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.
A cyclosportive, or often simply sportive, is a short to long distance, organised, mass-participation cycling event, typically held annually. The Italian term Gran Fondo is commonly used for these events in the United States, Australia and some other English-speaking countries.
The Hilly Hundred is an annual, two-day, non-competitive bicycle tour through Morgan, Monroe and Owen Counties in south-central Indiana. It consists of two days of approximately 50-mile routes, for a total of one hundred miles in a weekend. There is also a 40-mile option for the second-day route. The event draws upwards of 5,000 cycling enthusiasts from around the country.
Around the Bay in a Day is a non-competitive fully supported recreational cycling fundraising event organised by Bicycle Network in Victoria, Australia. Cyclists register to ride a course which is 210 km (130 mi) either clockwise or anti-clockwise around Port Phillip Bay, starting and ending in Melbourne, though other distances, both shorter and longer, are available.
Ciclovía, also ciclovia or cyclovia, is a Spanish term that means "cycleway", either a permanent bike path or the temporary closing of certain streets to automobiles for cyclists and pedestrians, a practice sometimes called open streets.
The two-day bicycle Tour of the Scioto River Valley is better known by its acronym, TOSRV. It began as a father-and-son outing in 1962 before quickly growing into the nation's largest bicycle touring weekend. It is non-competitive and has been traditionally held annually on Mother's Day weekend with the exception of its early years and 2017.
The Seattle to Portland, or STP, is an annual one- or two-day supported bicycle ride from Seattle, Washington, to Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The STP "is considered one of the 10 biggest recreational bicycle rides in the country, drawing riders from across the nation and from other nations", and has been operating since 1979. The ride is organized by the Cascade Bicycle Club. It is approximately 206 miles (332 km) in length. Most riders complete the distance in two days; however, 1854 of the nearly 8000 riders attempted to ride in one day (2018).
Bike the Drive or Fifth Third Bike the Drive is a recreational, non-competitive bicycle ride held each year in Chicago. Lake Shore Drive is cleared of motor vehicle traffic and opened exclusively to bicyclists for several hours beginning at dawn. The event benefits bicycling advocacy work in the region by the Active Transportation Alliance, formerly known as the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. Since 2004, Bike the Drive has usually been held on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, though it was cancelled in 2020 due to the pamdemic, and thereafter it has been held on Labor Day weekend. In 2006, an estimated 20,000 riders participated in the event. The event is sponsored by Fifth Third Bank and branded as Fifth Third Bike the Drive; it was previously sponsored by MB Financial Bank from 2010 to 2018 and prior to 2010, was sponsored by Bank of America.
The Audax Club Parisien (ACP) is a French Cyclist Touring Club. It is a non-profit voluntary association formed in Paris in 1904. It organizes long-distance rides in France. The most popular event is the Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur, held every four years. The Audax Club Parisien is also the international reference for randonneuring and works with other randonneuring organizations worldwide through the international association Les Randonneurs Mondiaux (LRM).
The Rotary River Ride is a non-competitive bicycle ride held next to the Yarra River in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Money raised helps finance the efforts of the Rotary in Australia.
RideLondon is an annual festival of cycling held in London. Intended as an annual legacy of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, it was first held in 2013. The festival consists of a series of cycling events on closed roads around London and Essex.
A century ride is a road cycling ride of 100 kilometers or more in metric system countries or 100 miles or more in imperial system countries, usually as a cycling club-sponsored event. Many cycling clubs sponsor an annual century ride as both a social event for cyclists and as a fund-raiser for the club’s other activities.
The Great Victorian Bike Ride, commonly known as The Great Vic, is a non-competitive fully supported eight- or nine-day annual bicycle touring event organised by Bicycle Network. The ride takes different routes around the countryside of the state of Victoria, Australia each year. The total ride distance is usually in the range of 550 kilometres (340 mi), averaging about 70 kilometres (43 mi) a day excluding the rest day. The ride first ran in 1984, attracting 2,100 riders in what was initially supposed to be a one-off event, but due to its unexpected popularity and success it subsequently became an annual event. The Great Vic typically draws several thousand participants each year, with a record of 8,100 riders in 2004, which makes it one of the world's largest supported bicycle rides.
A Gran Fondo is a type of long-distance road cycling ride originating in Italy in 1970, and roughly translates into English as "Big Ride". Italian Gran Fondos are officially defined and certified by the Italian Cycling Federation as a bicycle event at least 120 kilometres (75 mi) long, and are individually chip-timed races with prizes for the fastest riders in each category. The starts are done en masse, and the format allows for riders of every level to participate, much like a marathon, where most participants are competing against the clock instead of other participants. Traditionally a large meal is served to the participants at the end of the event, and roads are shut down.
The Worst Day of the Year Ride is the annual cycling event held in Portland, Oregon, in the United States.
The Trans Am Bike Race (TABR) is an annual, self-supported, ultra-distance cycling race across the United States. The route is about 4,200 miles (6,800 km) long and uses the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail that was developed by the Adventure Cycling Association for the Bikecentennial event in 1976. The route runs from the Pacific coast in Astoria, Oregon to the Atlantic coast in Yorktown, Virginia, passing through ten states. The inaugural race was in 2014, which 25 people completed, the fastest of whom took less than 18 days.
The definition of ultra-distance cycling is far more vague than in ultra running or in ultra-triathlon. Any bike race or ride longer than a century ride, which is 100 miles (160 km), is sometimes considered to be ultra-distance cycling. However, such events are relatively common, so using a longer distance to define the category is more useful, such as any race or ride that is longer than 200 kilometres (120 mi), 300 kilometres (190 mi) or even a double century, 200 miles (320 km).
The Gravel and Tar Classic is a one-day cycling race, held annually in the Manawatu region of New Zealand, since 2016, finishing in Palmerston North. It is rated 1.2 and has been part of UCI Oceania Tour since 2018. The race is primarily on sealed roads, however the highlight of the race is the multiple gravel sectors throughout the course. The race is now considered to be the toughest one-day elite race in the Oceania region. The race is held in January each year, making it one of the first races on the UCI Calendar, and a key chance for teams and riders to gain early UCI points. The event has seen teams enter from countries such as Sweden, Japan, the US, and Australia, along with the best New Zealand men's trade teams.
Cycling in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is a popular means of transportation, sporting and recreational pass time. Commuting in the city is supported by an extensive network of urban cycleways and on-street bicycle lanes. As a city established in the 20th century, Canberra's development was heavily influenced by the automobile for much of its history. The popularity of cycling in the city has increased dramatically in the 21st century with growing awareness of environmental issues, government policy supporting active transport and investment in cycling infrastructure. This has led to the development of a strong cycling culture.
Gravel cycling, gravel biking or gravel grinding is a sport or a leisure activity, in which participants ride bicycles, mostly on gravel roads. Sometimes, specially designed gravel bikes are used; in other cases, any bicycle capable of covering the terrain can be used.
