The second edition of World Bicycle Day, held on 3 June 2019, was marked by numerous events and initiatives around the world, including at the UCI’s very own World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle.
What do BMX, cotton candy, penny farthing, bike polo and Buffalo Bikes have in common? They were part of an action-packed programme of activities experienced by several hundred schoolchildren from Aigle on the second edition of World Bicycle Day!
The local students participated in an interactive circuit of bicycle games, skill testing challenges, entertaining bicycle prototypes – including a cotton candy producing bicycle – and education about the impact of bicycles in Africa. Organisations including World Bicycle Relief, Pro Vélo Suisse, the Tour des Stations, and local bicycle artist Gerry Oulevay were on site to support the delivery of these activities, which were then offered to the public all evening long.
In addition, several representatives from organisations based in Switzerland had the opportunity to discover the discipline of track cycling, benefiting from the expert advice of Swiss Olympian and UCI staff member Gaël Suter.
Members of the public also took part in initiatives which started earlier in the day, including a lunch ride with UCI staff and a used bicycle collection drive for Swiss NGO Vélafrica, through which almost 20 bikes were collected and will be refurbished and sent to rural communities in Africa.
Finally, the UCI’s Ride for World Bicycle Day Challenge on Strava surpassed expectations, as cyclists from all around the world who joined the UCI Cycling Club totalled an impressive 103,019 km on the day, raising enough money to send 50 Buffalo bikes to Africa on behalf of World Bicycle Relief.
After joining forces with the UCI to celebrate World Bicycle Day, World Bicycle Relief’s CEO Dave Neiswander commented: “World Bicycle Relief was thrilled to partner with UCI on World Bicycle Day, to celebrate the Power of Bicycles not just in sports and recreation, but also as an engine of sustainable development for people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. World Bicycle Relief helped students reflect on what their daily life looks like compared to Scholastica’s, a 17 year old student in rural Kenya – to highlight the direct impact bicycles have in providing access to education and to help students save valuable time.”
Numerous other celebrations took place around the world on 3 June. We highlight several below:
Finally, several riders shared their favorite reasons to cycle with the UCI – take a look at our #WorldBicycleDay video.