International
World Bicycle Day 2020
World Bicycle Day is on Wednesday, 3 June 2020. The Third World Bicycle Day is being celebrated on this date. The United Nations celebrated the first World Bicycle Day on Sunday, June 3, 2018, at UN General Assembly in New York. UN officials, diplomats, athletes, advocates of the cycling community spoke at the inaugural event in New York, sharing the many ways bicycles serve the people who ride them.
Physical Benefits of Bicycle
Lower
risk of heart disease
UK research published last year that cycling or walking to work can lower the risk of developing or dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD) or stroke. The large-scale study shows who use cycling to travel, has an 11% lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) and a 30% lower risk of fatal CVD. Regular cycling in spare time has a 43% lower risk of fatal CVD. Even those who are not regular commuters but took the bike occasionally get an 8% lower risk of all-cause mortality.
Reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes
Research of the University of Southern Denmark reveals that
cycling can help to reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes. Researchers found that
those who cycled regularly were less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, even
those who took up regular cycling at a later age still benefited themselves
from a 20% lower risk of acquiring type 2 diabetes than non-cyclists.
Extra
weight loss
UK researchers who compared the daily
modes of transport of nearly 150,000 participants found that cycling was one of
the most effective forms of exercise for keeping trim and losing weight. Those
who cycled to work had lower BMIs and body fat than those who walked.
It’s
safe for sexual health
The research by the University of
California, found that male cyclists’ sexual and urinary health was no worse
than swimmers’ or runners’, although adjusting the handlebar height to be
higher or even with the saddle reduced the chance of genital numbness and
saddle sores. Researchers from UC San Francisco also found that high-intensity
cyclists may benefit from improved sexual function.
Bicycle Day Quotes
“Riding bicycles will not only benefit
the individual but the world at large.” Emeritus Professor of
Environmental Policy, Berlin
“No comparison of the simple pleasure of a bike ride.”
John F. Kennedy
“When you are riding hard on a mountain bike, sometimes you fall; otherwise
you’re not riding hard.”
Former US president George Bush
“People love cycling but hate cyclists.”
Peter Zanzottera
“The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance. Other forms of transport grow
daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart.”
Iris Murdoch, ‘The Red and the Green’
A bicycle is an industrial revolution in an individual’s life.”
F. K. Day, founder and president, World Bicycle Relief, 2012
“We are not blocking traffic, we are traffic.”
Cycle advocacy slogans