On a summer night, when the lights are on, a mighty bicycle team crosses Beijing's Chang'an Avenue, and the well-equipped professional riders and the people who are casually riding shared bicycles together form a beautiful landscape.
A bicycle, three or five friends, ride through the city and nature.
Whether it is to check in the ancient buildings of the city on a leisurely weekend, or choose the challenging "Sichuan-Tibet line", whether it is to feel the breeze on the suburban greenway, or to enjoy the beautiful scenery by the Erhai Lake... Nowadays, more and more people are joining The cycling team, the cycling craze ignited the circle of friends this summer.
Today, cycling is not only a popular form of leisure travel, but also carries people's pursuit of green and healthy life.
Why can cycling become a trend?
Is there more room for development in the future?
How to improve hardware facilities and services to create better conditions for cyclists?
Cycling becomes a green leisure lifestyle
"Walking too slowly, driving too fast, riding a bicycle to visit a city, you will not miss the beautiful scenery." In the Mafengwo community, one of the most popular "same city activities" is to make a ride on holidays and enjoy cycling. They meet friends here.
"I participated in the rides organized by everyone on Chang'an Avenue and the South Central Axis. I also rode the Baili Landscape Gallery, met many experienced friends, and enjoyed a lot of scenery that I didn't usually notice." A Beijing cyclist My friend Shirley said so.
On many social platforms, sports and leisure travel such as cycling, camping, Frisbee, and surfing have become new "social passwords" for young people.
Open Xiaohongshu and click on its recently launched "cycling friendly plan", you can see countless urban young people sharing their cycling life.
According to the reporter's understanding, this plan of Xiaohongshu aims at the problems of "inconvenient parking" and "insufficient supply" that are most discussed by users, and cooperates with merchants and stores to provide bicycle parking, food supply, rest showers, and bicycle maintenance for cycling enthusiasts. , offline salons, ride appointments and other services.
Recently, Mafengwo's "Please Get On the Weekend" cycling event has landed in many cities.
The relevant person in charge introduced: "Professional vehicles and team leaders are provided for the event, which can not only ride in the city, but also take everyone to the suburbs to shuttle through the forest trails. This is a good way for urban youth to decompress."
Experts said that with the recurrence of the epidemic situation, people's travel patterns have changed. Under the circumstance that long-distance travel is restricted, close-range leisure vacations such as local tours and surrounding tours have become new demands.
At the same time, as the "dual carbon" concept is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, people's demand for a green and healthy lifestyle is getting stronger.
Cycling not only meets the desire for low-risk travel, but also meets the social entertainment needs of young people and their yearning for a green and healthy lifestyle. It is becoming an exclusive sport for a small number of people.
Under such circumstances, the "riding fever" came quietly.
Judging from the average value of Baidu’s search index, starting in March this year, the search data for “cycling” has risen sharply, jumping from the previous high of 580,000 to 2.57 million.
Mafengwo data shows that since 2020, the data on cycling on the platform has increased by 108%; during the May Day holiday this year, the cycling data in Sichuan, Yunnan, Hainan, Tianjin, Tibet and other places have soared by more than 50%.
Zhang Wenhao is a member of a cycling club in Beijing and a "cycling enthusiast" with many years of cycling experience.
"There are many like-minded partners in the club. Everyone often discusses their favorite bikes and professional knowledge together, and constantly improves themselves." He told reporters that he has clearly felt that more newcomers have joined recently, and he is also very enthusiastic to guide these newcomers. Riding posture, safety knowledge and key points for buying equipment.
"We generally think that a bicycle of about 10,000 yuan is the most cost-effective, plus cycling pants, cycling clothes, helmets, etc. also cost several thousand yuan. This is the cost of a newcomer who wants to advance." Zhang Wenhao said .
The cycling boom has led to the rapid rise of the bicycle and other equipment market, especially the popularity of road bicycles has soared. In many places, it is difficult to find a single car for popular models.
