In a bid to convince someone to buy his bike for $700, Craigslist poster Ryan crafted what is surely the most over-the-top, superlative-laden, ridiculous ad we've ever seen.

The bike is a 2010 Felt Gridlock three speed fixed gear (meaning there's no freewheel, so the pedals cannot stay stationary while the wheels are turning).

A few choice quotes:

• Yes 3 SPEED FIXED GEAR. Also known as the greatest bike the city has ever had the privilege of existing around.
• It looks like Iron Man if Iron Man were a bike.
• Let's talk about that three speed in-the-hub, fixed-gear transmission for a second. It's as gnarly as it is exotic. Like the tropical, saw-toothed platypus. Which is a species that doesn't even exist.
• When you ride this bike once it permanently eliminates your ability to feel sad about anything ever again.

For interested parties, the bike is listed for $699, in Greenwich Village.

Read the full ad, brought to our attention by Shane Ferro.

SEE ALSO: 15 Tips For Surviving On A Bike In New York City

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One of the biggest criticisms of New York's new bike share system is that participants may not have experience biking in a city filled with aggressive pedestrians and drivers.

To help prepare and educate potential cyclists, the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) set up a Street Skills Zone at a launch celebration in Union Square on Sunday.

On the short obstacle course, riders were taught how to stay in bike lanes, move safely around cars, and use turn signals.

The DOT also distributed 500 free helmets at the event on Sunday. Helmets are not required for adults in the city, and they do not come with a Citi Bike rental, but they are encouraged.

SEE ALSO: WSJ Goes Absolutely Ballistic Over New York's New Bike Share Plan

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Although New York City's new bike share system has been successful so far, it has generated a lot of complaints.

The Wall Street Journal made a splash last week with a video in which editorial board member Dorothy Rabinowitz managed to bring up just about every gripe we've heard voiced about bike share, and cyclists in general.

Let's note that cycling reduces medical costs and eases the burden on our country's health care. It takes cars off the road and carbon emissions out of the atmosphere, and reduces our dependence on foreign oil. It's fun.

Every kilometer cycled in Denmark earns the country €.23 (partly because cyclists have been shown to spend more money in local stores). That's the kind of money every American city could put to good use.

Rabinowitz — and those who share her views — are wrong to complain about the arrival of bike share in New York. Here's a look at what they're saying, and why it's bogus.

The first six complaints are all mentioned in the WSJ video.

1. Citi Bike has been sneaked under the radar, and the public was not consulted.

To those who did not attend any of the 159 public meetings at which officials discussed the program, this might seem true. According to the New York Times, the city said it also held 230 private meetings with officials, property owners, and others.

Citi Bike planners took more than 10,000 online suggestions for where to put stations, and those locations were revealed back in May 2012. The NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) has even moved at least one station due to complaints.

2. No studies were undertaken before the program was implemented.

Actually, in Spring 2009, the city released a 142-page study on bike share opportunities for NYC. It addressed case studies, current conditions, demand, financing, and lots of other relevant topics.

3. The stations prevent emergency responders from accessing buildings.

The New York Post headline "Bike racks block EMS at victim's co-op" echoes this view. But Brad Aaron at Streetsblog followed up with the FDNY, whose spokesperson denied having any trouble: “We had no operational or response issues to this call. Period.”

4. The racks and bikes are ugly.

This one's harder to reject, because beauty is subjective. But remember that most Citi Bike stations are replacing parking spots, not public art works. There are lots of really ugly cars in the world that could be there instead.

5. Cyclists are a dangerous menace.

To quote Rabinowitz, "Every citizen knew — who was in any way sentient — that the most important danger in the city is not the yellow cabs...it is the cyclists."

In April 2013, 32,653 vehicles were involved in accidents in New York City. 1,278 of them were taxi cabs. 358 were bicycles.

6. Cyclists are reckless.

This is a valid but specious point. As a NYC resident (and Business Insider's car reviewer), I drive in the city. I walk, too. And I bike. I do all three recklessly at times.

So do many, many people. Drivers speed and blow through yellow lights. Pedestrians jaywalk, and step into the street when they don’t have right of way. That’s New York City.

Everyone should follow the rules, but few do — that's as true for cyclists as for other groups.

To its credit, the NYPD has stepped up its ticketing of cyclists (not without controversy). The DOT has put "Safety Managers" on the street to keep cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers where they belong.

And urban cycling has become safer. According to the city, the average risk of serious injury for riders dropped by 73% between 2000 and 2011, even as the rate of biking more than doubled.

