I INTRODUCTION Cycling, bicycle riding either as a competitive sport or for recreation. It is popular throughout the world, but especially in Europe.
II BICYCLE RACING The first bicycle race was held in France in 1869. Competitive events today include road races, track or velodrome races, off-road mountain bike races, and youth BMX races.
Road racing is the oldest type of bicycle competition. There are several formats of road racing, including stage races, one-day events, time trials, and criteriums.
Stage races can last for weeks and cover thousands of kilometers. Each day's race is called a stage. The rider with the lowest cumulative time after all the stages is the overall winner. The Tour de France, a 25- to 30-day race covering about 3200 km (2000 mi), is the most prestigious bicycle race in the world.
One-day races usually last from four to seven hours and span from 160 to 380 km (100 to 175 mi). Examples of one-day races include the world championship road race, the Olympic road race, and European spring classics such as Paris-Roubaix.
In time trials, the object is to cycle as fast as possible from one point to another, while being timed by a clock. There are usually two or three time trial stages in the Tour de France.
A criterium is a multi-lap race held on a loop course with each lap only a few kilometers in length. These races are often held in downtown areas, where large crowds gather to cheer the riders as they pedal by on each lap. Unlike stage racing and time trialing, the emphasis in a criterium is on speed and bike handling rather than endurance.
Track racing is done in a stadium-like arena called a velodrome. A modern velodrome is an oval track with steeply banked corners that facilitate high speed. Velodromes can be enclosed or open-air, and the tracks are constructed of wood or concrete. Popular in Europe and the United States at the beginning of the 20th century, track racing is the primary type of Olympic cycling competition. Olympic track events include the match sprint, individual and team pursuit, kilometer time trial, and points race.
Six-day races were a type of track race in which teams cycled around a velodrome nonstop for six days. One rider from each team had to be on the track at all times, and the team covering the most cumulative distance won. During the 1910s and 1920s, six-day track races drew thousands of spectators to New York City's Madison Square Garden.
The newest, fastest-growing type of bicycle competition is off-road racing on mountain bikes. The sport started in the early 1980s when cyclists in Marin County, California, biked down mountain trails. Today, off-road races are usually held on backwoods trails and roads and on dirt paths. Racing formats include cross-country, downhill, downhill slalom, and hillclimbs. National and world championships are held annually. Cross-country mountain bike racing was chosen to debut as an Olympic sport at the Summer Games in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996.
BMX racing, or bicycle motocross, was started in California in the late 1960s by children and teenagers imitating dirt bike motorcycle racing. Bicycle motocross takes place on indoor or outdoor dirt tracks typically between 213 and 396 m (700 and 1300 ft) long. Packs of riders careen around tight turns and jump over ramps and hills. BMX racing supported a professional circuit during its peak in the 1980s then became a training ground for increasingly lucrative mountain bike racing.
III RACING EQUIPMENT Each type of cycling requires a specific type of bicycle. Road racing bikes have lightweight frames usually built of steel, aluminum, titanium, or carbon fiber. They are equipped with downward curving handlebars, thin high-pressure tires, narrow saddles, brakes, and a front and rear derailleur that shifts the chain through as many as 16 different gear combinations. The bikes' overall lightness (8 to 10 kg/18 to 23 lbs) and short wheelbase encourage speed and quick handling.
Track bikes are similar in appearance and construction to road racing bicycles, except that they lack brakes, have no variable gear mechanism, and weigh about 7 to 9 kg (about 15 to 20 lbs). Mountain bikes are built to withstand the rigorous conditions of off-road riding. Although their frames are commonly constructed of the same materials as other racing bikes, they have sturdier tubing. Mountain bikes are equipped with straight handlebars; wide, low-pressure, knobby tires; powerful brakes; and bar-mounted shift levers controlling up to 24 gears. Many mountain bikes also have some type of front or rear suspension (sometimes both) to cushion the rider against trail shock.
BMX bikes have small wheels and frames to encourage maneuverability and speed. They also have knobby tires for extra traction, and high-rise seatposts and handlebars. They are typically single-speed, and they can employ hand (also called caliper) brakes or rear coaster brakes.
Bicycle racers use other equipment as well. Helmets are essential for safe competition and are required in many races. Racers also use padded gloves and shorts, stiff-soled shoes, and eye protection. BMX racers and mountain bike downhill racers wear the most protective gear, including goggles, face guards, chest protectors, and arm and leg pads.
IV RACING ADMINISTRATION The United States Cycling Federation (USCF), headquartered at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, oversees amateur bicycle road racing in the United States. The National Off-Road Bicycle Association, affiliated with the USCF, governs mountain bike racing. The International Cycling Union, to which both organizations belong, controls road and mountain bike racing worldwide. Other organizations include the Professional Racing Organization, which oversees professional competition in the United States; the National Collegiate Cycling Association, which governs college racing; the National Bicycle League, which supervises BMX racing; and the Human Powered Vehicle Association, which controls recumbent and alternative bicycle events.
V RECREATIONAL CYCLING There are an estimated 33 million adult cyclists in the United States, and the popularity of the sport at the recreational level continues to grow. This popularity has resulted from the country's ongoing interest in physical fitness, the international success of such American cyclists as Greg LeMond (winner of the Tour de France in 1986, 1989, and 1990), and the search for more efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly modes of transportation. Road riding and touring were especially popular in the United States during the 1970s and the mid- to late 1980s, but mountain biking superseded them in popularity during the 1990s.
