Ever wake up in spring when it’s still grey outside and walk quietly through the house trying to adjust a thousand belts and straps so they would not get in the way? And yet you’re not annoyed in the slightest, you’re very happy in fact, because you love your daily bicycle commute to school. You wonder though…
Ever stay a little after work to change to your cycling shoes and walk out of the office click clacking on the stairs as your colleagues take car keys out of their pockets and hurry to the elevator? You wonder…as you cycle to your parents’ on the other side of town, as you bike to the cinema or to the shop, you wonder…
You wonder if anyone cares. You wonder whether anyone notices your daily bike ride. Wonder no more, the answer is YES. Your daily bike commute matters and it can change your city. All thanks to the European Cycling Challenge. We have all the details.
What
The European Cycling Challenge or the ECC is the ultimate urban cycling competition between riders from different cities in Europe and around the world.
Where
Last year 52 cities took part – vast majority of them European, but Israel and Turkey were riding our tail! Check out if your town is on the list or register it through the organisation’s website. Remember- cycling purely for sport does not count, this is urban riding only. And if you’re in Barcelona this May, help us with those miles on our City Tour.
When
The challenge takes place every year during the month of May, opening at 00:01 on May 1st and closing midnight on May 31st. You can join the ECC anytime from April 1st to May 31st. And do not worry, you can record your trips after you have made them.
How
If you have a smartphone, install the Cycling365 app. This fun and easy to use little programme records your miles and lets you see how your city is doing on the 2017 City Leaderboard in real time. If you don’t have a smartphone, record your miles – however precisely you can- directly on the ECC website.
Why
The challenge, created by a group of cyclists in Bologna just for fun in 2012, now provides invaluable information to city planners and authorities. Ready-to-use maps of urban cyclists’ movements are created and then used to change the infrastructure, according to the bike riders’ needs. More bicycle lanes in city centres in Italy, in-depth analysis of the cycling network in Sweden, new bike paths in Poland, you name it – and that’s only the results of the 2016 edition! Cycle as a challenge for yourself and your friends, bike to bring about change, ride to represent your town. Calling all commuters.
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