7. Citibank's corporate logo should not be plastered all over the city.

An understandable gripe (one that's inspired the odd placement of a sculpture and was voiced at a Brooklyn town-hall covered by the New York Times).

But again, most racks are replacing cars. Cars have corporate logos on them. Try Ford, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Volvo, to name a few.

8. It's taking away parking.

Another complaint registered by the Times at a Brooklyn town-hall meeting, it's true, though the 330 initial stations don't take up too many of the more than 80,000 metered parking spots in New York.

In any case, it's more efficient: You can put many bikes in a parking spot that fits just one car.

9. Cyclists should be wearing helmets.

Adults are not required to wear helmets while biking in the city, and Citi Bike (open to those 16-years-old and up) does not provide them. The DOT does encourage their use, and gives out a lot of free helmets.

In a 2012 PolicyMic op-ed, Whitney Sher wrote, the fact that Citi Bike riders are unlikely to wear helmets "is alarming considering the NY Department of Transportation (DOT) found that in 97% of fatal cyclist accidents, the rider was not wearing one."

But the helmet issue is a red herring. The best way to keep cyclists safe is to prevent crashes by building bike lanes and enforcing traffic laws, not with a last resort measure to keep accidents from causing serious brain injuries.

10. Citi Bike costs too much.

In 2012, Reuters' Felix Salmon called Citi Bike expensive, especially compared to other cities' bike shares. (This month, he published a very positive review of the program.) 

Citi Bike may cost more than London's bike share, but getting a year of unlimited 45-minute rides for $95 is still a good deal, especially compared to a MetroCard ($112 per month) or a car (a lot more). There are also discounted memberships, for residents of the NYC Housing Authority and others.

13. Citi Bike stations will hurt property values.

Co-op residents who believe Citi Bike Stations are hurting their property values — and have sued the city over it— might be surprised by a study by the National League of Citiesthat found that a bike share program "boosts retail exposure and home values."

12. More cyclists in New York City will bring "total carnage."

This one comes from an op-ed published in the Huffington Post, which argued, "New York roads are not built for cyclists and New York drivers don't know how to coexist with cyclists."

New York roads weren't made for driving originally, either — that change took place in the past century. A few years ago, Paris was a terrible place to bike, but it made the 2013 Copenhagenize Index of the world's most bike-friendly cities.

Mikael Colville-Andersen, CEO of Copenhagenize, told Business Insider that once Paris embraced a "whole new mentality" and started building bike lanes, its image changed. Now it's a fantastic place to travel on two wheels. New York can do the same.

13. There's no room for bikes in New York City.

There's plenty of room for bikes in New York City. At the moment, it's being used by cars.

SEE ALSO: 15 Tips For Surviving On A Bike In New York City

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As complaints about the placement of New York's new bike share stations have shown, parking bicycles in an urban setting can be tricky.

A company in Japan has found a novel solution: Put them underground.

On the television show Culture Japan, which airs in Japan, host Danny Choo takes a look at the Eco Cycle bike garages at Tokyo's Shinagawa Station.

Each high-tech garage, built by construction company Giken, can hold 204 bikes in a 38-foot deep well beneath the ground.

As the human, all you have to do is get a membership and roll your bike up to the station. Robots park it underground, and fetch it when you want it back.

It's like valet parking, but with bikes and robots.

Watch the Culture Japan video, or click through to take a look.

To park a bike, find a garage.

Each garage has room for about 200 bikes.

As a member, you get an electronic badge to put on your bike.

PORTO VECCHIO, Corsica (AP) — The first stage of the 100th Tour de France ended with a bus stuck under an archway at the finish line until minutes before the first riders arrived.

Shortly after the bus was dislodged, German rider Marcel Kittel was first to arrive, after dodging all sorts of mayhem to win Saturday's stage on Corsica.

Kittel beat Russian sprinter Alexander Kristoff in a dash to the line after a major crash wiped out some other competitors. Organizers considered moving the finish line up to avoid the bus, then changed their minds at the last moment after the bus was freed.

About 20 riders fell close to the end, among them two-time former champion Alberto Contador and sprinter Peter Sagan. They got back up, with Contador's shoulder cut and bruised.

British sprinter Mark Cavendish did not crash but was stuck behind those who fell and could not challenge for his 24th stage win. He was hoping to wear the prestigious yellow jersey for the first time in his career.

"I saw the crash happen to my right," said Kittel, who also finished the day with the best sprinter's green jersey. "I knew it was serious. I knew that Mark and Andre (Greipel) were no longer in contention and it was a good chance for us."

