcycle rally, see Black Bike Week.

Riders assemble for a ride organised by the London Cycling Campaign, as part of Bike Week activities

Bike Week is a yearly international event, taking place in different countries throughout the World. It is typically a seven-day event that advocates bicycling for transportation.[1] The event has been steadily gaining popularity in Asian, American and European cities and countries over the past decade. Bike Week has been running in the UK since 1923.[2]

Bike Week typically takes place in the summer, and runs in the UK during the second week of June, following just after the international World Bicycle Day on 3 June.[3]

It is typically an entire week of cycling events that cover a variety of different types of cycling. The central aim of the event is to create awareness of the benefits of cycling and give those who don't currently cycle the opportunity to help the environment and exercise in a fun and social way. Participants include professional cyclists, celebrities and individuals who choose cycling as a chief means of transportation for the week.

Celebrities that have taken part in the past include Fearne Cotton, Fern Britton, James Cracknell, Jean-Christophe Novelli, Jon Snow, Josie Dew, Olivia Williams, Jeremy Vine[4] and Wayne Hemingway.

UK and Ireland

Bike Week, delivered by Cycling UK, is an annual celebration to showcase cycling. Riding a bike can easily be a part of everyday life and Bike Week is here to inspire people all over the UK to give cycling a try.[5] Bike Week takes place during the second week of June in the United Kingdom, with a parallel event in Ireland where it is known as National Bike Week.[6]

The aim is to get many more people across the UK to give cycling a try, encouraging people to get out on their bikes. In 2019 Bike Week will run between Saturday 8 June to Sunday 16 June.

The concept of Bike Week is "everyday cycling for everyone" and aims to encourage those who wouldn't normally cycle to get on their bikes. Any outing on a bike counts – whether that’s nipping round to a friend's house, cycling to work or school, enjoying a leisurely ride with the family or tackling a cycling challenge.

Every year around 500 events[7] are registered as part of Bike Week, such as family-friendly rides, bike maintenance events, bike breakfasts and group rides, to name but a few. Around 300,000 extra people choose to take part every year, on top of the 2.4 million who already cycle regularly in the UK.[8]

A social media campaign runs through Bike Week called the #7DaysofCycling focusing on different cycling experiences and encouraging everyone to talk about their experiences and raise awareness of the benefits of cycling. Each day has a different theme, from cycling to work to the benefits of cycling on mental health.

Bike Week is traditionally launched with the annual APPCG bike ride through London, where MP's, peers, and influential members of the cycling industry attend a reception before riding through London. In 2019 this included the inaugural Bike Week summit[9] and was attended by the transport minister Michael Ellis.

United States

In the United States of America, May is recognized as Bike Month[1] and Bike to Work Week [2] is always either the first or second full week of May. Austin, Boston, Pasadena, Portland, Roseville, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, San Diego[3], San Francisco[4], and Washington are among the US cities that actively participate.

Canada

In Canada Bike Week occurs in either May or June because Bike Month is typically from 25 May to 25 June.[10] Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Ottawa, Victoria and Halifax are among the cities that participated in 2009. Vancouver participates every year.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Commuter gripes could be solved by Bike Week | Cycling UK". www.cyclinguk.org. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  2. ^ "Join Bike Week's #7daysofcycling | Cycling UK". www.cyclinguk.org. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  3. ^ "World Bicycle Day, 3 June". www.un.org. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  4. ^ "BBC Presenter Jeremy Vine supports the launch of Bike Week 2018 | Cycling UK". www.cyclinguk.org. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  5. ^ Farnham Herald MP Hunt on hand to launch new cycle trails 18 July 2018 "The opening of the five new trails coincided with Cycling UK's Bike Week and the national charity worked with the organisations to develop the .."
  6. ^ "National Bike Week Ireland | 22 to 30 June 2019". www.bikeweek.ie. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  7. ^ "Get involved | Cycling UK". www.cyclinguk.org. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  8. ^ "Cycling Statistics". Cycling UK. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  9. ^ "New minister commits to active travel at Bike Week launch | Cycling UK". www.cyclinguk.org. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
  10. ^ "Discover the joy of biking - Bike Month". www.bikemonth.ca. Retrieved 8 June 2019.
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