A German company has created a bike that it's calling "the world's most compact bicycle".

The Kwiggle will fold down to a size of 55x40x25cm – that is small enough to be classed airline hand luggage.

It is currently crowd funding on Kickstarter where you can pledge just over £1000 to get one.

Produced by Leon Siciliano

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A company has designed a light-reflective spray that can be used to keep cyclists safer while riding at night. 

The Albedo100 spray can make your clothing, bike, and helmet high-vis in seconds. It lasts for a week once sprayed on and comes off easily in the wash.

The products can be bought online now for £10 to £18.

Produced by Leon Siciliano

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LONDON — David Wynter knows the risks cyclists face on the roads as well as anyone.

The first time he was hit by a vehicle was in May 2014 in East London, by a van making a U-turn without checking its mirrors. "Took me five weeks to fully recover," he said.

The second time was a little over a year later. Wynter, who is CEO of London data management startup Yambina, collided with a woman turning right into his lane. "Sprained my left wrist, needed a brace on it, a few cuts and deep bruises including my cheek where my cycling glasses cut into it."

Most people who cycle regularly in cities have a story (or two) like this — or at least know someone who does.

The increased popularity of cycling, heightened driver awareness, and bike lane initiatives are helping to improve hazardous conditions. However, it doesn't get around the fact that many urban areas are just hopelessly designed for cyclists and drivers to share the road.

But some cyclists, technologists, and automobile manufacturers are starting to eagerly look at a surprising solution: Self-driving cars.

Some cyclists think a golden age is right around the corner

Self-driving cars, long a dream, are finally becoming a reality. Everyone from Google to Audi, from Uber to Volkswagen, are heavily investing in and developing the technology. The goal is to create totally autonomous vehicles, capable of driving in real-world conditions without any human input.

Right now, 94% of all car accidents in the US are due to human error, according to Google. Roads are dangerous, and doubly so for cyclists, who don't have metal casing to protect them.

But self-driving tech — in theory — has significant advantages over any human driver. It won't tire. It won't get bored. It won't be tempted to break the rules of the road. It will be able to look in every direction simultaneously. And crucially, it will have super-human reaction speeds.

Together, it all adds up to potential massive improvement in safety — the kind that historically hadn't been possible without major urban redevelopment. By some estimates, self-driving cars could save 300,000 lives a decade in the United States alone.

Dr. Miklós Kiss, head of predevelopment piloted systems at Audi, thinks self-driving cars could be a boon to cyclists. It will "make it easier for cyclists because the behavior of automated cars will be more predictable than now," he told Business Insider.

Many cyclists are equally enthusiastic. "If self-driving cars are proven safer for cyclists and pedestrians, cyclists would lay out the red carpet and welcome the revolution with both arms," Andreas Kambanis, founder of biking site LondonCyclist.co.uk, told Business Insider.

"Just under 50% of cyclist deaths on London's roads are caused by HGVs, so if the technology extended there, we'd immediately eliminate a huge danger."

He added: "Beyond the safety aspect, self driving cars may also be more of a pleasure to drive around, as you wouldn't expect it to do something erratic or to drive aggressively. This may in turn mean more cyclists on the road as the roads will now feel safer."

Eli Allalouf, a director at Alyo International, used to bike everywhere, he said. "But after my second bicycle were stolen and too many injuries cycling on the road I have given up ... I would love to have the ability to ride my bicycle every day to work but the risk is too high as I am a family man with kids and wife ... After a certain period of the fully automated cars I think there will be a huge spike in cycling."

Accounting for cyclists isn't easy, say self-driving car companies

However, engineers working on the technology say that learning to deal with cyclists is throwing up unique challenges. They're small, fast in urban environments, and nimble — but also relatively slow on open roads, and immensely vulnerable.

"Cyclists are more dynamic than cars. The biggest challenge is to predict their future behavior and driving route. Cyclists can be found on the road and on sidewalks too. Compared to cars they are not limited to only one road space. Sometimes cyclists do not obey traffic rules completely (red light-violators, etc.)," Audi's Dr. Miklós Kiss said.

"Cyclists need their own behavior prediction model as they behave differently to car drivers and pedestrians."

Karl Iagnemma, CEO of autonomous tech startup Nutonomy, has encountered similar problems. "All autonomous vehicles under development today are being designed to detect and avoid cyclists. This requires that the sensing systems be specifically 'trained' to detect cyclists, and that the navigation systems be instructed how to maneuver in the presence of cyclists."

Renault-Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn takes a particularly dim view, telling CNBC in January 2016 that"one of the biggest problems [for self-driving cars] is people with bicycles."

"They don't respect any rules usually," he claimed. "The car is confused by them, because from time-to-time they behave like pedestrians and from time-to-time they behave like cars."

Google, one of the most high-profile developers of the tech, isn't trash-talking cyclists — but recognises the difficulties they can pose. In its June 2016 progress report, Google's self-driving car team explained how its vehicles treat cyclists differently (and "conservatively") to other road users.

"For example, when our sensors detect a parallel-parked car with an open door near a cyclist, our car is programmed to slow down or nudge over to give the rider enough space to move towards the center of the lane and avoid the door," the Google team wrote.

"We also aim to give cyclists ample buffer room when we pass, and our cars won’t squeeze by when cyclists take the center of the lane, even if there’s technically enough space. Whether the road is too narrow or they’re making a turn, we respect this indication that cyclists want to claim their lane."

And because cyclists don't have indicator lights, the technology has to predict cyclists' intentions another way: By reading their hand gestures using its in-built cameras.

Uber's self-driving car trials in December 2016 clearly illustrated the dangers the tech can pose to cyclists if not properly implemented. Its vehicles were performing a "right hook" turn that put cyclists at serious risk — with the San Francisco Bike Coalition calling it"one of the primary causes of collisions between cars and people who bike resulting in serious injury or fatality."