But Cavendish and Sagan were nowhere to be seen as the main bunch turned for home, and Kittel held off Kristoff as they dipped for the line.

"I'm lucky I didn't come down," Cavendish said. "What caused the problems was changing the finish. Like, we heard on the radio with literally 5K to go that the sprint was in 2K and then a K later, they were like 'No, it's at the finish.' It's just carnage."

Francaise Des Jeux team manager Marc Madiot was furious.

"The president of the (race jury) didn't do his job," he said. "When we make a mistake we get a fine. Well, he should get a huge fine."

Race events director Jean-Francois Pescheux says circumstances forced a quick decision.

"We would've preferred a nice finish like the one we'd planned. But in exceptional situations, you have to take exceptional decisions," Pescheux said by telephone. "We're not going to stop the riders, and ask (them) what decision we should take."

Organizers considered shortening the stage by two miles after the bus from the Orica Greenedge team got wedged under the structure at the finish, but the bus got moved just in time.

"When a bus arrives near the finish line the driver must ask the permission to cross it," finish line manager Jean-Louis Pages said. "This bus was late. We deflated the tires so we could move it away as the peloton was fast approaching."

Kittel did not even know about the bus, and was lucky enough to avoid the crash to win the flat, 132-mile trek from Porto Vecchio to Bastia in just under 5 hours. Kristoff and third-place Danny van Poppel clocked the same time.

"It feels like I have gold on my shoulders," Kittel said about wearing the famed yellow jersey. "I didn't know about the bus. I'm glad they were able to move it."

Cavendish's Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammate Tony Martin was caught in the fall and later taken to hospital after losing consciousness.

Contador had a bad day, too.

Returning from a doping ban after testing positive on the 2010 Tour — a title he has been stripped of — the Spaniard grimaced in pain as he crossed the line with his clothing torn and his left shoulder grazed.

"I am fine, I'm OK," Contador said through a translator. "Someone didn't brake in front of me and then there was a crash. I will have to rest now."

As the stage drew to an end, former champion Andy Schleck's RadioShack team pushed to the front as a side wind made it harder for riders, then Contador's Saxo-Tinkoff team pushed up as the sinewy roads started to thin out.

Johnny Hoogerland, who was sent flying off his bike and sustained cuts to his legs on the 2011 Tour after being hit by a Tour car, was sent tumbling after hitting a crash barrier near the end. He was helped back onto his bike and able to continue.

Last year's Giro d'Italia winner, Ryder Hesjedal, was caught in another crash moments later but continued.

With the finish line in sight, and as the nerves jangled, riders were sent flying from their bikes, throwing the stage into chaos.

"It was just a complete disaster," Greipel said.

It proved to be an eventful day from the outset. Before the stage started, French Sports Minister Valerie Fourneyron met with a delegation of riders unhappy about pre-race media reports that they thought focused too heavily on doping stories.

The day before, Lance Armstrong hogged headlines when he told Le Monde he couldn't have won his seven Tours without doping.

Once the race began, tour favorite Chris Froome stopped to get a new rear wheel early on and stopped for a second time to get a new bike.

Sunday's second stage is shorter but features four climbs along the 97-mile ride from Bastia to Ajaccio.

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New York City is a tough nut to crack.

Over 8,000,000 people inhabit its five boroughs, which means that living there is expensive, doing business there is risky, and staying sane amid all the hubbub is nothing less than miraculous.

New York is also dangerous -- physically dangerous.

True, the murder rate is a mere shadow of what it used to be in the 1970s and 1980s, but trouble still lurks around every corner. That's in part because the city is brimming with pedestrians.

Over the past year or so, New York has seen a curious spike in traffic fatalities, many involving folks on foot or on bicycles. The addition of bike lanes on city streets and new initiatives like Citi Bike could be fueling the rise in deaths.

Compounding the problem is that the New York City Police Department hasn't made investigating traffic fatalities a top priority. Speaking to the New York Times, retired Chicago-area traffic officer Roy E. Lucke says that's to be expected. When detectives in most big cities hear about a traffic-related death, he says that the response the response is often, "Tell me how they're less dead". Rough translation: it was an accident, it wasn't a criminal act, and we have other stuff to investigate that can improve the lives of the living.

Now, things may be changing.  

For starters, New York's Accident Investigation Squad has been renamed the Collision Investigation Squad. That's important because the word "accident" implies that traffic incidents have no  criminal component, when in fact, they often do. When collisions involve hit-and-run drivers, for example, that automatically adds a criminal charge.