Wang Meng, a salesperson at a Giant offline store, said that this summer, bicycle sales have increased by about 30%, and the main models are especially in short supply.
According to data from JD.com, since June this year, the sales of bicycles in JD’s new department store have grown rapidly. According to the statistics of turnover, road bikes have increased by 120% year-on-year, city bicycles have increased by 90% year-on-year, mountain bikes have increased by 70% year-on-year, and folding bikes have increased by 60% year-on-year. , wearable equipment increased by 100% year-on-year, cycling clothing increased by 163% year-on-year, and bicycle accessories increased by 90% year-on-year.
The most popular road cars are more than 10,000 yuan, and model sales account for 10%.
"Cycling fever" drives the development of tourism and other industries
"We usually see buildings of different styles on the side of the road in Shanghai. We know the stories behind the buildings and the city better through cycling." On the professional cycling platform CLUB100, many cyclists shared their participation in the "Architecture" The experience of riding and watching” activities.
10 kilometers of leisure riding, 3 hours of detailed explanation, starting from Shanghai Jiaotong University, check in the former residence of British novelist Ballard on Panyu Road... Under the leadership of urban culture researcher Mr. Dong, more and more people join the "Architecture Ride" "View" activity, feel the charm of Shanghai's century-old architecture.
With the popularity of cycling, many cities have launched themed routes in combination with their own tourism characteristics.
For example, a travel agency in Beijing has launched themed customized products of "Looking for Beijing Tastes in Hutongs" and "Peking Opera Roots-Seeking Journey". All the way through the former residences of celebrities and themed theaters, the gold-medal tour guide team will lead and explain the rides, bringing a ride to the riders. cultural trip".
Chengdu's 100-kilometer round-the-city greenway ride is "out of the circle" this year, connecting 121 characteristic ecological parks such as Qinglong Lake Park and Sansheng Township.
Compared with urban and suburban cycling, Wang Yuechen prefers more challenging long-distance routes.
Recently, she shared her experience of cycling around Qinghai Lake on social media: "The International Road Cycling Race around Qinghai Lake has made the cycling holy place around Qinghai Lake well-known, and I am also here. July and August are exactly the same. When the temperature is the most suitable and the scenery is the best, it is really worthwhile to go all the way down.”
Cycling sports events have driven cycling tourism and the development of new forms of sports tourism.
Various places have tried to develop a new sports tourism model of "events + tourism". By holding cycling events, the city's image is displayed and the consumption of "sports + tourism" is promoted.
In Chengdu, there are not only international-level high-level cycling events, but also urban cycling events that are close to people's lives.
In recent years, events have begun to show a trend of concentration in cities rich in tourism resources.
Experts said that with the increasing popularity of some cycling routes, the tourism industry along the routes has become more and more mature, including cycling equipment rentals, resort hotels, and country houses.
Cycling tours have also driven other local industries, and niche landscapes have been connected in series, and businesses along the route have created cycling-related cultural and creative products, as well as catering and entertainment service products.
From 30 to 40 kilometers of urban leisure riding, to 100 to 200 kilometers of suburban wetlands, to long-distance routes such as the Sichuan-Tibet line and the lake tour, which are full of challenges, young people who have slowed down their pace of long-distance travel can release their confidence through cycling. Passion for traveling.
According to Mafengwo's "Outdoor Leisure Popularity Report", the top popular cycling routes this year are cycling around Erhai Lake, cycling around Qiandao Lake, cycling at Shili Gallery in Guilin, cycling at Xi'an Ancient City Wall, cycling at Miaofeng Mountain and cycling at Longjing Ride uphill.
"There is huge space for outdoor sports tourism such as cycling. With the continuous deepening of mass tourism, only high-quality outdoor tourism products can attract and retain tourists. The integration and development of micro-vacation products and outdoor sports products has broad development space." China Tourism Han Yuanjun, an associate researcher at the Institute of Strategic Studies of the Academy, pointed out that the cycling route connects urban landmarks and scenic spots, creating more new "Internet celebrity check-in places", and will also bring new vitality to the development of rural tourism.
