Editing Cycling (section)

==Types==

===Utility===
[[File:Coconut bunch.jpg|thumb|A bicycle loaded with [[tender coconut]]s for sale in [[Karnataka]], India|alt=A bicycle loaded with so many green fruits that the rear wheel can not be seen.]]
{{Main|Utility cycling}}

Utility cycling refers both to cycling as a mode of daily [[commuting]] transport as well as the use of a bicycle in a commercial activity, mainly to transport goods, mostly accomplished in an [[Urban area|urban environment]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Antón-González |first1=Laura |last2=Pans |first2=Miquel |last3=Devís-Devís |first3=José |last4=González |first4=Luis-Millán |title=Cycling in urban environments: Quantitative text analysis |journal=Journal of Transport & Health |date=2023 |volume=32 |pages=101651 |doi=10.1016/j.jth.2023.101651 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2023JTHea..3201651A }}</ref>

The [[mail|postal services]] of many countries have long relied on bicycles. The British [[Royal Mail]] first started using bicycles in 1880; now bicycle delivery fleets include 37,000 in the UK, 25,700 in Germany, 10,500 in Hungary and 7000 in Sweden. In Australia, Australia Post has also reintroduced bicycle postal deliveries on some routes due to an inability to recruit sufficient licensed riders willing to use their uncomfortable motorbikes. The [[London Ambulance Service]] has recently introduced bicycling [[paramedic]]s, who can often get to the scene of an incident in [[Central London]] more quickly than a motorized ambulance.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.londonambulance.nhs.uk/calling_999/who_will_treat_you/single_responder/cycle_responder.aspx |title=Cycle Responder |work=London Ambulance Service |publisher=London Ambulance Service NHS Trust |access-date=5 May 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160402031208/http://www.londonambulance.nhs.uk/calling_999/who_will_treat_you/single_responder/cycle_responder.aspx |archive-date=2 April 2016}}</ref>

The use of [[Police bicycle|bicycles by police]] has been increasing, since they provide greater accessibility to bicycle and pedestrian zones and allow access when roads are congested.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Rantatalo |first=Oscar |date=March 2016 |title=Using police bicycle patrols to manage social order in bicycle and pedestrian traffic networks |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/299501876 |journal=The Police Journal |publisher=SAGE Journals |volume=89 |issue=1 |pages=18–30 |doi=10.1177/0032258X16639426 |s2cid=147311688}}{{Dead link|date=July 2019|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> In some cases, bicycle officers have been used as a supplement or a replacement for horseback officers.

Bicycles enjoy substantial use as general delivery vehicles in many countries. In the UK and North America, as their first jobs, generations of teenagers have worked at delivering newspapers by bicycle. London has many delivery companies that use bicycles with trailers. Most cities in the West, and many outside it, support a sizeable and visible industry of [[Bicycle messenger|cycle couriers]] who deliver documents and small packages. In India, many of Mumbai's [[Dabbawala]]s use bicycles to deliver home cooked lunches to the city's workers. In [[Bogotá]], Colombia the city's largest bakery recently replaced most of its delivery trucks with bicycles. Even the car industry uses bicycles. At the huge [[Mercedes-Benz]] factory in [[Sindelfingen]], Germany workers use bicycles, color-coded by department, to move around the factory.{{citation needed|date=March 2015}}

===Recreational===

====Bicycle touring====
{{Main|Bicycle touring}}
[[File:WhiteBikesVeluwe.jpg|thumb|In the Netherlands, bicycles are freely available for use in the [[Hoge Veluwe National Park]].|alt=A white bicycle parked in the grass.]] [[File:Bikes in Portland.jpg|thumb|Tour de Fat group ride in [[Portland, Oregon]]|alt=Many bicyclists with colorful clothes]]

Bicycles are used for recreation at all ages. [[Bicycle touring]], also known as cyclotourism, involves touring and exploration or sightseeing by bicycle for leisure. Bicycle tourism has been one of the most popular sports for recreational benefit.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yeh |last2=Lin |last3=Hsiao |last4=Huang |date=17 September 2019 |title=The Effect of Improving Cycleway Environment on the Recreational Benefits of Bicycle Tourism |journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |language=en |volume=16 |issue=18 |pages=3460 |doi=10.3390/ijerph16183460 |issn=1660-4601 |pmc=6765930 |pmid=31533371 |doi-access=free}}</ref> A [[brevet (cycling)|brevet]] or randonnée is an organized long-distance ride.

