The Bicycle: A Small Green Machine

A Presentation to the UCI Centenary Academic Symposium

Paris, France
14 April 2000

Jim Hasenauer, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Communication Studies
Board Member, International Mountain Bicycling Association

Congratulations to the UCI on this occasion and for the century of guiding the wonderful sport of competitive cycling. Over the years, everyone who loves bicycle racing has marveled at the speed, grace and heart of these competitors. It is the UCI and the national federations that have built an infrastructure that has nurtured this athleticism and the technical development of the bicycle. Thank you.

As we have heard, the bicycle's rich history has had enormous social impacts. It has changed us forever. It has been and will continue to be a catalyst for positive change. As we envision our next 100 years, the bicycle has much to offer. Specifically, it offers us HEALTH-- health for individuals, health for our communities and health for our environment. The bicycle is a small green machine that can transform our small blue planet.

Many would emphasize distinctions between competitive cycling, cycling for recreation, and cycling for transportation. They would distinguish between road cycling and mountain biking. We need not. Bicycling, in its many forms, promotes health. Bicycling is good for us.

Several years ago the World Health Organization defined "health" as a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease". No machine promotes health and connects us to nature like the bicycle.

In 1999, member states of the World Health Organization of Europe signed a Charter on Transport, Environment and Health. It highlights cycling as a significant mode of transportation and bemoans the fact that the positive effects of cycling on health, fitness, environment and social interaction have been overlooked by planners and decision makers. The Charter sets a direction for environmentally friendly mobility by emphasizing: reducing the need for travel, a shift to bicycling and walking, the implementation of best available technology and an identification of a number of assessment processes.

A recent editorial in the British Medical Journal called on physicians to proactively encourage bicycle riding. Adults and children are exercising less and that is costing them their health, sometimes their lives. The Journal estimated that increasing exercise could reduce deaths from cardiovascular risks by 25%! Britain is not alone. Increasing reliance on the automobile for trips that could be accomplished on foot or on bicycle is diminishing our stamina and polluting our air. In the US, bicycle racks at schools stand empty while parents queue their cars to drop children off.

According to the Worldwatch Institute, 50% of all trips in the European Union are five kilometers or less; 40% of all auto trips in the United States are two miles or less. These are ideal distances for cycling. Unfortunately, there is a perception that bicycle riding is difficult, dangerous or inconvenient. That isn't so, and when people return to bicycling and overcome their awkwardness, they discover this. Ironically, in many car-dependent cities, bicyclists move faster than motorists. We can encourage individuals to ride and we can encourage our villages and cities to prioritize convenient, safe, and attractive bicycle facilities.

People will ride. In the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany bicycles now account for 20--30% of all trips. There have been amazing demonstrations on "auto-free" days here in France, in Italy, in Germany, in the Netherlands, in Brazil, in Japan and in other nations. This year, 22 September is European Auto-Free day and has the theme "In Town, Without My Car." There are even "auto-free" communities developing, for example, in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands.

It is not just lack of exercise and the air pollution that harm us. The car has made our communities less liveable. Our streets have become congested. There is pressure to destroy old roads, lanes and rights of way. Infrastructure costs are higher. Land use planning is distorted by an apparent need for more and wider roads. We become separated from our neighbors. Health, our physical, mental and social well-being, is put in jeopardy.

Developing countries, with utilitarian bicycle use well established, might think twice before following the model that is destroying quality of life in so many modern cities. In Asia, bicycles transport more people than all the automobiles in the world. There is a question of balance here, a question of scale. Certainly, motorized transportation has its place and many far reaching benefits, but so does human scale, human-powered mobility.

Globally, there is a tremendous amount of energy dedicated to bicycle transportation policies. To its credit, the UCI has made a commitment to this work. In 1998, UCI signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Cyclists' Federation, an umbrella organization of 54 bike transportation advocacy groups in 31 countries. The UCI and the ECF agreed to support each others' activities, to cooperate on joint projects to achieve common goals, and to create a fund which would sustain this program. The first project emphasized the integration of bicycle and rail transportation. I urge all of us to support these kinds of initiatives and also to look for local alliances between federations and advocacy groups.

I am a mountain bike advocate. Most of my riding is not so much to arrive at a destination, but for recreation. I live in Los Angeles, California and I ride to escape the city, to immerse myself in nature, to feed my soul. My organization, IMBA, the International Mountain Bicycling Association, was founded in 1988 to promote environmentally sound and socially responsible mountain biking. We work to keep trails open to bicyclists through education. We ask riders to ride softly and minimize their impact, we teach riders how to participate effectively in land use decision making and we offer technical assistance to land managers on how best to accommodate mountain bikes. We have made great progress in establishing mountain biking as legitimate even on lands that are environmentally sensitive.