Uber opted to keep its vehicles in circulation, to the alarm of cycling advocates, and had human drivers make the turn manually instead. Thankfully there were no reported injuries, and the trial was subsequently ended after the California DMV revoked the registrations of the vehicles because they didn't have a license for the tests.

Self-driving cars aren't a reason to stop supporting cyclists

These technological challenges — while tricky — are all theoretically surmountable. Companies like Renault-Nissan say they want autonomous vehicles in commercial production by 2020.

With over 50,000 cyclists injured in road accidents in America in 2014 (and another 21,000 in the UK), that date can't come quickly enough.

"There will a point where the number of accidents involving cars and cyclists will improve," David Wynter said. "Only then will the public feel it is safer to commute in the cities."

However, Andreas Kambanis, from LondonCyclist.co.uk, cautions that self-driving vehicles will not be a panacea for everything currently wrong with cycling in cities — and must not be used as an excuse to slack on supporting cyclists in other ways.. "There is one big caveat to all of this. London's roads are already heavily congested and polluted, more cars isn't going to solve this problem, so the city must continue to invest in infrastructure that considers cyclists."

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Many people take it as a given that after a certain point in our lives, we lose strength.

Sure, if you never ran until your 40th birthday and then trained for a marathon over the next few years, you might be more fit at 45 than you were at 25. But if you're functioning at more or less peak fitness at 50, there's no way you'll be stronger or faster at 60, right? And that seems like it should be even more true as you get older — as we age, we lose both muscle and aerobic capacity, right?

In general, that's true. But it doesn't have to be, as now 105-year-old French cyclist Robert Marchand shows.

Marchand's case, documented in a report recently published in the Journal of Applied Physiology, shows that even at far advanced ages it's possible to get in better shape.

At age 101, Marchand created the world record for the furthest distance cycled by a centenarian in one hour, covering an impressive 24.25 kilometers (14 miles). There hadn't been a centenarian record before, according to The Guardian, but the 100+ category was created so the impressive athlete could show his ability. You'd think that might be enough. But as the case study reports, two years later at age 103, Marchand broke his own record, going a full 26.92 kilometers (16 miles) in the same time.

By doing that he showed that with training, you can do more than just stave off age-related decline — it's possible to actually improve, even after 100 years of life.

And that's pretty inspiring.

As the researchers write in what has to be one of my favorite lines I've ever read in an academic study, that's a big deal for anyone wondering whether things have to go downhill as they age.

"[B]eyond the establishment of new performance records at an extremely old age, the possibility for improving their performance and maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) during this last period of life is a way for 'adding life to the life' rather than searching to 'kill the death.'"

Older and faster

Marchand was not a lifelong cyclist. From age 15 to age 25, he was into it, but one of his coaches told him he should give it up, saying he wasn't good enough. For decades, life working as a gardener and wine dealer kept him off the bike. It wasn't until he was in his late 60s that he began to pick the sport back up.

He was good and accomplished impressive feats — good enough that, years later, researchers wanted him to be part of a study that he volunteered for that would show how much of an impact training could have on a centenarian. He was in good health at the time, with no heart, respiratory, or circulatory issues, and not on any medication.

Before his first centenarian record, he went through a series of tests. They happened at least two hours after a meal on a day he'd been asked to avoid caffeine. At the time, he was able to crank out 90 W of power at his peak and hit an impressive VO2max — a measure of how much oxygen his muscles could use — of 31 milliliters of oxygen per kilogram of body mass per minute (mL/(kg·min)).

Shortly thereafter, he set that first record. The "hour" performance test in cycling is generally considered one of the best ways to measure athletic performance, since it follows specific rules and demonstrates something very clear.

After that first performance, Marchand embarked on a training program. For the next two years, he covered 5,000 kilometers per year, spending 80% of his time at a light pace and 20% going hard.

He stepped back up for a new series of tests at the end of the training. His weight, lean body mass, and heart rate were unchanged, but he was stronger. His VO2max had improved by 13%, to 35mL/(kg·min) and peak power went up 39%, to 125 W. And when he set out for another 60 minute race, he set a new record.

"This study shows for the first time that, at a very old age, VO2max and performance could still be increased with training," the authors of the case study write.

So if you've been feeling like you're over the hill, take heart.

And Marchand hasn't stopped since then. Earlier this month, the 105-year-old created a new record for a new 105+ age category, going 22.547 km in 60 minutes (he says he could have been faster if he hadn't missed the 10 minute warning; his physiologist says he would have been faster if he hadn't given up meat a month ago).

Upon finishing, the AP reports that he said "I'm now waiting for a rival."

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I previously wrote about how much I cycle in London, and the accessories I need to stay safe on the road.

That said, I failed to include a good bike lock in that list.

I lost my bike lock during a move, and my bike was stolen from the third floor of my residential building. Now, I'll never be without a Kryptonite lock ever again. 

Bike theft is an ongoing problem in big cities, which means that every cyclist needs a sturdy bike lock. For the past four years, I've had the Kryptonite Kryptolock Lock Series 2 which has kept my bike safe.

The Kryptonite Kryptolock Lock Series 2 is the sturdiest bike lock at this price point, and is one bike gadget I would not be able to live without. I'm also not the only one to think so — it's a best-selling item, with almost 1,400 reviews and a 4.3 star rating on Amazon UK.

Using that particular lock, I've never had my bike stolen. After all, it's made specially for areas with high crime rates, and is known to be difficult to cut off. It also comes with a steel flex cable, so I can keep the wheels and any other accessories secure.

I have a tendency of leaving my bike in various places overnight, and although attempts have been made to cut it off, no one has succeeded. The Kryptonite Kryptolock Lock Series 2 lock also comes with a mount, which you can attach to your bike's frame so it's easy to cycle around with the lock. 

