Just Like Riding a Bicycle
Albert Einstein said, "Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving." The American cycling scene is indeed keeping its balance, constantly moving, growing and spreading out in new directions.
Cycling is a hugely popular recreational sport in the US and it has been steadily growing in popularity since the 20th century. US competitive cycling also enjoys very strong participation levels at an amateur level, while professional road, track and off-road events take place regularly and attract many enthusiastic followers.
Cycling is a hugely popular recreational sport in the US and it has been steadily growing in popularity since the 20th century. US competitive cycling also enjoys very strong participation levels at an amateur level, while professional road, track and off-road events take place regularly and attract many enthusiastic followers.
Competitive Cycling
Over the last two decades cycling has witnessed a boom in popularity due to the introduction of extreme events associated with the X Games. BMX, downhill mountain biking, cross-country cycling, ramp and freestyle events have all become extremely popular spectator events around the world drawing a large young audience to the sport.
While audiences seem to be growing quite naturally, attracting new participants to the sport requires active measures, which are already being taken on a national level. several scouting programs have been put into action, aiming to recruit athletes to the national track programs in order to further develop the sport and enhance US presence in the international arena.
While audiences seem to be growing quite naturally, attracting new participants to the sport requires active measures, which are already being taken on a national level. several scouting programs have been put into action, aiming to recruit athletes to the national track programs in order to further develop the sport and enhance US presence in the international arena.
USA Cycling
USA Cycling is the governing body for competitive cycling in the US. This includes track, road, BMX, mountain bike and cyclo-cross. The organization’s mission is to strengthen the field of competitive cycling in the US and achieve sustained international success in the sport. USA Cycling is made up of an impressive list of 2,400 clubs and teams along with 70,000 licensed coaches, officials, mechanics and competing riders across the five disciplines.
Through local associations the organization aims to grow the sport from a grass-roots level through a variety of initiatives. Every year Cycling USA reinvests a major share of its membership fees back into the sport via programs run by the 34 local associations.
Through local associations the organization aims to grow the sport from a grass-roots level through a variety of initiatives. Every year Cycling USA reinvests a major share of its membership fees back into the sport via programs run by the 34 local associations.
Cycling as Green Transportation
Cycling as a means of clean transport has a solid foothold in US culture, however the country-wide adoption and establishment of suitable infrastructure remains an ongoing process. A large number of states have already installed public bike systems in select cities, bike lanes are being built at a growing rate, and driver education is gradually improving.
While cycling is a broad and dynamic field that goes way beyond the sporting aspects of it, this blog will focus mainly on competitive cycling, covering a variety of topics and events in the areas of road bicycle racing and track cycling.
While cycling is a broad and dynamic field that goes way beyond the sporting aspects of it, this blog will focus mainly on competitive cycling, covering a variety of topics and events in the areas of road bicycle racing and track cycling.