When mountain bikes first became popular, there were concerns that they might be harmful to the environment. There were worries about trail degradation, but studies, Seney in the US and Cessford in New Zealand, have found that bike impacts are similar to hiker impacts in most cases. There have been few studies of mountain bikes impacts on wildlife and again, there's no evidence that bikes have greater impact than hikers, equestrians or other backcountry visitors.

In my experience, if mountain bike riders don't already have strong environmental values, they develop them quickly. First there is an aesthetic awareness. They appreciate the beauty and novelty of wild lands, viewsheds, plants and animals not seen closer to home. Then their understanding grows. Every ride is a field trip. They learn the names of those plants and animals. They learn the nuances of the habitat, the subtle changes of season, where and when to go to see native plants blooming or to observe wildlife. They learn to ride in ways that leave no trace. Finally, they become a constituency for wild places. They work to protect them.

A 1995 study found that US mountain bike advocates "are overwhelmingly biocentric.... That mountain bikers generally see themselves as environmentally concerned with much of their lives organized around environmental issues. " This finding did not surprise me. This is who we are. I'm sure this is true internationally. Mountain bikers have distinguished themselves through volunteerism. Worldwide, they are engaged in local, national and global environmental work.

IMBA asks every rider to contribute 20 hours a year of volunteer service to local parks and trails. Typical projects include trail building and maintenance, providing nature interpretive talks, participating in volunteer patrols, leading mountain bike rides for youth groups, and a variety of other important contributions.

This is the third year of the IMBA Trail Care Crew where teams of expert trail builders travel to provide technical assistance to land managers and trail users. The teams have visited 49 of the 50 United States, two Canadian provinces and eight European nations. They've completed more than 750 projects and have held more than a dozen trail building schools.

Early on, some in the environmental movement did not know what to expect from mountain bikers. Now they do, they recognize our values and they appreciate our work. Important alliances are taking shape.

In the US, for example, the most prominent environmental organization, the Sierra Club has agreed that responsible mountain bike riding is appropriate on trails. IMBA and the Sierra Club have a joint action plan to promote our common interests. In the Netherlands, a mountain bike advocate is part of the leadership of the De Verenging Natuurmonumenten, the largest green organization in that country.

The UCI has been a part of these efforts. IMBA has often asked the UCI for assistance with our mission and they have helped with financial, technical and logistical support. There's been close cooperation. All national federations should look for ways to promote environmental awareness and action. In all of our countries, there are mountain bike advocates working to keep trails open and in good condition and to keep wild lands wild. Those advocates deserve the support of the racing community.

As we see, the UCI has made a commitment to support both transportation advocacy and mountain bike advocacy. The UCI, of course, also makes a commitment to environmental protection in ways more central to its mission, in sport.

In 1995, here in Paris, "environment" became the third pillar of the Olympic Movement. It was added to the two existing pillars--the celebrations of "sport" and "culture". The International Olympic Committee signed a cooperative agreement with the United Nations Environmental Program calling for concerted action on sport and the environment. This is extremely important. Sport infrastructure, especially at the Olympic and World Championship level, can have significant environmental impact.

The UCI has committed to this effort. On the mountain bike side, they've supported a major project to establish Environmental Guidelines for Mountain Bike Competitions. The guidelines emphasize planning to control: noise, transport, waste, soil erosion, destruction of flora, and disturbance of fauna. The guidelines make the important distinction between transitory, inconsequential, visual impacts and more significant, long term effects. They set up a process that fosters environmentally friendly course design; anticipating the needs of spectators, perhaps the most difficult problem; and course restoration after an event is over. This document can be modified to be useful in all of cycling's disciplines and perhaps it could be adopted by other sports.

I'm told that the planning, selection and construction of the cross country course for the Sydney Olympics, the Green Games, offer a new standard for environmental consciousness. The Sydney Organizing Committee worked with Greening Australia and local aboriginal tribes to maintain distance from sensitive flora, fauna and sacred sites; they utilized existing tracks whenever possible; some spectator paths were cut by hand to reduce vehicle impact; and there are plans and budget for regeneration of the course after the games are over. This attention to detail is a model of what we all must do every time we're planning an event.

>From an advocate's perspective, we must not only practice good environmental habits, we must ensure our public image is environmentally friendly.