This lock is honestly the best I've ever had, and I'll never again buy a cheaper option as I've done in the past. That said, Kryptonite have a handy chart to know which lock is best for your area, which you can look at here.

Those locks will set you back around £30, but given the price of a bike, they are well worth the investment. If the Kryptonite Kryptolock Lock Series 2 isn't for you, there are loads of other options you can also check out by following this link. 

Kryptonite Kryptolock Lock Series 2, £34.99

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The Lumos bike helmet is a bike helmet that wants to save your life. Its 60 LEDs cover the front and back. In the rear, it has an automatic brake light that is controlled by an accelerometer. Left and right turn signals can be switched with buttons on the handlebars.

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A cycling race in South Africa had to be called off when winds grew to be so strong, the riders couldn't even stay on their bikes and some even went flying down the street.

The chaos occurred near the start of the Cape Town Cycle Tour, with winds reaching speeds of 100 kmh (60 mph), according to the UK Guardian.

Videos posted to social media accounts show riders barely holding on to their bikes as they were trying to ride into the gusts of wind.

In this video you can see a large group of riders approach an overpass of some type. The group suddenly comes to complete stop as they encounter the winds.

In this video you can see bikes go flying.

Even moving off the course offered little relief from the winds.

According to the Guardian, even a portable toilet was blown across a street.

Eventually, the 109 km race was cancelled after 21 km due to "extreme weather conditions." The race's official Twitter account warned spectators to stay away from the start line of the race.

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The INSIDER Summary:

• AQUA Studio NY is the only underwater cycling studio in New York, and offers a variety of AquaCycling classes. The Tribeca studio has about 15 stationary bikes submerged in a four-foot-deep saltwater pool.
• Classes combine pedaling and aerobic arm movements for a full-body workout. There are even body weight exercises off the bike.
• Founder Esther Gauthier says the water provides high resistance for cardio training, while at the same time offering a soothing, low-impact exercise for joints. The saltwater also has healing properties.
• Book a class on their website or on ClassPass.

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In case you missed it, cycling is the best sport.

And for many fans this is the best time of year as the one-day classics are here. This Sunday it's the Tour of Flanders— one of the biggest sporting events in Belgium — and the week after that it's the "Hell of the North,"Paris-Roubaix.

When races come through your town, you can get up close to the riders — inches away — as they whiz by. That's normally not a problem, except when it is.

This kid in Belgium took his zealousness to the next level on Tuesday by hopping on his bike and racing alongside pro rider Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) during the opening stage of the Three Days of De Panne race.

For a few glorious seconds the kid was livin' the dream, and cycling Twitter relished the moment.

"We are all that cyclist," one observer commented.

There aren't a lot of sports where you can do that sort of thing.

Gilbert, a former world champion and all-around monster bike racer, went on to win the stage after an impressive solo breakaway late in the race (which surely now marks him as one of the favorites for Flanders).

"Riding against someone in normal shoes is not fair! happy i dropt him!"the Belgian champ said on Instagram.

[h/t Sporza]

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After a cold winter, it’s finally nice enough to start riding our bikes again.

If you're looking to shake off some of the rust that might have accumulated over the offseason, you should download Cyclemeter. 

The iOS app accumulates and consolidates data from your bike ride, including your speed, distance traveled, and duration.

I've tried apps that offer similar services, but their interface was always clunky, and I was never able to get into the habit of using them regularly.

Cyclemeter stands out because the app entices you to keep using it. My friend, a consistent user of the app, showed me one of his favorite features: route tracking. The app keeps track of the trips he takes on a regular basis and compares them against one another. This lets him "gamify" his commute, and he enjoys trying to set record times on days when he feels good.

The app will even send notifications en route to tell you whether you are ahead of or behind your regular pace.

One of Cyclemeter's other standout features is its calendar, which reminds you of which days you have and haven't used your bike. This seems like a simple thing, but my friend cited it as a good source of motivation. When he had a good streak, he didn't want to lose it; when he realized he'd missed a few too many days in a row, he pushed himself to get back into it.

With a 4.5 star rating after more than 7,000 reviews, it’s safe to say that Cyclemeter has a solid track record of satisfied customers, and I'm excited to join them. If you’re looking for an easy way to track your bike rides, and need a little extra motivation to get on your bike more often this year, this app might help.

Check out all the Cyclemeter app has to offer here.

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Maybe I hesitated — I'm not sure — but when I said "I'm from the USA" to the taxi driver, things went silent.

I was in Barcelona, Spain, and up to that moment the driver and I had been chatting in Spanish about the coming Christmas celebrations and how Spain really knows how to throw a party.

When he eventually asked where I was from, I said "I'm American," and the conversation died. From there, it was down to an address and directions, and that was it.

I have never hesitated to say I'm American. After all, I spent my childhood with a true patriot, my father. A retired US Navy captain who served in Vietnam, he made sure to read the entirety of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights each and every Fourth of July. And for most of my life I have agreed with the constitutional principles I was raised with.

The twist in my apple-pie childhood came when I was 19, when I decided to chase a dream of becoming a European-style professional bike racer — not exactly an American thing to do.

I moved to Europe, and I learned the sometimes harsh cultural differences between visiting somewhere else in the world and earning a living somewhere else in the world.

For a few years I rented a small room from a family who worked in construction in rural Spain, and after many long nights listening to the family talk over dinner, I began to genuinely appreciate that the US was not the center of the universe.

Today, I'm a small-business owner, though the majority of my business takes place overseas. I manage a pro cycling team, which may sound a bit fast lane, but behind the curtains it is a business like any other, with a hundred adventurous employees, lawyers, landlords, taxes, and bills (lots of bills). And our world of commerce is very much that of the Old World. The Tour de France and other top races are over 100 years old, and they are the patrimonies of European countries.

