Bicycle culture can refer to a mainstream culture that supports the use of

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-powered assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A is called a cyclist, or bicyclist. Bic ...

s or to a

subculture A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...

. Although "bike culture" is often used to refer to various forms of associated

fashion Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion in ...

, it is erroneous to call fashion in and of itself a culture. Cycling culture refers to cities and countries which support a large percentage of

utility cycling Utility cycling encompasses any cycling done simply as a means of transport rather than as a sport or leisure activity. It is the original and most common type of cycling in the world. Cycling mobility is one of the various types of private t ...

. Examples include the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, Germany, Belgium (Flanders in particular), Sweden, Italy, China, Bangladesh and Japan. There are also towns in some countries where bicycle culture has been an integral part of the landscape for generations, even without much official support. That is the case of

Ílhavo Ílhavo () is a municipality located in the centre of Portugal. The population in 2021 was 39,239, in an area of 73.48 km². The Municipality of Ílhavo includes four parishes and two cities: Gafanha da Nazaré and Ílhavo (City). General i ...

, in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. North American cities with strong bicycle cultures include

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Lincoln, Peoria, and the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

. A city with a strong bicycle culture usually has a well-developed

cycling infrastructure Cycling infrastructure is all infrastructure cyclists are allowed to use. Bikeways include bike paths, bike lanes, cycle tracks, rail trails and, where permitted, sidewalks. Roads used by motorists are also cycling infrastructure, except whe ...

, including segregated bike lanes and extensive facilities catering to urban bicycles, such as bike racks.

Advocacy and activism subcultures

In some cities and countries, transportation infrastructure is focused on

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

s, and large portions of the population use cars as their only local mechanical transport.

Bicycling advocates Cycling advocacy consists of activities that call for, promote or enable increased adoption and support for cycling and improved safety and convenience for cyclists, usually within urbanized areas or semi-urban regions. Issues of concern typicall ...

include those who advocate for an increase in population-wide commuting, acceptance of cycling, and legislation and infrastructure to promote and protect the safety and rights of cyclists. Cycling advocacy often aims to improve community bike infrastructure, including aspects such as bike lanes, parking facilities, and access to public transportation. Within the cycling community, activism may take many forms, and may include creative and practical approaches. These include bike-related music, bike-related films, international exchange of hospitality (

Warm Showers Warm Showers (WS) is a non-profit hospitality exchange service for people engaging in bicycle touring. The platform is a gift economy — hosts are not supposed to charge for lodging and are not bound. The legal form is a Colorado 501(c)(3) nonp ...

), organized bike rides (often noncompetitive—i.e.

Critical Mass In nuclear engineering, a critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties (specifically, its nuclear fissi ...

and

World Naked Bike Ride The World Naked Bike Ride (WNBR) is an international clothing-optional bike ride in which participants plan, meet and ride together ''en masse'' on human-powered transport (the vast majority on bicycles, but some on skateboards and inline skates) ...

art bike An art bike is any bicycle modified for creative purposes while still being ridable. It is a type of kinetic sculpture. The degree of artistic creativity and originality or new functionality of art bikes varies greatly, depending on the artis ...

s displays, printed-word materials (such as blogs, zines and magazines, stickers, and

spoke card A spoke is one of some number of rods radiating from the center of a wheel (the hub where the axle connects), connecting the hub with the round traction surface. The term originally referred to portions of a log that had been riven (split l ...

s), and the publication and distribution of books (such as: Thomas Stevens's ''Around the World on a Bicycle'',

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...

's essay "Taming the Bicycle" and

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The Wheels of Chance ''The Wheels of Chance'' is an early comic novel by H. G. Wells about an August 1895 cycling holiday, somewhat in the style of ''Three Men in a Boat''. In 1922 it was adapted into a silent film ''The Wheels of Chance (film), The Wheels of Chance' ...

)''. There are hundreds of bicycle cooperatives offering spaces for cyclists to replace their own bikes and socialise.