Everyone here knows that races are held on closed courses under controlled conditions, but the general public does not always understand the distinction between racing and recreational riding. When mountain bike advocates go to meetings with environmental decision makers, they frequently encounter the view that mountain bike riding only means kamikaze downhills, ultra-marathon cross country endurance events and getting bikes to hop through impossible obstacles. The demands and riding styles of competition are assumed to be the style of mountain bicycling in everyday situations.

The mountain bike is a media icon, but racing or stunt images predominate and have become the dominant public perception of mountain bike use. These extreme images are often exaggerated and inaccurate. Ultimately, they cost us. As we must proactively educate mountain bikers and the general public, we must monitor and cultivate the image of our sport as it is characterized in the media.

Race venues are important educational sites for riders. They're ideal for exhibits and for distributing information. Racers, both mountain and road are heroes. They should be role models for the younger riders who look up to them.

On site and in racing publications, there should be messages about responsible riding and responsible training; how to connect with local advocacy organizations; how to participate in public planning both for transportation and for recreation. There are millions of bicyclists, but they are not organized. The UCI, the national federations, the ECF, IMBA, other advocacy groups, all of us can contribute to building an effective network of environmentally conscious, informed and committed bicyclists.

Again, congratulations to the UCI and its great success in leading bicycle racing to prominence. Congratulations on your new advocacy initiatives. These will make a real difference to the future of cycling, to public health, to liveable communities and to the environment. There is an elegance in addressing complex problems with such a simple device and with the application of human energy and balance.

Ladies and gentlemen, many of our children are sedentary, and we have the solution.

Many of our cities are choking, and we have the solution.

Many of us have lost contact with nature; become estranged from the plants and animals that share our landscapes, and we have the solution.

The solution is the bicycle, this small, green machine. Its elementary shapes achieve greatness. These wheels, triangles, lines, pulleys, levers combine with human energy to transform us. But the bicycle is silent, we must speak for it. The solution is the bicycle, the bicyclist, and the bicycle advocate.

We must ride and we must encourage others to ride...for our health, for our souls, and for our fragile planet. Thank you.