For any outsider, this world is a hard shell to crack, even more so for an American who speaks French with a twangy Western accent. But like any small-business owner, over the years I've made friends and connections, and I've worked diligently to overcome prejudices. I've been lucky enough to be invited to preside over French-speaking organizations, work on mergers and contracts in Italian, and start a company in Spain.

I was honored to be accepted by my Old World colleagues, and they in turn have embraced the uniquely American entrepreneurial spirit into strongly traditional European contexts. Crossing cultural borders while remaining happily American has always been important to me. After all, we are an American team and an American business, and we are proud of that.

From the pro-business rhetoric put forth by the new US administration, a small business like mine should feel optimistic, which I acknowledge doing initially after watching equity markets soar. But in the months since the election, travels abroad have eroded my optimism. Much of the hard-won trust that a small-business owner relies on abroad has fallen into question.

To be clear, I've encountered no outright nastiness. It's more a chill that I feel when I enter conversations that were once warm and amicable. Whether it's taxi drivers or lawyers, my interactions in Europe have gone from seamless and fun to anxious and uncertain. My thoughts seem less heard, the accepting nature I had come to expect less obvious.

Damaged goods?

Not long ago I attended a board-of-directors meeting overseas, and in attendance were people of many nationalities, from South Africa to the Czech Republic. And while the daylong meeting went well enough, when we broke for lunch, dinner, or drinks, I'd get prodded about how the US was doing — and I immediately recognized the tone. It was the same tone I heard after I'd separated from my first wife. Same tone, same look of concern, same questioning gaze. I was viewed as someone in an unstable state. How did this happen? Did he have an affair? These folks politely avoided asking Who did you vote for? But that wasn't the real question in their eyes, which was: Can we still trust you? — or even Who are you?

So, who are we?

Ideally, the answer to this question is given by all Americans individually, but the president of the United States, for better or worse, defines how Americans are perceived. The president is the leader looked to for direction by the West. Like it or not, how the president is perceived is how we are perceived, and that can make life easier or harder for Americans doing business abroad — most notably small businesses.

As small businesses, we can't rely on billions in revenue, thousands of employees, and huge tax bases to leverage our way into relationships in foreign lands. We cannot bully our way to success.

Instead, American small-business owners doing business abroad have to rely on people, friendships, and cooperation from our foreign counterparts. If our president is disrespectful to other cultures, and if our political process is in disarray, that reflects poorly on each of us, especially those trying to make a living in the super-competitive global marketplace.

The American dream has been sought after for over 200 years. It's a dream wherein all have an equal opportunity to succeed on their own two feet, unencumbered by social strata or government interference.

My concern now is, Will the American dream survive?Will we succeed in the increasingly vital global economy if we are no longer perceived as respectable members of that community? In today's political environment, no, it will not.

The spirit of entrepreneurship is one of our nation's greatest assets. Inventive, hardworking people have allowed our nation to prosper. Will we continue to flourish if our global neighbors refuse to do business with us?

American Jonathan Vaughters is a former professional cyclist and the manager of the US-based Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team, which competes in the Tour de France.

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Whether you use your bike as a source of affordable transportation, exercise, or fun, you're probably interested in improving your riding experience.

Most frequent riders use many of the same tools and gadgets (always wear a helmet!), but there are many lesser-known bike accessories than can make your next trip safer, smarter, and more fun.

I put together a list of some of my favorite cycling accessories. Take a look and see if there’s anything you’d like to pick up before your next ride.

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A headlight

A bike light is an essential accessory for anyone who rides at night on a semi-regular basis.

This option from NiteRider is expensive, but it greatly improves your ability to see in front of you, and your visibility to drivers.

NiteRider Lumina Micro 600 Front Bike Light, $65

A phone mount

I’ve written about RAM Mounts before and couldn't leave them off this list.

I don't condone playing Angry Birds on the road, but this mount makes it easy to plan and follow your route while you cycle.

RAM Mounts Handlebar Mount, $27.49

A bell

Bike bells are a far better way to alert pedestrians to your presence than screaming "hey!" at the last second.

This one from Portland Design is an easy way to add some classic flair to your bike.

Portland Design Works King of Ding II Bike Bell, $22

Cycling to work almost halves the risk of developing cancer and heart disease, scientists have discovered.

And, although walking to work is good for you, it does not provide the same health benefits as using a bike.

A study conducted at the University of Glasgow found those who cycle are 41 percent less likely to suffer premature death from any cause.

The test, carried out on 264,337 people, revealed cycling is linked to a 45 percent lower risk of cancer and 46 percent less chance of heart disease, compared with driving or taking public transport.

Walking to work was found to reduce the chance of heart disease by 27 percent, but there was no link with a lower risk of cancer or premature death.

Experts behind the study believe the significantly higher health benefits of cycling could be due to cyclists traveling longer distances and at a higher intensity, making cyclists fitter than walkers.

The people who took part in the study, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) had an average age of 52.

During the five-year study period, 2,430 people died - with 496 deaths related to cardiovascular disease and 1,126 deaths from cancer.

Dr. Jason Gill, from the institute of cardiovascular and medical sciences at Glasgow, said the Government needs to look at ways to make it easier for people to commute by bike, such as creating "cycle lanes, city bike hire, subsidised cycle purchase schemes and increasing provision for cycles on public transport".

These would create "major opportunities for public health improvement," he added.

And Dr. Mike Knapton, associate medical director at the British Heart Foundation, added: "It is paramount to make physical activity easier and more accessible. Local authorities and workplaces should support this by making using active transport as a means to get to work an easy option."

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Research has consistently shown that people who are less physically active are both more likely to develop health problems like heart disease and type 2 diabetes, and to die younger. Yet there is increasing evidence that physical activity levels are on the decline. 

The problem is that when there are many demands on our time, many people find prioritizing exercise difficult. One answer is to multi-task by cycling or walking to work. We’ve just completed the largest ever study into how this affects your health.

