A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered or motor-assisted, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A bicycle rider is called a cyclist, or bicyclist.
Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other type of cycle. It encompasses the use of human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world for purposes including transport, recreation, exercise, and competitive sport.
Bicycle touring is the taking of self-contained cycling trips for pleasure, adventure or autonomy rather than sport, commuting or exercise. Bicycle touring can range from single-day trips to extended travels spanning weeks or months. Tours may be planned by the participant or organized by a tourism business, local club or organization, or a charity as a fund-raising venture.
Cycle sport is competitive physical activity using bicycles. There are several categories of bicycle racing including road bicycle racing, cyclo-cross, mountain bike racing, track cycling, BMX, and cycle speedway. Non-racing cycling sports include artistic cycling, cycle polo, freestyle BMX, mountain bike trials, hardcourt bike polo and cycleball. The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) is the world governing body for cycling and international competitive cycling events. The International Human Powered Vehicle Association is the governing body for human-powered vehicles that imposes far fewer restrictions on their design than does the UCI. The UltraMarathon Cycling Association is the governing body for many ultra-distance cycling races.
Road bicycle racing is the cycle sport discipline of road cycling, held primarily on paved roads. Road racing is the most popular professional form of bicycle racing, in terms of numbers of competitors, events and spectators. The two most common competition formats are mass start events, where riders start simultaneously and race to a set finish point; and time trials, where individual riders or teams race a course alone against the clock. Stage races or "tours" take multiple days, and consist of several mass-start or time-trial stages ridden consecutively.
Jonathan James Vaughters is an American former professional racing cyclist and current manager of UCI WorldTeam EF Education–EasyPost.
This is a glossary of terms and jargon used in cycling, mountain biking, and cycle sport.
The European Cyclists' Federation (ECF) is a non-profit member-based umbrella federation of local, regional and national civil society organizations that promote cycling for both transportation and leisure.
Cycling advocacy consists of activities that call for, promote or enable increased adoption and support for cycling and improved safety and convenience for cyclists, usually within urbanized areas or semi-urban regions. Issues of concern typically include policy, administrative and legal changes ; advocating and establishing better cycling infrastructure ; public education regarding the health, transportational and environmental benefits of cycling for both individuals and communities, cycling and motoring skills; and increasing public and political support for bicycling.
Scottish Cycling, legally the Scottish Cyclists' Union (SCU), is the governing body for cycle sport in Scotland and is part of British Cycling, the national governing body in Britain.
USA Cycling or USAC, based in Colorado Springs, Colorado, is the national governing body for bicycle racing in the United States. It covers the disciplines of road, track, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, and BMX across all ages and ability levels. In 2015, USAC had a membership of 61,631 individual members.
Cycling Weekly is the world's oldest cycling publication. It is both a weekly cycling magazine and a news, features and buying advice website. It is published by Future. It used to be affectionately referred to by British club cyclists as "The Comic".
Charlotteville Cycling Club is a cycling club in Guildford, southern England. The club incorporated in 1903, saw a national record broken in 1934 by Harry Ferris and organises the Guildford Town Centre Races, which have taken place since 1984.
Robert ("Bob") Charles Mionske is a two-time U.S. Olympic racing cyclist and U.S. National Champion (1990). In the 1988 Summer Olympics, held in Seoul, South Korea, he placed fourth in the Individual Road Race. He retired from professional cycling in 1993 and is now an attorney based in Portland, Oregon, with a practice in bicycle law. He wrote Legally Speaking, a national column on bicycle law, between 2002 and 2009, and has also written Bicycling & the Law: Your Rights as a Cyclist, a book on bicycle law published in August 2007. Mionske has written his Legally Speaking column on bicycle law for VeloNews and his Road Rights column on bicycle law for Bicycling Magazine. In February 2015, Mionske returned to writing his Legally Speaking column at VeloNews.
The National Clarion Cycling Club is a British cycling club founded in 1894, and which retained strong links with the labour movement through the 20th century. At its peak, in 1936, it had 233 UK sections and 8,306 members. In 2021, it replaced its “support for the principles of socialism” with support for “fairness, equality, inclusion and diversity”. Today it has some 30 member sections across Great Britain and over 1,900 members.
Norman Leslie Sheil was a racing cyclist who won world pursuit championships for Britain in 1955 and 1958 and rode the Tour de France in 1960. He became national coach of the British Cycling Federation and later of the Canadian Cycling Association. He returned to racing in the 1998 and won the world points championship for over-65s, in Manchester England.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to bicycles:
Mara Katherine Abbott is a US former professional women's bicycle racer. In 2010, Abbott became the first US cyclist ever to win the Giro d'Italia Femminile, one of the Grand Tours of women's bicycle racing. Abbott retired after the 2016 Olympic Games road race.
Manfred Neun is a German entrepreneur and a key figure in cycling advocacy. He is the former president of the European Cyclists' Federation and actively advocates for cycling and utility cycling in Europe and abroad.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to cycling:
