This volume casts a critical gaze on current practices and on the wider relationship of bicycling to other forms of urban mobility, especially within the context of sustainable and livable cities. The book's international contributors provide an interdisciplinary critical analysis of policy and practice.

Cycling: A Sociology of Vélomobility explores cycling as a sociological phenomenon. Drawing on extensive ethnographic fieldwork, it considers the interaction of materials, competencies and meanings that comprise a variety of cycling practices. What might appear at first to be self-evident actions are shown to be constructed through the interplay of numerous social and political forces. Using a theoretical framework from mobilities studies, its central themes respond to the question of what it is about cycling that provokes so much interest and passion, both positive and negative. Individual chapters consider how cycling has appeared as theme and illustration in social theory, as well as the legacies of these theorizations. The book expands on the image of cycling practices as the product of an assemblage of technology, rider and environment. Riding spaces as material technologies are found to be as important as the machinery of the cycle, and a distinction is made between routes and rides to help interpret aspects of journey-making. Ideas of both affordance and script are used to explore how elements interact in performance to create sensory and experiential scapes. Consideration is also given to the changing identities of cycling practices in historical and geographical perspective. The book adds to existing research by extending the theorization of cycling mobilities. It engages with both current and past debates on the place of cycling in mobility systems and the problems of researching, analyzing and communicating ephemeral mobile experiences.

I have always loved riding my bike; having the freedom to go where I choose, at my own pace. . . the physical pleasure and satisfaction of a hard day's ride, the fresh air, the work out, the fact that it's free. The bike has always been how I get to places. I wanted to see how far I could get.For Anna, a cycling enthusiast, the decision to ride 4,000 miles solo around the coast of the UK wasn't that hard. Following the river from London until it became the sea, then following the sea until it reached the mouth of the Thames again was a beautifully simple idea. But after epic highs, incredible lows, unforgettable scenery, and unpronounceable place names—as well as a hearty battle with some good old British weather—her simple idea turns into a compelling journey of self-discovery, and an eye-opening insight into what makes the island where she lives so special.

Frank and often outrageous, this is an account of a 40-something Englishwoman's epic 4,000 mile cycle ride from Seattle to Mexico, via the snow-covered Rockies, mostly alone and camping in the wild. She runs appalling risks and copes in a gutsy, hilarious way with exhaustion, climatic extremes, dangerous animals, eccentrics, lechers, and a permanently saddle-sore backside. We share her deep involvement with the West's pioneering past, and with the tragic traces that history has left lingering on the land. When she rides the faded trails of the vanished American Indian nations she displays a strong sensitivity to the atmosphere of the spectacular landscape, as if the moments of its vibrant past are hanging in the air, only waiting for her to conjure them up vividly—sometimes with humor, and frequently with passion. As she travels, the ghosts of Lewis and Clark, Chief Joseph and Geronimo, Custer and Crazy Horse—all the legendary figures of the Old West—ride with her.

Some of the worst cycle lanes in the world are exposed in full color in this hilarious compendium. Local authorities responsible for the asphalt atrocities are named and shamed, with accompanying photographic evidence and sentencing recommendations.