Compulsive supporter (and user) of the bicycle, the drafter of this article will find it difficult – for once – to maintain the necessary detachment that the role of editor requires.
Yes, why exactly Today, like every June 3 since 2018, World Bicycle Day is celebrated. Whose official website reminds us of the pervasiveness of the English language, for which the meritorious anniversary is globally known as World Bicycle Day.
First of all, let’s find out when and by whom World Bicycle Day was established, and why it is celebrated.
But above all let’s remember, for the benefit of the (few, we hope) distracted, the advantages that this extraordinary means of locomotion brings in one fell swoop to our physique and to that… of the planet.
World Bicycle Day
World Bicycle Day, or World Bicycle Day, is an anniversary established on June 3, 2018, the same day it was celebrated for the first time.
The resolution that made it the official day of the United Nations was voted unanimously by all 193 member states. Who are invited by the UN “to pay particular attention to the bicycle in their development plans, and to include the bicycle in international, regional, national and local development policies.”
The importance of the day
The resolution itself sets out with some precision the reasons why it is important to advocate the use of bicycles. Let’s read some excerpts.
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In reality, one sentence already says it all: the bicycle is “a simple, cheap, reliable and sustainable means of transport, which promotes environmental preservation and health.”
Continuing, the UN resolution reminds us that “the bicycle stimulates creativity and social commitment, and offers its user an immediate awareness of the local environment.
The bicycle can be a tool for development and a means not only of transport but also of access to education, health and sport.”
Furthermore, today the bicycle is “a symbol of sustainable transport and conveys a message in favor of sustainable consumption and production and has a positive impact on the climate.”
The initiatives
On the occasion of World Bicycle Day, events and discussions are organized all over the world.
But above all rides, from those dedicated to children and families to musical rides, from those that turn into cultural itineraries and trips (even lasting several days) to demanding physical tests.
A rather exhaustive calendar of initiatives in our country can be found on the website andiamoinbici.it
Rethink spaces
But, as is often the case with celebrations, World Bicycle Day also risks being a day of celebration for two wheels, which then gives way to the usual problems and limitations.
Cities, in short, must be redesigned as runner-friendly. And, let’s be clear, this does not mean favoring those who ride bikes to the detriment of those who drive motor vehicles, but creating infrastructures that do not penalize those who travel on two wheels (nor jeopardize their safety).
However, to do so, we also need a willingness to invest in the sector that is currently lacking. As pointed out by Alessandro Tursi, president of FIAB (Italian Environment and Bicycle Federation). Tursi said: “After the cut in the funds destined for urban cycling in the last Budget Law, it is now necessary for the Government to set up a permanent fund for infrastructure and urban cycling to allow local administrators of every political color to develop with facilitates cycling mobility, especially for home-work travel.
The bicycle is a real and ready-made solution for pursuing energy and climate transition objectives in a simple and cost-effective way, with decidedly lower costs, both for private citizens and for public coffers, compared to the development of motorized mobility, electric or otherwise ”.
Rethink… ourselves
Ma for towns and cities to become cyclist-friendly, it is also necessary to abandon the unhealthy habit of traveling by car to go shopping in the shop which is three hundred meters from our house.
The car, in fact, is still by far the most used means, even for short journeys.
A study conducted in 2022 in the USA by The Bike Adviser showed that 55% of car journeys are less than 8 kilometers.
If only half of the short trips made by car were replaced with those by bike, 273,000 tonnes of CO2 would be saved nationwide out of a total of 551,940. That is the equivalent of carbon dioxide absorbed by 4.5 million trees.
Without forgetting that it would benefit, and a lot, our health.
With one scoop finale: overcoming laziness and getting on the saddle requires only a little initial goodwill. After that – once the body and mind are set in motion – everything goes by itself. Just like when cycling downhill.