This editorial piece is written by James Crossley – BYCS Creative & Communications Consultant.
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When you think about rotating, what comes to mind? Is it hands on a clock? The earth on its axis? A bicycle wheel on tarmac? And what direction are these things taking us? Forwards? Backwards? In circles? And what will we find when we get there? Do we even want to get there at all?
April contains two global anniversaries — World Health Day, and Earth Day. Different approaches to a similar and intersecting mission of bettering the quality of life of all beings on our planet. They come once a year, a moment that rolls past to briefly acknowledge immense concepts, each a crucial part of every single day of the year. Without health, there is no earth. Without earth, there is no health.
BYCS celebrated (and shouted for!) the role of cycling in achieving the goals of both.
World Health Day’s theme this year was “Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures“. The majority of BYCS projects focus on building mobility cultures and opportunities for children. Starting early is crucial to healthy physical and mental development, and also cementing long-term habits to keep that health.
One example of this include the launching of a 3rd pilot city, Bari, Italy, in our Cycle for Better Health programme. The World Health Day launch saw a new round of children’s cycling initiatives that instill healthy physical activity habits and lifelong benefits in underserved communities. Thanks to local partner Terreno – Cycling Therapy, and global partner Cities for Better Health.
Another example, taking us across the Tyrrhenian Sea to Barcelona (specifically Santa Coloma de de Gramenet) is Totes en Bici, where women caregivers are building cycling skills and confidence with training sessions in the second phase of “Everyone on the Bike”. Over 32 participants have taken part with subsequent benefit to the children for whom they care. Thanks to collaboration with Bicilot, Smart Nudges, and La CIBA.
Photo: Totes en Bici workshop in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Photo – Biciclot
Earth Day’s 2025 theme was “Our Power, Our Planet“. To this we say: what better power than our own! (Bi)Cycles are some of the most efficient machines ever invented by humans, with up to 98% of leg energy transferred to the wheels, and using up to 5 times less energy than walking, and many more than any other powered vehicle.
Where BYCS goes further than just celebrating efficiency however, is to recognise the transformational potential of the culture of cycling. For many years big cities build more and more roads, to enable “better” mobility for people. Now the narrative is starting to switch as the inequity and inherent personal and environmental harm of cars is recognised, and cycling is seen as a solution. However growing cycling within the same extractive and capitalist structures that saw cars rise to tyrannical power, will not lead us to challenging the problems targeted by “Earth Day”, but rather perpetuating the same damaging and unfair ways of living and moving we’ve suffered from for the last century.
BYCS supports human-centric cycling. Not only does this mean building human-infrastructure (to work alongside built infrastructure like bike lanes), but it also means supporting new narratives of movement. For us to slow down or mitigate the already disastrous climate crisis, we need to slow down society. Rather than making cycling with the mindset of speed and scarcity of driving and capitalism, we must support new narratives of slower, kinder, fairer movement such as degrowth. Cycling has the potential to open minds to welcome and catalyse adoption these different ways of living, as we are able to connect better with each other, and the earth. From the saddle we consume less and embrace contentment rather than competition along the way.
In Almere, Netherlands, a new initiative by BYCS brings these ideas together with Wandel woensdag, fiets vrijdag (walking wednesday and cycling friday). Getting children and their parents travelling to school actively is crucial to teaching children the importance of an active lifestyle from an early age, and embedding the benefits of some distance from the regular fast-pace of the world for parents bringing up their kids today.
Photo – BYCS (START programme)
When we thinking of spinning — turning — rotating, we think of all of these concepts. We think about the cyclical nature of existence; perhaps even the guiding (or warning) image of the Ouroboros. The earth, its health and ours, are infinitely connected by the way we act and move each day. While we had just a single day for each concept this month, BYCS programmes and mission will keep spinning throughout the year, with the vision of clean, healthy, equitable mobility for all.