World Bicycle Day is celebrated on June 3 every year ever since the UN passed a resolution in 2018 to increase awareness about the benefits of using a bicycle — a simple, affordable, clean, and environment-friendly sustainable means of transportation.
The resolution encourages stakeholders to emphasize and advance the use of the bicycle to foster sustainable development, further growth of physical education among children and young people, promote health and facilitate mutual understanding and respect between people from different communities.
The day was recognised after Leszek Sibilski, a Polish social scientist working in the US, led a grassroots campaign with his sociology class to promote a UN Resolution for World Bicycle Day, eventually gaining the support of Turkmenistan and 56 other countries.
The various benefits cycling offers are well-known. In addition to helping us stay fit and reducing air pollution, the practice also makes education, healthcare and other social services more accessible to low-income countries.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), safe infrastructure for walking and cycling is also a pathway for achieving greater health equity. For the poorest urban sector, who often cannot afford private vehicles, walking and cycling can provide a form of transport while reducing the risk of heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, diabetes, and even death. Accordingly, improved active transport is not only healthy; it is also equitable and cost-effective.
The day was tweeted about by organisations and cycling enthusiasts from around the globe.
The United Nations enumerated the various benefits of cycling in a tweet.
The world governing body of cycling Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) tweeted, "Cycling is whatever you want it to be."
The Premier League also took advantage of the event.
There were a few gags as well.