"Cycling fever will drive the continuous improvement of local greenways and other infrastructure, forcing the localities to continuously improve roads, products and services, and will also improve the bicycle industry chain and promote the development of the domestic bicycle industry in a diversified, high-end, professional and intelligent manner. Road, industrial tourism of a large number of bicycle production bases can also be well developed." Han Yuanjun said.
Creating a Cycling-Friendly Urban Environment
"The improvement of urban road construction, people's pursuit of sports and health concepts, and the introduction of cycling competitions into China have led to a large number of cycling enthusiasts, especially young people, to join in cycling." Analysis of Guo Jianrong, Secretary General of Shanghai Bicycle Industry Association , and how to provide better software and hardware conditions for cyclists and encourage more people to participate in this green travel method has also become a new test.
However, at present, most road plans based on motor vehicles are not friendly to cyclists. The problems of traffic order management and road design have caused many bicycles to be "blocked" in the urban traffic network.
Yang Xinmiao, deputy director of the Transportation Research Institute of Tsinghua University, told reporters that the current problems mainly include: the cycling lanes are not continuous, and the “broken ends” of the cycling lanes require a long detour, resulting in poor cycling experience; many sections of the road are occupied by cars Parking of bicycle lanes leads to narrowing of cycling lanes and crowded space; two-wheeled electric vehicles are fast without any speed control measures, etc.
As a cyclist, Zhang Wenhao can better understand the impact of differences in traffic laws and road designs in different cities on the riding experience, "For example, some cities do not have the habit of turning right-handed vehicles for non-motorized vehicles, and non-motorized vehicle lanes are crowded out. , the increase in electric vehicles, etc. all affect the safety of cyclists.”
"To promote the development of the cycling industry, only bicycle lanes are not enough, and special bicycle paths are also needed." Yang Xinmiao told reporters, "Cities and villages around cities need bicycle paths, but the current national bicycle mileage is only Double digits."
Yang Xinmiao further pointed out that cycling lane facilities are the basis of cycling, and it is necessary to do a good job in the construction of dedicated lanes and urban greenways, and appropriately increase capital investment.
"On this basis, better two-wheeled vehicles are also needed, such as lightweight power-assisted bicycles that have been widely used in cities in Europe and the United States, which can be ridden more easily and allow more people to participate."
On May 31, 2019, Beijing's first bicycle-only road was opened, covering a distance of 6.5 kilometers from Changping Huilongguan to Shangdi. Since then, cycling has become the most cost-effective way of commuting between the two places, and it also takes into account the functions of leisure, entertainment and fitness.
Many cities have also launched special cycling routes to encourage more people to travel by bicycle.
For example, Chengdu has launched 11 cycling routes on the Tianfu Greenway; Beijing has built a cycling "urban wind wheel", that is, 12 cycling radial lines along the river, so that cycling is faster than driving. This year, 21 cycling routes have been built. It will also be officially unveiled.
Experts said that in order to promote the construction of urban green leisure space and improve relevant policies, the allocation of road resources can be appropriately inclined to bicycles, creating a cycling-friendly urban infrastructure environment and popularizing a green and healthy lifestyle.
"Cycling is a 'small sport, big industry' industry. It has the characteristics of strong comprehensive driving effect, long industrial chain, and outstanding ability to guide green lifestyles. The future market space is huge." Han Yuanjun believes that it is necessary to strengthen the cycling routes along the route. It is necessary to plan the route reasonably, strengthen the construction of rural greenways, build a number of rural greenway landscape belts, and effectively connect beautiful villages with urban greenways.
It is necessary to improve the modernization level of market governance of outdoor sports tourism such as cycling through the self-discipline mechanism of industry associations and through standardized and standardized management.
At the same time, to improve the top-level design of outdoor sports tourism, relevant departments should introduce a series of promotion measures and related plans to promote the great development of outdoor sports tourism and give full play to the comprehensive driving role.
(Our reporter Lu Yuanzhen)