Also, the Squad now immediately visits the scene of any collision in which an injured person's condition is deemed critical. That change follows the high-profile case of Clara Heyworth, a pedestrian who was hit by a vehicle and died the next day; the Squad didn't begin its investigation until much later, after the integrity of the collision scene had been compromised and much of the evidence lost to the elements or destroyed.

But despite those advances, plenty of problems still stand between cops and criminal convictions. Not only do the police often have to track down suspects who've driven off (leaving behind little evidence, if any), but even if the vehicle remains at the scene, police have to establish probable cause to search its "black box" data recorder.

And if they pass that hurdle, they may still come up empty-handed because the device that the Squad uses to extract black-box data can only access about 40% of today's recording devices. That's frequently because automakers have added extra layers of security to prevent such data from getting out. While that's good news for privacy advocates, it's also good news for suspected criminals. 

Bottom line: As cities become more crowded due to increased urbanization, pedestrian fatalities will be a growing problem. As America's most populous urban center, it's good to see New York taking a lead on this issue, but police there have a long way to go.

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SEE ALSO: 15 Tips For Surviving On A Bike In New York City

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For all its troubles with credibility and transparency, the Tour de France is still the most unique event in sports.

Over 23 days, riders travel 2,000 miles through the French countryside, including passes through the Pyrenees and Alps. 

Every day, the event goes to a different place with different scenery and different sight lines.

It makes for some spectacular, diverse photography.

STAGE 1: Riders along the coast in Sari-Solenzara

STAGE 2: A mountain ascent in Bastia

STAGE 3: Passing the Corsican coast

Lance Armstrong' defense of the false claims lawsuit brought against him by former cycling teammate Floyd Landis is a breathtaking act of chutzpah: It is the government's fault that his sponsor, the U.S. Postal Service, did not know he was taking drugs when he won all those Tour de Frances, Armstrong argues.

In fact, the post office liked sponsoring Armstrong when he was doping, the cyclist argues, and "got exactly what it bargained for."

Armstrong made the argument in legal papers seeking to rebut Landis' allegations that Armstrong's doping, and his lying about taking those drugs, defrauded the USPS out of its sponsorship money. USPS paid Armstrong and his team more than $41 million in sponsorship in two contracts in 1996 and 2000, the lawsuit says.

The gist of Armstrong's defense is very, very clever — if you can get past his barefaced cheek.

He lists all the reasons why the USPS should have known, or did know, that doping was widespread in cycling, and on Armstrong's team in particular. Armstrong alleges the government ignored all that, signed up Armstrong anyway, enjoyed the publicity fruits of his victories, and only a decade later decided it wanted its money back. Armstrong delivered on every aspect of the contract, he argues:

The government waited for over a decade to file suit against Lance Armstrong for one reason and one reason only: It got everything it bargained for from Armstrong and his cycling team.

... It was well aware of intense national and international media coverage of the team's doping and widespread doping throughout the sport ...

The government wanted a winner and the publicity, exposure and acclaim that goes along with being his sponsor. It got exactly what it bargained for.

Armstrong repeatedly argues that the government "did nothing" and "absolutely nothing" when it had knowledge of potential doping, and the opportunity to back out of the contract. The USPS even has an inspector general, backed by the Department of Justice, that it did not use to investigate, Armstrong says.

Thus, Armstrong concludes, it is the USPS's own fault for spending all that money on a cyclist who repeatedly lied about his drug-taking.

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Commenters have taken to YouTube to complain about a Holden car ad, claiming that the driver gets "dangerously close to a cyclist, causing him to come off his bike," The Drum reports. And Holden is defending the ad.

Holden is an Australian car brand.

Richard Powell broke down the criticism on the YouTube page: “Nice subliminal & direct messages. Drive close to the rear of a cyclist & cause a collision. Fail to stop following the collision. Drive fast relative to the conditions of a narrow street crowded with pedestrians & vulnerable users. Hide from police following the incident. Thanks HOLDEN MALIBU!"

Rather than ignoring the issue or providing one stalk response, Holden is replying individually to negative commenters.

"Thanks for your comment Richard," Holden writes. "The Malibu ad is a tongue in cheek attack on beigeville, and we hope that most TV viewers will enjoy the ad for what it is: A poke in the eye to bland cars. We take the depiction of safe driving in our advertising very seriously. Thanks - AC @ Holden"

It continues to other YouTube users:

While we recognise the concerns from some people to our ad, we believe that most viewers will understand that the situation has been created as a fantasy. The cyclist takes a tumble because he is mesmerised by the Malibu's standout looks in an otherwise sea of beige. Holden takes its approach to road safety very seriously and is proud to have supported the cycling community for many years, including our sponsorship of the Holden Women's Cycling Team

Emphasis is ours. 