Published in the British Medical Journal on April 19, the results for cycling in particular have important implications. They suggest that councils and governments need to make it a top priority to encourage as many commuters to get on their bikes as possible.

The findings

Cycling or walking to work, sometimes referred to as active commuting, is not very common in the UK. Only three per cent of commuters cycle to work and 11% walk, one of the lowest rates in Europe. At the other end of the scale, 43% of the Dutch and 30% of Danes cycle daily.

To get a better understanding of what the UK could be missing, we looked at 263,450 people with an average age of 53 who were either in paid employment or self-employed, and didn’t always work at home. Participants were asked whether they usually travelled to work by car, public transport, walking, cycling or a combination.

We then grouped our commuters into five categories: non-active (car/public transport); walking only; cycling (including some who also walked); mixed-mode walking (walking plus non-active); and mixed-mode cycling (cycling plus non-active, including some who also walked).

We followed people for around five years, counting the incidences of heart disease, cancers and death. Importantly, we adjusted for other health influences including sex, age, deprivation, ethnicity, smoking, body mass index, other types of physical activity, time spent sitting down and diet. Any potential differences in risk associated with road accidents is also accounted for in our analysis, while we excluded participants who had heart disease or cancer already.

We found that cycling to work was associated with a 41% lower risk of dying overall compared to commuting by car or public transport. Cycle commuters had a 52% lower risk of dying from heart disease and a 40% lower risk of dying from cancer. They also had 46% lower risk of developing heart disease and a 45% lower risk of developing cancer at all.

Walking to work was not associated with a lower risk of dying from all causes. Walkers did, however, have a 27% lower risk of heart disease and a 36% lower risk of dying from it.

The mixed-mode cyclists enjoyed a 24% lower risk of death from all causes, a 32% lower risk of developing cancer and a 36% lower risk of dying from cancer. They did not have a significantly lower risk of heart disease, however, while mixed-mode walkers did not have a significantly lower risk of any of the health outcomes we analyzed.

For both cyclists and walkers, there was a trend for a greater lowering of risk in those who commuted longer distances. In addition, those who cycled part of the way to work still saw benefits – this is important as many people live too far from work to cycle the entire distance.

As for walkers, the fact that their health benefits were more modest may be related to distance, since they commute fewer miles on average in the UK – six per week compared to 30 for cyclists. They may therefore need to walk longer distances to elicit meaningful benefits. Equally, however, it may be that the lower benefits from walking are related to the fact that it’s a less intense activity.

What now?

Our work builds on the evidence from previous studies in a number of important ways. Our quarter of a million participants was larger than all previous studies combined, which enabled us to show the associations between cycling/walking to work and health outcomes more clearly than before.

In particular, the findings resolve previous uncertainties about the association with cancer, and also with heart attacks and related fatalities. We also had enough participants to separately evaluate cycling, walking and mixed-mode commuting for the first time, which helped us confirm that cycling to work is more beneficial than walking.

In addition, much of the previous research was undertaken in places like China and the Nordic countries where cycling to work is common and the supporting infrastructure is good. We now know that the same benefits apply in a country where active commuting is not part of the established culture.

It is important to stress that while we did our best to eliminate other potential factors which might influence the findings, it is never possible to do this completely. This means we cannot conclusively say active commuting is the cause of the health outcomes that we measured. Nevertheless, the findings suggest policymakers can make a big difference to public health by encouraging cycling to work in particular. And we should not forget other benefits such as reducing congestion and motor emissions.

Some countries are well ahead of the UK in encouraging cyclists. In Copenhagen and Amsterdam, for instance, people cycle because it is the easiest way to get around town.

It was not always this way – both cities pursued clear strategies to improve cycle infrastructure first. Ways to achieve this include increasing provision for cycle lanes, city bike hire schemes, subsidized bike purchase schemes, secure cycle parking and more facilities for bicycles on public transport.

For the UK and other countries that have lagged behind, the new findings suggest there is a clear opportunity. If decision makers are bold enough to rise to the challenge, the long-term benefits are potentially transformative.

Jason Gill is a reader at the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow. Carlos Celis-Morales is a research associate at the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow.

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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When I learned to drive, cars were pretty easy to understand: they ran on gas, which was fairly cheap, and they had radios.

Other transportation options were limited to boats, buses, trains, planes, and motorcycles. If you lived in a big city, you got around using mass transit and your feet.

Fast forward a few decades and the types of transportation are essentially the same, but the automobile has been radically remade by technology and the auto industry is being roiled by everything from electric vehicles and self-driving cars to ride-hailing services such as Uber and Lyft.

The biggest change to air travel has been the cost, which has come way down since I was 16.

Obviously, I cover transportation and have had a front-row seat for the last decade as a deluge of change has arrived. You might think that if I were to look back, I'd say that the electric car is the biggest change I've seen. Tesla is a $50-billion-market-cap company after all — larger by that measure that Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles!

But you'd be wrong.

Nor is Uber the biggest change I've seen. Nor the advent of high-end luxury air travel, low-cost carriers, or even a rising number of private jets.

High-speed rail? Not so much in the US. Flying cars? Nope.

By far the biggest transportation change I've seen is the explosion in bicycle riding. I lived away from the New York area over a decade ago, and while I rode a bike when I lived in NYC, I was unprepared for the proliferation of bikes on my return.

Bikes, bikes, everywhere

Bike-sharing schemes like CitiBike have two-wheeled conveyances scattered throughout Manhattan. And although everybody in the 1990s got used to dodging bike messengers, nowadays we dodge commuters — or folks who just want to ride across the Brooklyn Bridge. There are bike lanes everywhere — and bike-oriented traffic signals. People ride their bikes year round, rain, shine, sleet, or snow.