Help | Site Map | Copyright



	The Bicycle: A Small Green Machine A Presentation to the UCI Centenary Academic Symposium Paris, France 14 April 2000 Jim Hasenauer, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Communication Studies Board Member, International Mountain Bicycling Association Congratulations to the UCI on this occasion and for the century of guiding the wonderful sport of competitive cycling. Over the years, everyone who loves bicycle racing has marveled at the speed, grace and heart of these competitors. It is the UCI and the national federations that have built an infrastructure that has nurtured this athleticism and the technical development of the bicycle. Thank you. As we have heard, the bicycle's rich history has had enormous social impacts. It has changed us forever. It has been and will continue to be a catalyst for positive change. As we envision our next 100 years, the bicycle has much to offer. Specifically, it offers us HEALTH-- health for individuals, health for our communities and health for our environment. The bicycle is a small green machine that can transform our small blue planet. Many would emphasize distinctions between competitive cycling, cycling for recreation, and cycling for transportation. They would distinguish between road cycling and mountain biking. We need not. Bicycling, in its many forms, promotes health. Bicycling is good for us. Several years ago the World Health Organization defined "health" as a complete state of physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease". No machine promotes health and connects us to nature like the bicycle. In 1999, member states of the World Health Organization of Europe signed a Charter on Transport, Environment and Health. It highlights cycling as a significant mode of transportation and bemoans the fact that the positive effects of cycling on health, fitness, environment and social interaction have been overlooked by planners and decision makers. The Charter sets a direction for environmentally friendly mobility by emphasizing: reducing the need for travel, a shift to bicycling and walking, the implementation of best available technology and an identification of a number of assessment processes. A recent editorial in the British Medical Journal called on physicians to proactively encourage bicycle riding. Adults and children are exercising less and that is costing them their health, sometimes their lives. The Journal estimated that increasing exercise could reduce deaths from cardiovascular risks by 25%! Britain is not alone. Increasing reliance on the automobile for trips that could be accomplished on foot or on bicycle is diminishing our stamina and polluting our air. In the US, bicycle racks at schools stand empty while parents queue their cars to drop children off. According to the Worldwatch Institute, 50% of all trips in the European Union are five kilometers or less; 40% of all auto trips in the United States are two miles or less. These are ideal distances for cycling. Unfortunately, there is a perception that bicycle riding is difficult, dangerous or inconvenient. That isn't so, and when people return to bicycling and overcome their awkwardness, they discover this. Ironically, in many car-dependent cities, bicyclists move faster than motorists. We can encourage individuals to ride and we can encourage our villages and cities to prioritize convenient, safe, and attractive bicycle facilities. People will ride. In the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany bicycles now account for 20--30% of all trips. There have been amazing demonstrations on "auto-free" days here in France, in Italy, in Germany, in the Netherlands, in Brazil, in Japan and in other nations. This year, 22 September is European Auto-Free day and has the theme "In Town, Without My Car." There are even "auto-free" communities developing, for example, in Germany, Austria, the Netherlands. It is not just lack of exercise and the air pollution that harm us. The car has made our communities less liveable. Our streets have become congested. There is pressure to destroy old roads, lanes and rights of way. Infrastructure costs are higher. Land use planning is distorted by an apparent need for more and wider roads. We become separated from our neighbors. Health, our physical, mental and social well-being, is put in jeopardy. Developing countries, with utilitarian bicycle use well established, might think twice before following the model that is destroying quality of life in so many modern cities. In Asia, bicycles transport more people than all the automobiles in the world. There is a question of balance here, a question of scale. Certainly, motorized transportation has its place and many far reaching benefits, but so does human scale, human-powered mobility. Globally, there is a tremendous amount of energy dedicated to bicycle transportation policies. To its credit, the UCI has made a commitment to this work. In 1998, UCI signed a memorandum of understanding with the European Cyclists' Federation, an umbrella organization of 54 bike transportation advocacy groups in 31 countries. The UCI and the ECF agreed to support each others' activities, to cooperate on joint projects to achieve common goals, and to create a fund which would sustain this program. The first project emphasized the integration of bicycle and rail transportation. I urge all of us to support these kinds of initiatives and also to look for local alliances between federations and advocacy groups. I am a mountain bike advocate. Most of my riding is not so much to arrive at a destination, but for recreation. I live in Los Angeles, California and I ride to escape the city, to immerse myself in nature, to feed my soul. My organization, IMBA, the International Mountain Bicycling Association, was founded in 1988 to promote environmentally sound and socially responsible mountain biking. We work to keep trails open to bicyclists through education. We ask riders to ride softly and minimize their impact, we teach riders how to participate effectively in land use decision making and we offer technical assistance to land managers on how best to accommodate mountain bikes. We have made great progress in establishing mountain biking as legitimate even on lands that are environmentally sensitive. When mountain bikes first became popular, there were concerns that they might be harmful to the environment. There were worries about trail degradation, but studies, Seney in the US and Cessford in New Zealand, have found that bike impacts are similar to hiker impacts in most cases. There have been few studies of mountain bikes impacts on wildlife and again, there's no evidence that bikes have greater impact than hikers, equestrians or other backcountry visitors. In my experience, if mountain bike riders don't already have strong environmental values, they develop them quickly. First there is an aesthetic awareness. They appreciate the beauty and novelty of wild lands, viewsheds, plants and animals not seen closer to home. Then their understanding grows. Every ride is a field trip. They learn the names of those plants and animals. They learn the nuances of the habitat, the subtle changes of season, where and when to go to see native plants blooming or to observe wildlife. They learn to ride in ways that leave no trace. Finally, they become a constituency for wild places. They work to protect them. A 1995 study found that US