Watch the ad below: 

SEE ALSO:  The Police Department Handing Out Doritos At A Pot Festival Has The World's Funniest Twitter

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Move over, SoulCycle — the latest spin craze in New York City is biking underwater.

Known as "aqua cycling," the exercise was invented by an Italian physical therapist years ago. Fans and adherents claim it fights cellulite, burns up to 800 calories in an hour, and there's no soreness the next day.

It sounds like the perfect workout, yet incredibly no one had heard of aqua cycling in NYC until Esther Gauthier brought it over from Europe this past April.

The French native had tried a similar underwater spinning class at Paris outpost La Maison Popincourt and knew she had found something special that New Yorkers would love.

"For over a year, I kept it to myself," she whispered to me in the airy Tribeca space that's home to AQUA Studio, New York's first and only aqua spinning gym, which I visited for a complimentary class last week. "I didn't want it to get out, I didn't want anyone to steal my idea!"

The downtown studio looks more like a chic spa than a gym. The space had been abandoned for years before Gauthier and her team knocked down three separate floors to create the loft-like studio.

After checking in at the front desk — where students are handed a towel and clear jelly shoes ($2 to rent) — we walked down a flight of stairs to the gorgeous locker room. The walls were lined with mirrors and vanities stocked with cotton swabs and hair dryers, and it smelled like the peppermint body wash in each shower stall.

As we changed into our swimsuits, I noticed a few women seemed to know each other from previous classes — Gauthier told me the studio already has a loyal clientele base even though AQUA only opened this past April.

We then trickled into the small rectangular pool down another flight of stairs where 15 bikes (from Italy, no less) were arranged. The trainer, Andia, floated around in the four-foot pool, helping new students slip their rubber shoes into the bike pedals and adjust the seats and handlebars to the perfect hip height, with the water lapping at our chests.

The lighting was dim, with candles lining the wall and pop music playing. Andia had us review the various positions (sitting, standing, bent over the bike, and a fourth position where we floated behind the bike while our feet were still on the pedals) before we began.

In some ways, it felt like a traditional spin class. There were sprints, music, and an instructor calling out various positions.

But there was no resistance knob — instead, you were pushing against the friction of the water.

Though I was skeptical about how good of a workout biking underwater would be, my muscles burned in a similar way to swimming laps or treading water. I definitely worked up a sweat, and my legs felt wobbly when I got out of the pool.

My favorite part was the splashing. We pushed the water back and forth, punched up through the water, and paddled with alternating arms. I was surprised to find that my arms also got a great workout, plus it was really fun (though I was soaked by the end of class).

There were a few cons with aqua cycling. One common complaint is that it's hard to hear the instructor over the water, music, and echoes of the basement.

Another is that since the bikes aren't secured in the water, they can sometimes lift off the ground or sway from side to side. It's hard to find — and keep — the right rhythm, and my bike moved a lot since I hadn't mastered the smooth rhythm necessary to keep the bike stationary.

But all things considered, I liked aqua cycling. It's a novel way to cross train, or a good exercise alternative for people with sports injuries, joint pain, or for pregnant women.

I also felt very relaxed after class. "Aqua cycling is a marriage between yoga and regular cycling," Gauthier explained. "It's the intensity of cycling, but then there's something about the water that's so soothing and adds the relaxation of yoga."

Gauthier said the studio is currently working on creating a class designed exclusively for men (AQUA will start accepting men in September, though men's changing rooms and a juice bar are still in the works), a strength training class, and a class for pregnant women. They're tentatively aiming to have these up and running by October.

After the 45-minute class was over, I took a shower with the peppermint body wash provided in the shower stalls, and left feeling tired, yet refreshed. I don't know about fighting cellulite, but at least two claims on the website are true — you'll have the best sleep of your life afterwards, and you won't feel sore the next day.

Interested in trying it out Aqua Cycling? Here's what you need to know:

• What to wear: I wore spandex shorts and a sports bra, but most women in the class were wearing swimsuits — either bikinis or one-piece suits. Bikinis are fine, but make sure your top is secure.

• You will get wet! Though the water only comes up to mid-chest, all the splashing will definitely still get you (and your hair) wet. Plan to shower afterwards, and bring a hairbrush.

• What to bring: An extra towel and a separate set of clothes are a good idea. Also remember to pack a bag to carry your wet swimsuit after class.

• Cost: The trial class is $34 for your first time, plus $2 for the shoes. A single class is $40, unless you choose to buy one of the studio's packages (then the cost ranges from $33—$38 per class).