One popular Dutch pleasure is the enjoyment of relaxed cycling in the [[rural|countryside]] of the Netherlands. The land is very flat and full of public [[bike path|bicycle trails]] and [[cycle track]]s where cyclists are not bothered by cars and other traffic, which makes it ideal for cycling recreation. Many [[Dutch people]] subscribe every year to an event called ''[[fietsvierdaagse]]''&nbsp;— four days of organised cycling through the local environment. [[Paris–Brest–Paris]] (PBP), which began in 1891, is the oldest bicycling event still run on a regular basis on the open road, covers over {{convert|1200|km|0|abbr=on}} and imposes a 90-hour time limit. Similar if smaller institutions exist in many countries.

A study conducted in Taiwan improved the environmental quality for bicyclist tourists which demonstrated greater health benefits in tourists and even in natives. The number of bicyclists in Taiwan increased from 700,000 in 2008 to 5.1&nbsp;million in 2017. Thus, this resulted in more and safer bicycle routes to be established. When cycling, cyclists take into account the safety on the road, bicycle lanes, smooth roads, diverse scenery, and ride length. Thus, the environment plays a huge role in people's decision factor to use bicycle touring more. This study used many questionnaires and conducted statistical analysis to come up with the conclusion of cyclists' top 5 factors that they consider before making a decision to bike are: safety, lighting facility, design of lanes, the surrounding landscape, and how clean the environment is. Thus, after improving these 5 factors, they found much more recreational benefits to bicycle tourism.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yeh |last2=Lin |last3=Hsiao |last4=Huang |date=2019 |title=The Effect of Improving Cycleway Environment on the Recreational Benefits of Bicycle Tourism |journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |language=en |volume=16 |issue=18 |pages=3460 |doi=10.3390/ijerph16183460 |issn=1660-4601 |pmc=6765930 |pmid=31533371 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

====Organized rides====
Many [[cycling club]]s hold organized rides in which bicyclists of all levels participate. The typical organized ride starts with a large group of riders, called the mass, bunch or even [[peloton]]. This will thin out over the course of the ride. Many riders choose to ride together in groups of the same skill level to take advantage of [[drafting (racing)|drafting]].

Most organized rides, for example [[cyclosportive]]s (or gran fondos), [[Challenge riding|Challenge Rides]] or [[reliability trial]]s, and [[Hillclimbing (cycling)|hill climbs]] include registration requirements and will provide information either through the mail or online concerning start times and other requirements. Rides usually consist of several different routes, sorted by mileage, and with a certain number of rest stops that usually include refreshments, first aid and maintenance tools. Routes can vary by as much as {{convert|100|mi|km}}.

[[File:Kluft-photo-2019-07-19-SJBP-regroup2a.jpg|right|thumb|San Jose Bike Party in San Jose, California (July 2019)]]
Some organized rides are entirely social events. One example is the monthly [[San Jose Bike Party]] which can reach attendance of one to two thousand riders in Summer months.

====Mountain====
[[Mountain biking]] began in the 1970s, originally as a downhill sport, practised on customized [[cruiser bicycle]]s around [[Mount Tamalpais]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/clunker.htm |title=Clunkers Among the Hills |publisher=Sonic.net |access-date=6 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120427215126/http://sonic.net/~ckelly/Seekay/clunker.htm |archive-date=27 April 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Most mountain biking takes place on dirt roads, trails and in purpose-built parks. Downhill mountain biking has just evolved in the recent years and is performed at places such as Whistler Mountain Bike Park. Slopestyle, a form of downhill, is when riders do tricks such as tailwhips, 360s, backflips and front flips.
There are several disciplines of mountain biking besides downhill, including: cross country (often referred to as XC), all mountain, trail, free ride, and newly popular [[enduro]].