mountain bike advocates "are overwhelmingly biocentric.... That mountain bikers generally see themselves as environmentally concerned with much of their lives organized around environmental issues. " This finding did not surprise me. This is who we are. I'm sure this is true internationally. Mountain bikers have distinguished themselves through volunteerism. Worldwide, they are engaged in local, national and global environmental work. IMBA asks every rider to contribute 20 hours a year of volunteer service to local parks and trails. Typical projects include trail building and maintenance, providing nature interpretive talks, participating in volunteer patrols, leading mountain bike rides for youth groups, and a variety of other important contributions. This is the third year of the IMBA Trail Care Crew where teams of expert trail builders travel to provide technical assistance to land managers and trail users. The teams have visited 49 of the 50 United States, two Canadian provinces and eight European nations. They've completed more than 750 projects and have held more than a dozen trail building schools. Early on, some in the environmental movement did not know what to expect from mountain bikers. Now they do, they recognize our values and they appreciate our work. Important alliances are taking shape. In the US, for example, the most prominent environmental organization, the Sierra Club has agreed that responsible mountain bike riding is appropriate on trails. IMBA and the Sierra Club have a joint action plan to promote our common interests. In the Netherlands, a mountain bike advocate is part of the leadership of the De Verenging Natuurmonumenten, the largest green organization in that country. The UCI has been a part of these efforts. IMBA has often asked the UCI for assistance with our mission and they have helped with financial, technical and logistical support. There's been close cooperation. All national federations should look for ways to promote environmental awareness and action. In all of our countries, there are mountain bike advocates working to keep trails open and in good condition and to keep wild lands wild. Those advocates deserve the support of the racing community. As we see, the UCI has made a commitment to support both transportation advocacy and mountain bike advocacy. The UCI, of course, also makes a commitment to environmental protection in ways more central to its mission, in sport. In 1995, here in Paris, "environment" became the third pillar of the Olympic Movement. It was added to the two existing pillars--the celebrations of "sport" and "culture". The International Olympic Committee signed a cooperative agreement with the United Nations Environmental Program calling for concerted action on sport and the environment. This is extremely important. Sport infrastructure, especially at the Olympic and World Championship level, can have significant environmental impact. The UCI has committed to this effort. On the mountain bike side, they've supported a major project to establish Environmental Guidelines for Mountain Bike Competitions. The guidelines emphasize planning to control: noise, transport, waste, soil erosion, destruction of flora, and disturbance of fauna. The guidelines make the important distinction between transitory, inconsequential, visual impacts and more significant, long term effects. They set up a process that fosters environmentally friendly course design; anticipating the needs of spectators, perhaps the most difficult problem; and course restoration after an event is over. This document can be modified to be useful in all of cycling's disciplines and perhaps it could be adopted by other sports. I'm told that the planning, selection and construction of the cross country course for the Sydney Olympics, the Green Games, offer a new standard for environmental consciousness. The Sydney Organizing Committee worked with Greening Australia and local aboriginal tribes to maintain distance from sensitive flora, fauna and sacred sites; they utilized existing tracks whenever possible; some spectator paths were cut by hand to reduce vehicle impact; and there are plans and budget for regeneration of the course after the games are over. This attention to detail is a model of what we all must do every time we're planning an event. >From an advocate's perspective, we must not only practice good environmental habits, we must ensure our public image is environmentally friendly. Everyone here knows that races are held on closed courses under controlled conditions, but the general public does not always understand the distinction between racing and recreational riding. When mountain bike advocates go to meetings with environmental decision makers, they frequently encounter the view that mountain bike riding only means kamikaze downhills, ultra-marathon cross country endurance events and getting bikes to hop through impossible obstacles. The demands and riding styles of competition are assumed to be the style of mountain bicycling in everyday situations. The mountain bike is a media icon, but racing or stunt images predominate and have become the dominant public perception of mountain bike use. These extreme images are often exaggerated and inaccurate. Ultimately, they cost us. As we must proactively educate mountain bikers and the general public, we must monitor and cultivate the image of our sport as it is characterized in the media. Race venues are important educational sites for riders. They're ideal for exhibits and for distributing information. Racers, both mountain and road are heroes. They should be role models for the younger riders who look up to them. On site and in racing publications, there should be messages about responsible riding and responsible training; how to connect with local advocacy organizations; how to participate in public planning both for transportation and for recreation. There are millions of bicyclists, but they are not organized. The UCI, the national federations, the ECF, IMBA, other advocacy groups, all of us can contribute to building an effective network of environmentally conscious, informed and committed bicyclists. Again, congratulations to the UCI and its great success in leading bicycle racing to prominence. Congratulations on your new advocacy initiatives. These will make a real difference to the future of cycling, to public health, to liveable communities and to the environment. There is an elegance in addressing complex problems with such a simple device and with the application of human energy and balance. Ladies and gentlemen, many of our children are sedentary, and we have the solution. Many of our cities are choking, and we have the solution. Many of us have lost contact with nature; become estranged from the plants and animals that share our landscapes, and we have the solution. The solution is the bicycle, this small, green machine. Its elementary shapes achieve greatness. These wheels, triangles, lines, pulleys, levers combine with human energy to transform us. But the bicycle is silent, we must speak for it. The solution is the bicycle, the bicyclist, and the bicycle advocate. We must ride and we must encourage others to ride...for our health, for our souls, and for our fragile planet. Thank you.


Help \| Site Map \| Copyright

The Bicycle: A Small Green Machine

A Presentation to the UCI Centenary Academic Symposium

Paris, France 14 April 2000

Paris, France
14 April 2000