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Celebrate Independence With These 17 Infographics About Bicycling
For many, bicycles represent freedom. They are relatively simple and cheap to maintain, they make travel simple, and they are incredibly fun to ride. Through the use of some simple machinery, they increase our travel efficiency — compared to that of walking — threefold.
One of the biggest advantages of biking is the fuel they take also happens to be delicious. In addition, the environmental benefits of biking are desperately needed at a time when our climate is changing. Let’s go for a ride and check out these 17 graphics about biking.
1. How Bikes Can Save Us outlines how all the positives of biking can help fix several problems in our society, from obesity to air pollution.
2. It seems that people are catching on. New American Transit covers the beginnings of the transition.
3. Bicycling in the US also covers some of the reasons that biking is such a great alternative to driving.
4. For some more data on the adoption of cycling in the US, Bicycle Information gives a good statistical overview of adoption in 2008.
5. The health benefits of cycling are pretty profound. Working out on the Way to Work shows the inverse correlation between bike commuters and obesity rates in different countries around the world.
6. If you start biking, you may want to track your activity. Think of it as an odometer for your body. Strava is one site you can do that with, and Strava’s Community Achievements graphic shows how impressive their community is.
7. One of the most important things about biking is safety. You should always know the laws in your region, and if you live in the UK, Cycling and the Law will tell you most of what you need to know.
8. No matter where you are, if you bike on the road, knowing how to do it properly is important. How Bikes and Cars Can Coexist details some of the best practices when cycling on the road (reverse some instructions for left side countries).
9. In addition to personal safety, property safety is also important. Make sure you have a proper lock (cables probably aren’t enough) and watch out for quick release mechanisms if you lock up in bad areas. Bicycle theft at US Universities is especially common, so be smart if you lock up on a campus.
10. Among cyclists, there is a sort of mini competition about which city is the best to bike in. Bike-opolis takes a look at some of the best cities in the US.
It can be really difficult to quantify how good a city is to bike in, so these next few graphics cover various aspects of biking in individual cities around the world. Check them out and see if your city is one of them.
11. Chicago
12. San Francisco
13. Washington D.C.
14. Minneapolis
15. Amsterdam
16. Denver
17. Philadelphia
Regardless of where you bike, be safe and have fun!
Drew Skau is Visualization Architect at Visual.ly, and a cycling PhD Computer Science Visualization student at UNCC, with an undergraduate degree in Architecture.