• Who can go: So far, it's still women-only, but that will be changing in September. Men can sign up for the wait list by emailing AQUA.

SEE ALSO: 11 Great Accessories For Running Outdoors In The Summer

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On Sunday, Colorado's Tejay van Garderen won one of the hardest bike races in the world, the week-long USA Pro Challenge. 

This was a happy day for U.S. cycling fans. About one million of them gathered on the roads along various stages of the race course to cheer on all the racers.  (Jump straight to the pictures.)

Colorado, home to 53 mountains  over 14,000 feet, is a place filled with fanatical cyclists. Many Colorado residents own at least three bikes: a road bike, a mountain bike and a "townie" with a big comfy seat used to commute, run errands.

The USA Pro Challenge is helping the country build a reputation for world-class, difficult stage races. Now in its third year, 128 riders from 31 countries on seven teams participated in the 2013 race, including 2013 Tour de France winner, British cyclist Chris Froome of Sky Procycling. But Froome didn't finish this race. He dropped out because of asthma.

This race course would give just about anyone an asthma attack. It covers countless hills in 600 miles in seven days across Colorado, including a ride up the highest mountain pass in any professional cycling race, Independence Pass, at 12,000 feet. The time trials, where racers ride 10 miles as fast as they can, are held on Vail Pass, at 10,000 feet.

The fans are insane, too. Every peak is a dance party. Like the Tour de France, people line the streets, many in costume, and crowd the cyclists as they pass by.

Fans climb the hillside in Fort Collins to get to the road where racers will soon be. You can't drive to the race, the road is closed.

Riders descended the hill in the background and then had to climb through this wild crowd.

Here's a close up of the crowd, above Horsetooth Reservoir in Fort Collins. A dozen boats gathered to watch the race, too.

If Henry Ford were reincarnated as a bike maker, Le Corbusier as an architect of buildings and cities for bikes, and Robert Moses as their bike-loving ally in government, today’s bike plans would be far more ambitious in scope. Ford would be aiming to sell billions of bikes, Corb would be wanting to save the whole world, and, even if it took him a lifetime, Moses would be aiming to leave a permanent mark.

They would want to give bicycle transport a leg-up, like the leg-up the motorcar received from farmlands being opened for suburban development. So who are our modern-day, bicycle-loving Le Corbusiers? And what, exactly, is their task?

In any era, the preoccupations architects share with planners stem from whatever mode of transportation is on everyone’s minds. The Cooper Union Professor of Architecture, Anthony Vidler, describes the first half of the twentieth-century as a period when architecture derived its authority from machines; if we read Le Corbusier, we see ships and airplanes, but most often cars.

Designers were fascinated by cars for at least forty years, beginning with Le Corbusier’s 1925 plan to rebuild much of Paris, with towers in a park and sunken freeways. Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Buckminster Fuller and others designed car-centric buildings, and even some cars themselves, at a time when mass car ownership, freeways and sprawl, were still only fantasies.

Designers are at a similar juncture with their thinking about cycling today. Today it is mass bicycle transport that is a fantasy, but that doesn’t stop architects – including Ron Arad, West-8, Carlo Ratti, Bill Dunster, NL Architects, Atelier BowWow and Bjarke Ingels – from designing bike-centric buildings, and even some bikes.

Consider the similarities between Corbu and Bjarke. Le Corbusier was an associate of the carmaker Gabriel Voisin and would take his own Voisin car to photograph it in front of his buildings; Bjarke Ingels is an associate of the designer of Biomega brand bikes, and has made numerous media appearances riding those bikes.

Le Corbusier didn’t design his Villa Savoye for cars to be left parked in front, but built a U-turn within the structural volume of the villa, for the enjoyment of driving inside a building; Ingels could have left bikes at the base of his Danish Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 Expo, but instead built a ride-through spiraling building, with bicycle parking up on the roof. 

And when BIG took on the giant 8-House apartment complex on brownfields south of Copenhagen, they also designed a spiraling building that allowed residents to ride from as high as their tenth story penthouse, past all their neighbors, and down to the street on ramped access balconies.

And Bjarke is not the only one. In February 2012 British Prime Minister David Cameron called in architects Richard Rogers and Thomas Heatherwick (along with Bjarke Ingels) to give him their thoughts about cycling. In November the Netherlands Architecture Institute convened an urban bike night with speakers (current author included), an exhibition of bikes, and city bike tours. In 2013, New London Architecture (NLA) organized a fact-finding bike ride from Portland, Oregon to Portland Place, London, after already hosting a conference on cycling in late 2012; they were welcomed with receptions and speaking events as they went, culminating with talks at the AIA Center for Architecture in New York (where I was delighted to be invited to share my own research).

The cycling agenda will go forward much quicker now that architects are lending it weight, and would be further advanced had they done so much sooner. In architects’ defense, bicycle transport has looked for a long time like a problem for road engineers. So long as architects labeled their plans with a few bike racks—or bike rooms if that would earn some more LEED points—the traffic engineers would do the actual work, copying proven Dutch road design standards.

The sands have shifted though. Bikeways are now happening on architects’ turf. While cycle tracks along main streets in metropolises around the world have taken the headlines, a farther-reaching boon to bicycle transport is the ongoing conversion of rail routes, towpaths, docklands and factories into non-vehicular corridors and entertainment-based redevelopment sites.  Former industrial lands are evolving, organically, into territories that Nietzschean supermen like Ford, Corb and Moses would want to be in control of, if they were alive and championing bikes.

Most cities have redundant industrial sites, interconnected by bulk-haulage routes. Any time a bulk haulage route through a city is turned into a greenway, and housing is built on the old factory sites flanking that greenway, a city gains bike infrastructure serving hundreds of households. Bike infrastructure did not go to people. People moved to bike infrastructure. But that’s how infrastructure works. It leads the way. Freeways were built to the farmlands before houses were built either side.

Also of interest, are the kinds of bold, sculptural buildings appearing on brownfields.  Like the new EYE Film Institute Netherlands, which shouts to the people of Amsterdam that Royal Dutch Shell’s former testing site is now somewhere to eat out, or better still, buy a luxury flat. On their bikes people come to sites just like this one, in every post industrial city, via the same waterways and rail corridors that originally made them suitable sites for industrial functions. Only now, the railways are bikeways, and the commodities being moved around are these educated minds we all have, in advanced post-industrial nations.

For established bike nations such as the Netherlands, brownfields are an opportunity for bicycle highways, completely removed from motorized traffic. In non-cycling nations, meanwhile, old rail corridors and canals are the best opportunity yet to build inviting bike routes that won’t cause a political backlash from drivers. In many cities, bike users’ secret networks of underpasses and derelict bridges are already being dusted off and given nice names like the “Midtown Greenway” in Minneapolis, or the “Beltline” in Atlanta.  In other cities they still need exhuming. No matter what, the former industrial lands of our cities are where cycling has the opportunity to become our dominant mode of transportation.

My last book, Cycle Space, was an invitation to architects to throw their art behind the ascension of cycling. My next will urge architects to take a lead role. As we do with any large project, we should work out and present some proposals. And I don’t mean for bike racks. I mean grand, Corbusian, Moses-level design schemes. All this gives architects a weighty agenda to deal with. It’s an agenda with ramifications for urban mobility, global warming and public health—all the things bicycle transport, and the architects behind it, can give to humanity — and, frankly, must.

Dr. Steven Fleming is an academic at the University of Tasmania, Australia and the author of the book Cycle Space. He consults building industry professionals and government agencies about building for bikes. Find him on the web at cycle-space.com and follow him on Twitter @behoovingmoving 

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When I decided four years ago to start biking to work, I was immediately overwhelmed by the wealth of options.

The last time I'd ridden a bike, handlebar streamers and Huffys were still in vogue and bike shopping usually meant browsing yard sales in my dad's pick-up truck.

So, I took the easy way out. I logged onto Craigslist and snapped up the cheapest bike in my price range that I could find. I promptly regretted that decision for the next year and a half.

Four years and three bikes later, I've finally nailed the science of bike shopping. Since the most common question I'm asked by friends is how to shop for the right bike, I thought I'd put together a guide.

1. Decide what kind of biker you are.

In my experience, there are generally three main types of cyclists on the road. Finding out which one you are is key to finding the right bike:

1. The Spandex Elite: You'd kill to raid Lance Armstrong's closet and consider cycling more of a sport than a means of transportation. Your bike should be built with speed and agility first in mind and comfort last, with enough gears to manage different types of terrain. 

2. The Urban Commuter: You're looking for a bike that is sturdy and reliable enough to carry you anywhere. You want a bike that fits in just as well at the park as it does weaving through midtown at rush hour. You likely don't need tons of gears, unless your route is especially hilly.

3. The Weekender: You'd rather cram yourself into a packed subway car than risk your neck on the road. You're looking for a bike to take on weekend jaunts and run errands around your neighborhood. You'll do fine with a single- or three-speed.

