From Europe to California this week’s Fast Facts Friday takes a look at some of the most compelling bicycle stories and developments from around the world.

• Bike cafés have become that latest hip hang out in London. Whether you’re looking for morning coffee, scrumptious lunch or tall pint  – there are some intriguing bike-friendly locales in London. Check out the Container Café, Lock 7, and Rapha Cycle Club. Look Mum No Hands is a bar, café, and workshop – all bundled together in a lofty garage space. They offer free Wi-Fi and have weekly cycling events. (NYTimes.com)


Bell rider Fabian Cancellara is currently leading the pack at the 2010 Tour de France.

• We’ve covered bicycle laws and programs from time to time here, and we were enthused on Thursday to see that the federal government awarded $3 million to Boston’s planned bike sharing program. The injection of federal funds allows the city to purchase roughly 500 bicycles for use at about 50 rental stations. The bike share program is scheduled to launch next spring. (Boston.com)
• A young designer from Britain has invented a revolutionary folding bicycle: 21-year old Kevin Scott’s “Bendy Bike” uses a ratchet system built into the frame of the bike to allow it to wrap around a pole, enabling the lock to be wrapped through both wheels and the frame. You have to see the pictures to believe it. (DailyMail.co.uk)
• In Woodland, CA bicycle enthusiasts and community leaders are preparing for “The World’s Greatest Bicycle Parade. “On Sunday, October 3, we hope more than 4,000 bike riders from Davis and the surrounding communities will help break the Guinness world’s record for largest parade of bicycles,” Bicycle Parade Committee Chairman Frank Giustino said. So if you live in Northern California, or are planning a trip that way this fall, be a part of history and help them go into the record books! (DailyDemocrat.com)
• Of course, we can’t forget about Le Tour de France which kicked off this week. World time trial champion and Bell rider Fabian Cancellara won the prologue to the 2010 Tour on July 3, and he has been able to keep hold of the race-leading (first place) yellow jersey through today! Keep it up Fabian! For full coverage check out Versus.com. (Bloomberg.com)

Get ready, get set, Go! The Tour de France is drawing to an end, but your knowledge of the race may not be so this week’s post revolves all around The Tour!

1. Three. The average number of chains worn out by a single rider (Armstrong goes through about one chain per week). (About.com)

2. Winner, winner chicken dinner! Last year’s Tour de France winner, Carlos Sastre, was wearing a Bell helmet! (Bell Sports)

3. The oldest person to win a Tour de France was 36-year-old Firmin Lambot in 1922. (About.com)

4. The youngest person to win the Tour de France was 20-year-old Henri Cornet in 1904. (About.com)

5. 123,900. The number of calories, on average, that are burned by a rider over the course of the Tour. (About.com)

And, a special thanks to About.com for many of these fabulous facts! What’s your knowledge of the Tour de France? You know we’d love to hear about it, so feel free to comment! Also, don’t forget to catch up on updates with this year’s Tour de France, before the race ends this Sunday!

On July 4, the 96th Le Tour de France began. To date, the three week-long cycling competition has proven to be nothing less than exhilarating. Three-time world winner, American Greg LeMond, once said of the race, “It never gets easier, you just go faster.” This year is no different.

Hundreds of the world’s top cyclists have been competing in this rigorous, yet prestigious, 21-stage race – all in hopes of coming out on top. To view a detailed map of the race, check out this one at Versus.com. And, from unforeseen leaders in the race to accidents and pullouts, this year’s tour – covering Monaco, France, Spain, Andorra, Switzerland and Italy – is one for the books!

So who is currently on top, you ask? Rather than just tell you (especially considering you never know when someone could swoop ahead into the first place spot, we thought we’d provide you with a few resources for finding the best information available on the race. For up-to-the-minute information about the tour, there are many places you can go. On Twitter, for instance, you can receive as-it-happens updates by following the TdFblog author, Frank Steele (@TdFblog) or Cyclingfans.com’s Peter Geyer (@cyclingfans).

American favorite Lance Armstrong also periodically tweets updates about the race from his twitter account, @lancearmstrong. By following him, we were able to find out that, as of recently, this year’s top 20 cyclists were separated by only 6 minutes. That’s extremely rare this late in a race of such high caliber.

Can’t wait for people like Lance to update you on what they’re seeing with the race? Well then, watch live video coverage of the race by heading over to Cyclingfans.com, and you’ll be able to see who is well on their way to the final stage, first!

The race is almost over, and with just five days left, you don’t want to miss out on any of the action! Thankfully for you, you should now be fully equipped with resources so that you can stay on track with the cyclists.

Considering the very prestigious Tour de France commences tomorrow, July 4, we thought we’d help kick start your holiday weekend with a few fun facts about bike racing!

1. Since 1975 the Tour de France finish has been on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. Before 1975, the race finished at the Parc des Princes stadium in western Paris and at the Piste Municipale. (Wikipedia)

2. Cycling was a part of the first modern Olympic Games that took place in Athens, Greece, in 1896. (Olympic.org)

3. In 1984, Bell became the official supplier to the US Cycling Team. (Bells Sports)

4. This weekend Lance Armstrong returns from a three-year retirement from the event to come back and compete in the 2009 Tour de France. (Sports Illustrated)

5. The world’s longest bike race is called Race Across America (RAAM) and covers 3,000 miles. (thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com)

And, as if you could forget, tomorrow is also Independence Day in the U.S.A! Have some interesting plans for the 4th that you’d like to share? Send us a shout out! We always like to keep up with what our community is up to!

Wishing a fun and safe holiday weekend to you and yours!!

This weekend kicks off the 96^th Le Tour de France. Over the next three weeks, hundreds of elite cyclists will compete, by invitation only, in the oldest and most prestigious bike race. These cyclists will endure 21 different stages throughout the course — including flat, mountain, and time-trial stages — covering a distance of 3,500 kilometers. Translation: that’s about 2,175 miles of intensely competitive and grueling cycling! This year’s race is sure to offer plenty of captivating competition, with four past champions returning this year, including Carlos Sastre and cycling legend Lance Armstrong.

But you probably already knew all that.

Did you know, though, that the Le Tour de France didn’t enforce the mandatory wearing of helmets until just six years ago? In 2003, the Union Cycliste Internationale (or UCI) introduced a rule requiring elite cyclists to wear helmets, offering additional safety precautions. Prior to that, helmets had been advised, but were not compulsory.

That means now, Le Tour de France — which is already a showcase of amazing and unbelievable cycling skills — can be thought of as a showcase for new, innovative, and colorful helmets!!

We hope you check back with our blog later in July for further updates about the race. In the meantime, let us know if you’re going to be doing anything special to watch or celebrate the Tour de France in the comments section below!