In 2020, due to [[COVID-19]], mountain bikes saw a surge in popularity in the US, with some vendors reporting that they were sold out of bikes under US$1000.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mountain Biking Experiencing a Surge in Popularity |url=https://thelaker.com/2020/mountain-biking-experiencing-a-surge-in-popularity |access-date=12 January 2021 |website=The Laker |date=24 June 2020 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Newcomb |first=Tim |title=Amid Cycling Surge, Sport Of Mountain Biking Is Seeing Increased Sales And Trail Usage |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/timnewcomb/2020/07/13/amidst-cycling-surge-sport-of-mountain-biking-seeing-increased-sales-trail-usage/ |access-date=12 January 2021 |website=Forbes |language=en}}</ref>

====Other====
The [[Marching and Cycling Band HHK]] from [[Haarlem]] (the Netherlands) is one of the few marching bands around the world which also performs on bicycles.

===Racing===
[[File:TDF31472 groep met rodriguez (53062211809).jpg|thumb|[[Tour de France]] cyclists racing]]
[[File:Leon Georget 1909.jpg|thumb|Bicycle racing in 1909|alt=A black-and-white picture of a man on an old bicycle. Another man is holding or pushing the bicycle.]]
[[File:Peloton on GGB.jpg|thumb|A [[peloton]] of professional bicycle racers on the [[Golden Gate Bridge]]|alt=A group of bicyclist following a car.]]
{{Main|Cycle sport}}
Shortly after the introduction of bicycles, competitions developed independently in many parts of the world. Early races involving [[Boneshaker (bicycle)|boneshaker]] style bicycles were predictably fraught with injuries. Large races became popular during the 1890s "Golden Age of Cycling", with events across Europe, and in the U.S. and Japan as well. At one point, almost every major city in the US had a [[velodrome]] or two for [[Track cycling|track racing]] events, however since the middle of the 20th century cycling has become a minority sport in the US whilst in Continental Europe it continues to be a major sport, particularly in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Italy and Spain. The most famous of all bicycle races is the [[Tour de France]]. This began in 1903, and continues to capture the attention of the sporting world.

In 1899, [[Charles Minthorn Murphy]] became the first man to ride his bicycle a mile in under a minute (hence his nickname, Mile-a-Minute Murphy), which he did by drafting a [[locomotive]] at [[New York (state)|New York]]'s [[Long Island]].

As the bicycle evolved its various forms, different racing formats developed. Road races may involve both team and individual competition, and are contested in various ways. They range from the one-day road race, [[criterium]], and time trial to multi-stage events like the Tour de France and its sister events which make up cycling's [[Grand Tour (cycling)|Grand Tours]]. [[Recumbent bicycle]]s were banned from bike races in 1934 after Marcel Berthet set a new [[hour record]] in his ''Velodyne streamliner'' (49.992&nbsp;km on 18 November 1933). [[Track bicycle]]s are used for [[track cycling]] in [[Velodrome]]s, while [[cyclo-cross]] races are held on outdoor terrain, including pavement, grass, and mud. Cyclocross races feature human-made features such as small barriers which riders either [[Bunny hop (cycling)|bunny hop]] over or dismount and walk over. [[Individual time trial|Time trial]] races, another form of road racing require a rider to ride against the clock. Time trials can be performed as a team or as a single rider. Bikes are changed for time trial races, using [[aero bars]]. In the past decade, [[mountain biking|mountain bike racing]] has also reached international popularity and is even an Olympic sport.

Professional racing organizations place limitations on the bicycles that can be used in the races that they sanction. For example, the Union Cycliste Internationale, the governing body of international cycle sport (which sanctions races such as the Tour de France), decided in the late 1990s to create additional rules which prohibit racing bicycles weighing less than 6.8 kilograms (14.96 pounds). The UCI rules also effectively ban some [[bicycle frame]] innovations (such as the [[recumbent bicycle]]) by requiring a double triangle structure.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://oldsite.uci.ch/english/about/rules/ch01_general.pdf |title=UCI Cycling Regulations |access-date=4 August 2006 |author=Union Cycliste International |year=2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304223058/http://oldsite.uci.ch/english/about/rules/ch01_general.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>