I feel as if there are now as many bike shops as there once were Greek coffee shops and dive bars. 

This change isn't limited to New York. Cycling has boomed in many other American cities. Whole new genres of bicycles have arrived: bikes with electric-assist motors, bikes with extra carrying capacity (the SUVs of bikes), sleek fixies, fat-tired cruisers, throwback hybrid bikes.

This has quietly become a big deal. Whereas 20 years ago, you took your life into your own hands if you tried to ride from New York's Upper East Side to Midtown, these days a vast flotilla of bikes has been integrated into the city's transportation ecosystem.

"More than three-quarters of a million New Yorkers ride a bike regularly—250,000 more than just five years ago." the NYC Department of Transportation said in its "Cycling in the City" report.

"It is estimated that over 450,000 cycling trips are made each day in New York City—triple the amount taken 15 years ago."

Honestly, I didn't see this coming, but I'm glad it did. Some changes on transportation are disorienting. But this one is welcome.

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The president of North America's largest bicycle manufacturer has slammed President Donald Trump over his corporate-tax reform, failed leadership, and misguided "America First theory."

John Burke, the head of Waterloo, Wisconsin-based Trek Bicycle Corp., lambasted Trump during an interview with Business Insider on Thursday, saying he missed a huge opportunity to simplify a complicated tax system and has failed to lead the country.

"We're 100 days in and he finally comes out with a tax plan — and it was 250 words? And there was no bad news," Burke said. "Here's this huge opportunity to simplify everything and to have massive change, and you get 250 words."

While Trump's tax plan contains broad outlines rather than firm legislative text, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn said the plan would include "the biggest tax cut" in US history, echoing statements made by Trump.

Trek, a family-owned company, was cofounded by Richard Burke, John's father, in a Waterloo barn in 1976. Today it is a global bike business worth over $1 billion, and it employs 2,000 people worldwide. It makes a variety of bikes, including kids' bikes, mountain bikes, and high-end road bikes. It also owns the Trek-Segafredo team that competes in the Tour de France.

Burke, who says he is neither a Republican nor a Democrat but an independent, is the author of "12 Simple Solutions to Save America," published in 2016, which "challenges Americans to resist the status quo and change what elected officials are unwilling or unable to change."

"Look, I don't need a tax break — Trek doesn't need a tax break," Burke told Business Insider. "We're going to succeed and fail in the market based on how good our products are and how good our services are. As a member of the community, we have a moral duty to be a good corporate citizen, and one way you're a good corporate citizen is you pay your taxes."

Burke added that, from a competitive standpoint, American corporate taxes should come down — but so should all the deductions. And while he did praise Trump for reducing the number of tax brackets, he criticized him for not getting rid of corporate deductions altogether.

"You have General Electric, a great American company, which made a profit of $12 billion. They filed a 57,000-page tax return and paid zero in taxes.

"So if you want to reduce corporate taxes, that's fine, reduce them," Burke went on, "but Trump wants to reduce them from 35% to 15%, and I think that's too big a decline. But then he doesn't want to get rid of any of the deductions?

"Why do oil companies get deductions and bicycle companies don't? Why do certain industries get deductions and shoemakers don't? The brewer doesn't get a deduction. It doesn't make sense. You're leaving in place this super-complicated tax system.

"So it's treats for everybody. For corporate America, you get a lower rate, and you get to keep your deductions. And for all the individual taxpayers, you get a lower rate.

"We're 19 trillion frickin dollars in debt and everybody got a treat. And I just go, 'You're kidding me.' You call that leadership? I don't."

On misguided 'America First theory'

Burke also criticized Trump on his leadership of the country.

"When you're the president of the United States and you come out with this 'American First' theory, what are you saying to the rest of the world?

"I've been so fortunate here in growing the business. When I started here, we were doing $16 million and now we do over a billion dollars, and I've worked with an incredible team to do that. We took the business from just being in the US to right now — 60% of our business is around the world.

"And one of the reasons why American is as strong as it is, is there are a lot of great American companies who have access to markets all around the world — General Electric, Coca-Cola, Apple, Trek, Harley-Davidson.

"The whole 'American First' thing ... I just don't find that conducive to America's future or anyone else in the world."

Lack of leadership

"The best definition I ever heard of leadership is, leadership is the ability to make the dream a reality at the grassroots level," Burke added. "But leadership is also, "Here's the vision, and I'm going to convince people where we need to go." And what we've come to in American politics is saying, 'Well, I need to get elected, so I'm going to tell all these people whatever they want to hear.'

"You know, if you're the richest person on the playground and you're the biggest person on the playground ... you know, we usually lead like, 'Talk softly and carry a big stick,' and when we're walking around with a blow horn, that's not the way we roll.

"We're a leader in the world, but to maintain that status over the long haul, you actually need a leader who can look at the people and say, 'You know, we've got problems here' — and whether your talking about tax codes, gun control, nuclear proliferation, big issues — 'Here are the problems, and here are the solutions, and this is why we need to do it.'

"And more than just a sound bite, we've got to educate people and say, 'This is why we need to move here.' And I think we lack that right now, and I think we've lacked it for a while."

Trump once sponsored the biggest bicycle race in America— the Tour de Trump — which ran for two years, 1989-1990, before being taken over by DuPont.

Trump's proposal did not include a large number of key details, including the income levels associated with a new three-bracket tax system, the tax rate for a one-time repatriation of corporate profits held overseas, and others.