Examples

Many cities contain

s of

enthusiasts that include racers,

bicycle messenger Bicycle messengers (also known as bike or cycle couriers) are people who work for courier companies (also known as messenger companies) carrying and delivering items by bicycle. Bicycle messengers are most often found in the central business di ...

s, bicycle transportation activists, mutant bicycle fabricators, bicycle mechanics, and

bicycle commuter Bicycle commuting is the use of a bicycle to travel from home to a place of work or study — in contrast to the use of a bicycle for sport, recreation or touring. Commuting especially lends itself to areas with relatively flat terrain and a ...

s. Some such groups are affiliated with

activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in Social change, social, Political campaign, political, economic or Natural environment, environmental reform with the desire to make Social change, changes i ...

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

groups. These hybrid groups often organize activities such as competitive cycling, fun rides, protests, and

civil disobedience Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws, demands, orders or commands of a government (or any other authority). By some definitions, civil disobedience has to be nonviolent to be called "civil". Hen ...

, such as

. Some groups work to promote bicycle transportation (

community bicycle program A bicycle-sharing system, bike share program, public bicycle scheme, or public bike share (PBS) scheme, is a shared transport service where bicycles are available for shared use by individuals at low cost. The programmes themselves include bot ...

); others fix bicycles to give to children or the homeless (

Bikes Not Bombs Bikes Not Bombs is a Boston, Massachusetts based nonprofit that uses the bicycle as a vehicle for social change by recycling donated bicycles, training young people to fix their own bikes and become employable mechanics and sending thousands of bic ...

). There are also feminist groups of women of color who promote the empowerment of women through their rides such as

Ovarian Psycos Ovarian Psycos is a bicycle brigade established in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, in 2010. The group was formed to foster sisterhood that could feel comfortable taking up space as well confronting the harassment of women. Rides are organized monthly ...

Bicycle magazine A cycling magazine or bicycle magazine is a magazine with news and reports on bicycles, cycling, and the bicycle industry. Bicycle magazines may feature new bicycle tests and comparisons, which describe advantages and disadvantages of similar mode ...

s and organizations give awards to cities for being " bicycle friendly". Examples include

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In c ...

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Austin Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

, and

—all cities that promote bicycle culture.

Midnight Ridazz Midnight Ridazz is a late-night group bicycle ride that celebrates bicycle culture in Los Angeles. The ride takes place on city streets, has no sponsors, is not sanctioned by any government agency, and does not require registration or membership i ...

is a group of bicycle enthusiasts who ride every second Friday of the month in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, California to inspire more people to ride bicycles. Rides often exceed 1,000 cyclists. Similar midnight rides such as the Midnight Mystery rides of Portland and Victoria, the bi-monthly Midnight Mass of

Vancouver BC Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...

, and similar rides across the US and Europe have been growing in popularity.

San Jose Bike Party San Jose Bike Party is a monthly social bicycle ride event in and around San Jose, California held on the third Friday of every month. Attendance varies with weather and time of year, usually ranging from hundreds in the winter months to lo ...

is another example of a large monthly social ride that regularly exceeds a thousand riders. It occurs on third Fridays of each month after the evening commute. Typically there are two regroup points allowing slower riders to catch up, which include music and food trucks.

Mainstream bike cultures

Cycling is the norm in countries like the Netherlands and Denmark. In Denmark, 16 percent of all trips are made by bike—and as much as 50 percent of urban populations cycle to work and school. In the Netherlands, 63 percent of Amsterdam residents ride their bikes every day. Strong cycling infrastructure helps encourage cycling in these cities, and so cycling is the fastest, most convenient way to get from one place to another. Cycling Amsterdam

Mainstream bike cultures are characterized by notions of function over form. In mainstream bike cultures, there is less of a differentiation between cyclists and the rest of the population. People of all demographics cycle regularly, and most are less concerned about cycling attire and bike performance. It is not uncommon to see people cycle in business attire or on an old rusty bike.

Advocacy and activism subcultures

Examples

Mainstream bike cultures

See also

References

Further reading