Cycling Good?

We all know that bikes are good and it is a form of transport I use as much as I can. During the summer whilst low on funds I decided to bike home from Leeds to Mansfield with the aid of my iphone map to set the route and gps to let me know where I was. However the gps lost its signal in Barnsley and I had to ride around for an hour to try to find out where abouts I was. The journey took eight hours due to getting lost a few times, but after I felt really good after completing te journey.

A picture taken at the halfway stage of Rotherham

I think uses bikes as transport is eco friendly and it is something I really enjoy, to see things that you would normally not notice when driving in a car/van lorry ect.

There are many reasons why using bikes as transport is good. Riding a bicycle isn’t only a good workout— it’s also a great option for short-distance trips, for navigating areas where nimble transportation is required, and for users who can’t afford more expensive options. Bicycles offer commuters a healthy complement to other forms of public transportation, such as buses and subways.

When properly supported with bikeways, traffic signals that favor bikes, and other infrastructure and policies that promote safe, efficient cycling, bicycles can carry a substantial share of the urban transport burden. In the Netherlands, for example, bicycles account for nearly 30 percent of all urban trips—compared with less than 1 percent in the U.S., proving that bikes are not just for less-developed countries.

Over the last quarter century, infrastructure investments have helped to reduce cycling deaths in the Netherlands and Germany. Initiatives include “traffic calming” in residential neighborhoods, people-centered urban design, restrictions on motor vehicle use, and traffic regulations and enforcements that are pro-pedestrian and pro-cycling.

Did you know?

Over the past decade, bicycle production has shifted steadily to China, which by 2003 accounted for 58 percent of the total global production of 101 million bikes. Japan, Taiwan, and the United States, meanwhile, saw double-digit declines in output over this period.

Asia is now home to four of the top five bicycle producers: China, India, Taiwan, and Japan. Vietnam posted the world’s fastest rate of growth in 2002—more than 250 percent—making more than 2 million bicycles. The European Union, third in the world, is the only non-Asian producer of any size.

In the U.S, biking remains marginalized due largely to a dominant car culture: 95 percent of parking is free, and gas prices, vehicle taxes, and other driving-related costs are among the lowest in the industrialized world. The U.S. rate of car ownership is the world’s highest, about 50 percent above that of Western Europe.

Due to inadequate cycling infrastructure, U.S. cyclists are 12 times more likely than people in cars to die en route. On a perkilometer and per-trip basis, U.S. cyclists are twice as likely to die on the road as German cyclists, and more than three times as likely as Dutch cyclists.

taken from www.worldwatch.org

This video doesn't justify that cycling is good however it is quite funny and picky how the media have noticed David Cameron's cycling errors. There was also another video of David Cameron's bike but it wasn't relevant to put two videos on here.

I could easily prove that cycling is good, and also enjoy it myself and more people and cycling paths should be made and maintained. One of the five to consider, but not sure if it's to exciting.