Here are the key points of the Trump plan:

• Corporate tax rate of 15%: Such a rate would deliver on Trump's campaign promise. The current federal statutory rate is 35%.
• Allows pass-through rate for business owners: Instead of self-owned businesses being taxed at the personal income rate, business owners would have incomes from operations taxed at the 15% rate. So if you own your own business, income from that business would be taxed at the corporate rate. According to The New York Times, that could apply to the Trump Organization.
• No border-adjustment tax: The tax on imports was favored by House GOP leaders such as Speaker Paul Ryan and Kevin Brady, the chair of the Ways and Means Committee. Mnuchin said the White House talked to Ryan and Brady but thought the tax did not "work in its current form."
• A slight adjustment to individual tax rates: White House officials said there would be three tax brackets with rates of 35%, 25%, and 10%, down from the current seven brackets. Cohn told reporters that he did not have the exact incomes associated with the brackets.
• Doubling of the standard individual tax deduction: This would allow individual filers to deduct their first $12,700 in income from their taxes and $25,400 for joint filers, as opposed to the current $6,350 for individuals and $12,700 for joint filers.
• A one-time repatriation tax: This would allow companies to bring back money from overseas to the US with a slightly lower, one-time tax. The White House did not clarify the rate at which this money would be taxed. President George W. Bush enacted a repatriation tax at a 5.25% rate in 2004, but studies show the money brought back mostly went to stock buybacks and dividends rather than hiring workers.
• Elimination of the estate tax: This would eliminate a tax on assets being transferred through a will.
• Elimination of itemized tax deductions other than charitable donations and mortgage payments: Mnuchin said this provision would close "loopholes" and offset the decrease in base tax rate for high income Americans.
• Repeal a 3.8% tax on net investment income: The tax was levied on "individuals, estates and trusts" with higher than a certain threshold in investment income. For instance, the threshold for an individual was $200,000 in investment income last year.
• Repeal the alternative minimum tax: This tax requires some people who have large numbers of deductions to calculate their income tax under the normal tax rate and the alternative and pay the higher amount. According to the Tax Policy Center, the tax was originally designed to eliminate large deductions by wealthier people, but now applies to about 5 million people.
• No infrastructure spending: Reports on Tuesday said Trump was considering including infrastructure spending in the plan to try to win over Democrats. Mnuchin denied the report in the speech, saying the proposal would be "just a tax plan."

You can listen to Burke discussing "12 Simple Solutions to Save America" in 2016 below:

Bob Ryan contributed reporting.

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Our bus rumbled to a stop in the center of Liège, Belgium, and our pro cyclists lingered a while inside before stepping out onto a yellow carpet that would lead them through a throng of excited spectators crowded along the barriers.

Once off the bus, Toms Skujiņš, a Latvian on our Cannondale-Drapac team, stopped for photos with fans while his teammate Rigoberto Urán, a Colombian, signed autographs en route to a tent that would house the team presentation, all a day before the start of one of cycling’s most prestigious, and hardest, bicycle races — the one-day classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

As we'd soon learn, once our bus had come to a stop, its transmission promptly failed. Our driver, Borja, could only drive the bus in reverse.

That presented a special challenge.

I mean, imagine driving a hulking land yacht in reverse through a dense European city center.

So the bus was left there, right in the city center. Now what?

To lose a bus at a major pro bike race is like losing a locker room underneath a stadium. Riders get dressed on the bus. They shower on the bus. They have meetings on the bus. The driver prepares meals and drinks for the riders on the bus. Doctors treat riders' road rash and the staff take care of little last-minute emergencies on the bus.

The team bus is a rolling safe space for athletes who otherwise compete in a natural arena, where fans get close enough to push riders up climbs, and sometimes snap selfies with them.

Our riders and staff went to the team presentation, and the event organizers paid for security to guard the bus. And it was at that point that our team director Juan Manuel Gárate, a Spaniard, set to work.

He would plan the next 48 hours down to who traveled in which cars, and what they carried with them — no easy task when you consider that teams are effectively traveling circuses of 20 people and 60 bags, some of which happen to be bicycles.

Gárate worked without pause from 6 p.m. to midnight, charting an intricate web of logistics without the bus, aka the command center, whose coffee makers, Crockpot, refrigerators, showers, chargers, and TVs would be missed.

At 8:30 that night the team held a meeting. Via a projector, Gárate pointed out the movements of riders and staff, how people would get from the hotel to the bus, from the bus to the finish (for anyone not racing), and from the finish to the airport, train station, or wherever they needed to go. On race day we'd borrow the car of a journalist to help move people around.

The bus would stay where it was parked overnight, as if we had a choice. It was close enough to the start so that riders and staff could still use it as they normally would in the morning — for meetings, treatment, respite.

But then there was this other challenge.

Team buses serve as gear haulers from one race to the next, transporting bikes, trainers, helmets, and extra clothing for bad weather. There was also a matter of guys needing to shower after the six-hour race before heading to the airport.

"After the race we had to transfer a lot of stuff from Belgium to Switzerland — rollers, time-trial bikes, rain bags, helmets, coolers," Gárate explained. "Everything was in the bus, so we had to make a plan."

And in the end we got by with a little help from our friends.

Movistar, a Spanish team, agreed to take some of our gear to the next race, in its already heavy vehicles set to leave Belgium right after Liège finished.

Showers? Two neighboring teams at the finish-area parking, LottoNL-Jumbo, a Dutch outfit, and Orica-Scott, an Aussie team, agreed to let our riders climb aboard their buses and shower after the race. That was not a small thing. The water tanks are only so big, and cramming extra bodies into a bus — with guys they had just been competing against no less — made for a very tight squeeze.

This is the community of professional racing, of cycling in general.

The sport is so hard physically, mentally, and logistically that we all have to watch out for one another. You never know when it’s your bus that’s going to get stuck, when it’s your rider who’s crashed far from a team car, or if it’s even you who needs a lift home on a rainy Sunday ride after three flats and no spare inner tube left. We need one another.

Instead of the usual postrace meal of rice, our guys sat on the bumpers of team cars eating pizza. The scene had an old-school element to it, of club riders racing, piling into a van, and heading to the next race. It may have been a pain for the riders, but they never let on. It was something to behold in an era of Death Star buses and the lockdown of pro sports generally.

