Week in Review: Bicycle News & Opinions from Around the World

Hipsters cycling all over Japan, “Car Free Day” in Mumbai, an impressive finding around Safe Routes programs, a YouTube stunt champ and more. This past week’s news about bicycling has been insane! In case you were too engrossed in the Olympics (understandably) to get your fill of cycling news, take a look at our highlights from last week!

• February 19, 2010: Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz, a club and advocacy group that hosts weekly rides, monthly meetings and trail-work days is hosting their annual Mountain Bike Festival February 27-28, 2010. Karen Kefauver, Spin City: Down and dirty – Santa Cruz Mountain Bike Festival is around the corner (Karen Kefauver, Santa Cruz Sentinel)

• February 18, 2010: A listing of movies that are sports-related but can also loved by a less-than-active crowd. Can you guess what the featured movie is in the bicycling category? What is the Best Sports Movie for People Who Hate Sports? (Adam Hirsch, The Takeaway)

• February 18, 2010: 10 riders of Bangalore Cycling Club (BCC) cycled to Mumbai to promote the ‘Car Free Day’ in Mumbai, which was held on February 21. Mumbai Car Free Day is part of a worldwide movement that encourages motorists to give up their car for a day. The event was hosted by Transport and Road Safety Commissioner, before the Vidhana Soudha. It’s all about the bike (Staff Writer, Express Buzz)

• February 17, 2010: Coming in the summer of 2010 – “Tokyo to Osaka” – A movie documenting the journey of 13 American bicyclists traveling for one week, 350 miles across Japan. ‘Junkan’: Biking from Tokyo to Osaka (David Marx, CNNGo)

• February 16, 2010: Danny MacAskill, a Scottish stunt bicyclist, is one of six nominees for The 2010 Laureus World Action Sportsperson Award. The award recognizes sporting achievement over a single year. MacAskill first gained famed after posting a 5 minute and 37 second YouTube video of bicycle stunts – including riding along the top of a spiky metal fence, doing a back flip off a tree and jumping off huge ledges. MacAskill Nominated for Laureus Award (Staff Writer, Bicycling: MB World Blog)

• February 15, 2010: Willie Weir, a globetrotting adventure cyclist, delivered speeches to interested fans in Sacramento on 2/15-2/18 to benefit the nonprofit programs Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates, the Bicycle Kitchen and Mustard Seed Spin. Adventure cyclist Willie Weir speaks at Sacramento benefits (Blair Anthony Robertson, San Francisco Bee)

• February 15, 2010: The report, “Safe Routes to School Local School Project: A health evaluation at 10 low-income schools,” indicates that there has been positive progress toward achieving many Local School Project goals – a program that began in April 2008 and assists Safe Routes programs at 10 schools from around the country. Safe Routes Low-Income Program Report Released (Stephane Babcock, School Transportation News)