World Bicycle Day

World Bike Day sounds fun, let’s hear more.

Perhaps we should start with, when? Last Saturday, June 3, was World Bike Day. Its significance is best summed up by the UN, which acknowledges the bicycle to as a, ‘simple, affordable, reliable, clean, and environmentally fit sustainable means of transportation, fostering environmental stewardship and health.’ The World Health Organization adds, ‘safe infrastructure for walking and cycling is also a pathway for achieving greater health equity.’

Our studio already has both casual and committed cyclists, and this is the perfect opportunity to celebrate and continuously raise awareness with some penny-farthing facts, bicycle benefits, and tandem top tips.

Get in lane, here come some cycling facts

With over an estimated one-billion bikes in the world, it’s hard to argue that cycling doesn’t matter (we certainly think it does). Cycling is not only good for the environment, displacing over 238 million gallons of fuel each year for every trip made by bike instead of a car, but it’s a simple and relatively cost-effective way to improve your health. Regular cycling can increase your life expectancy, fitness age, and reduce the likelihood of getting ill and taking time off work.

Stegt flæsk versus köttbullar? In this round of Scandinavian sibling rivalry, we lose out to our Danish cousins. Although bicycle journeys account for only 9% of all travel here in Stockholm, this is still the 8th highest of all European capital cities. A number that’s not too shabby for a city usually covered by snow and ice for up to a third of the year. Hard statistics aside, Stockholm is undoubtedly a beautiful place to explore on two wheels, with its abundance of purpose-built and car-free routes to safely traverse for work, fitness, or leisure.

Who better to ask than our resident helmet heads? We jumped on Slack and asked this very question and they gave us three top picks for cycling in and around the city. Nackareservatet (Nacka Nature Reserve), just a 4.5km (or 15-minute) bike ride, from our office, was naturally a favorite among our team. The area sits in both Stockholm and the neighboring municipality of Nacka. It boasts roosting nightingales and ancient oak trees worthy of the best Karin Boye poem.

Our studio of seventy (and still growing, check out all our current vacancies) has something of a cycling core, with a number of us swords enjoying cycling as our preferred mode of transport during these warmer months – and a crazier few choosing this as their only means of transport regardless of the date, temperature, or snow cover! Our studio has a first-rate cycle storage facility with secure access, excellent shower and changing facilities, and bike cleaning and basic maintenance services available to all.