"This only happens in cycling. We are lucky to be in this sport. This is the stuff people don't see," Gárate said. "Even when a rider on another team doesn't have a bottle and he's thirsty, you give him one — 100% of the time."

"In this case they shared their buses. Everybody who knew about it tried to help us."

American Matthew Beaudin is the communications director for the US-based Cannondale-Drapac Pro Cycling Team, which competes in the Tour de France.

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I've been bicycling in traffic for years, and the Flare R taillight is one of the best safety gadgets I've ever used.

The powerful blinking light was specially designed to increase cyclists' visibility in the daytime.

It is visible up to 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) day or night.

The USB-charging Flare R is made by Bontrager, a Trek brand.

A lot of people associate bike lights with nighttime riding, but 80% of bike-car crashes happen during the day, according to Trek, which cites a 2006 study by Painer, et al., that said "Daytime Running Lights have been shown to significantly reduce collisions in cars, motorcycles, and bicycles."

Trek claims the Flare R is the first taillight designed for daylight visibility.

It attaches to the back of your bike in one of two ways: either by clipping onto something — such as a saddle bag or belt — or by wrapping around a seat post with a rubber strap.

Based on my sense of motorists driving around me, when I ride with the light it seems as if they generally have a better awareness of me and give me a little more space when passing.

In the GIF below, you can see the Flare R taillight in action as a road cyclist rides into the distance:

"If you take a look at motorcycles, they've got lights on all day long — bicyclists should be no different,"Trek president John Burke says in a promotional video.

The Flare R has 65 lumens, which, for the uninitiated, makes for a very powerful light. But the light's designers say it's not just about having a bright light — it's also about having a very focused laser, which can be seen from afar. They say that a steady light blends in with its surroundings, but a flashing light sticks out and catches people's attention.

There are now several brands making daytime-specific taillights, but the Flare R is the only one I've tried so far.

"Get a new Flare R — or buy something else," Burke urges.

I bought my Flare R a year and a half ago and have used it regularly ever since. The light cost me $79.99 through Trek's website, but these days it's for sale there for $59.99.

In a recent Business Insider interview with Burke, I asked him how the idea for the Flare R came about, and he told me:

"I was out in San Diego about five years ago, and I was driving along Highway 1. There was a guy riding a road bike and he had a light on the back of his bike, and it was the first light I'd ever seen on the back of a road bike. And yet you really couldn't see it at all — the light it was emitting, you just couldn't see it. And I go, 'That's a great idea.'"

"I came back and I said to the guys, 'We need light on the back of road bikes that do this.' So we came up with the Flare R. I think that is the most awesome product. I have a sketchy stretch on my way to work here, and as soon as I put that thing one, I could tell that I was getting more space. Whenever I have to drive my car in to work here, I have so much pride when, all of a sudden, you can see, from a mile and a half away, this lineup of lights going into Trek."

Read the full Business Insider interview with Trek Bicycle president John Burke here.

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Three-time Tour de France winner Chris Froome was "rammed on purpose by an impatient driver," he tweeted on Tuesday.

Froome said he was "okay" but the hit-and-run driver "kept going."

"Just got rammed on purpose by an impatient driver who followed me onto the pavement! Thankfully I'm okay. Bike totaled. Driver kept going!" he said.

The Team Sky rider and reigning Tour champion was left with what appeared to be a damaged frame and two broken wheels.

His tweet was geotagged in Beausoleil in southern France, near Monaco, where Froome lives.

"A police source in the neighbouring town of Menton said: 'Mr Froome filed a complaint at the police station in Beausoleil, where he was met by an officer. He was very calm,' the AFP reported.

"He was hit by a vehicle which was right on his tail. He wasn't hurt but his bike was in bits. The problem is that he does not have the registration number of the car and it will be a bit complicated [to find the motorist]."

Police will study CCTV footage along the road, the AFP source said.

Last year Froome won the Tour, cycling's most prestigious race, for the third time, becoming the first British rider to do so.

Froome, a Kenyan-born Briton, aims to defend his Tour title on July 1 when the three-week race starts in Düsseldorf, Germany.

On April 22, Italian pro cyclist Michele Scarponi was killed while he was out training after being struck by the driver of a van.

In 2016, six members of the Giant-Alpecin team were struck by a driver and injured while training in Spain.

A commenter on Froome's related Facebook post, Chris Horgan, said:

"This is terrible to see. It seems there are a lot of professional riders getting in to trouble on the roads lately. Teams should be giving their riders front and rear facing HD cameras to record all training rides - great insurance policy and much better chance of holding someone accountable."

A Reddit user with the handle MeccIt added:

"In the back of my mind, I always assumed professional riders don't have to put up with the same crap on the road as the rest of us - but seeing a TdF champion get rammed off his bike, in France, puts rest to that."

Influential bike blogger Bike Snob NYC (real name Eben Weiss) said: "At this point driving should be classified as an illness. After all, if even the winner of the Tour de France isn't fast enough for them then who the hell is?"

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It happens now and again.

A bike racer thinks the race is over and he believes he's won and he starts celebrating.

But no.

On Wednesday's stage five of the Giro d'Italia, Slovenian rider Luka Pibernik of the Bahrain-Merida team was racing solo just ahead of the peloton when he approached the finish line, thinking he'd won.

Watch here:

It would have been the greatest victory of his career, by far.

But there was another lap of the finishing circuit still to go, indicated by the guy ringing the "one lap to go" bell.

The commentator asks, "Can he not hear the bell?!"

But after there was plenty of love for poor old Luka.

"At least, for a brief moment he knows what it feels like winning a stage in a grand tour," Dutch cyclist Theo Boss tweeted.

Racing fans may remember this:

Anyway, Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria of the Quick-Step-Floors team actually won the Giro stage.

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