2. Choose your bike style wisely.

The Spandex Elite: Depending on how serious of a rider you are, you'll want either a Road Bike or a Racing Bike. Both styles are ultra-lightweight and their razor-thin tires make them fly. Road bikes are great for commuters who want a daily rush but don't necessarily plan to compete in real races. Racing bikes are light, aerodynamic, hella-expensive, and designed for more competitive-style racing. 

The Urban Commuter: You're looking for something that fits under the"Hybrid" umbrella, like commonly found "City bike" or "Commuter" styles. Hybrids are built with comfort and stability in mind, with heavier frames than road bikes and thicker tires to handle hazards of the road like debris and uneven pavement. The frames can come in all shapes and sizes, from the more feminine step-through style to the unisex and more traditional diamond frame. 

The Weekender: You're all about the Cruiser. This style is built chiefly with comfort in mind, with thick tires, a nice cushy saddle (though you can always swap it out for something sleeker) and widespread handle bars. You'll love cruising to the store or showing off your ride on the boardwalk, but cruisers are typically too slow and clunky for city commuting.

3. Test ride bikes to make sure they fit your body.

My biggest mistake when I bought my first bike was going directly to Craigslist without testing out different styles first. 

There's no way to be certain that a bike will work for you unless you hop on and give it a spin. You should make sure the frame is the right size for your height and that the seat can be adjusted to suit your build.

Bike shops will gladly set you up for test rides and you can pummel them with questions about specs while you're at it. The more shops you visit, the better. You'll get a good sense of the price range for the style of bike you want.

Several weeks before Lance Armstrong came clean and admitted to doping on Oprah, he called up Alex Gibney — the filmmaker who had been documenting the cyclist since 2009.

Armstrong lied to Gibney's face throughout filming, and for that, Gibney requested a few more interviews to set the record straight.

In the film's recently released trailer, Armstrong acknowledges the likeability of his famed story: "A cancer survivor overcoming the disease comes back and wins. Yeah, they liked that."

Gibney's film, which had already wrapped before Armstrong's admission, went from "The Road Back," a story about an admirable cyclist's comeback year, to "The Armstrong Lie," a story that cuts between Armstrong then and now.

In the trailer Gibney says, "This is not a story about doping. It's a story about power and the story became hanging onto that power." 

"The Armstrong Lie" is out in theaters soon, here's the trailer:

SEE ALSO: Lance Armstrong Says It's The Postal Service's Fault For Giving Him $41 Million When He Was On Drugs

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Cycling in a big city like London can be dangerous, especially with trucks roaming the streets. To remind cyclists that truck's have huge blind spots and it's a poor idea to pass them on the left (that would be on the right in the U.S.), Transport for London made this short, simple video.

It starts with a shot from the driver's seat of a truck (or lorry). Here's what you see in the side view mirror:

No cyclists, right? Until you step out of the truck and walk around the side. Actually, there are about a dozen:

Here's the full video, which is from 2010. It does a great job of driving home how little a truck sees, and how careful cyclists need to be to avoid getting hit.

SEE ALSO: Insane Crash Occurs After Driver Loses Control Going 185 MPH

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Hundreds of cyclists played dead in a central London street on Friday night as part of a protest against dangerous traffic conditions in the city, according to Yahoo! News.

They lay on the ground with their bikes outside the headquarters of Transport for London, which runs the capital's transportation networks. The "die-in" lasted fifteen minutes and was organized after six cyclists were killed in London in just two weeks, the BBC reported.

The protests organizers are calling for better infrastructure for cyclists, and more funding for cycling infrastructure. There's no word yet on whether their demands will be met, but the "die-in" made for an impressive sight.

This photo was Tweeted by Meredith Frost, a producer for ABC News:

London cyclists stage a "die-in" to protest dangerous road conditions and cyclist deaths (via @DonnachadhMc) pic.twitter.com/vfOHusoMKy

— Meredith Frost (@MeredithFrost) December 1, 2013

SEE ALSO: Why There Are So Many Tunnels Under London

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SoulCycle just might be the hottest thing in fitness right now.

On a typical day, some 6,000 people will slip on their spinning shoes and climb atop a stationary bike in one of SoulCycle's 25 studios across the U.S. The lights will dim and, for the next 45 minutes or so, riders will surge up and down in sweaty, unified motion as the instructor barks out commands and inspirational sayings over the throb and sway of the music. Most of them will pay upward of $34 for one class.

Part boutique exercise class, part dance rave, part cult, SoulCycle is a carefully marketed and differentiated exercise service. Its challenge? To grow its following while keeping loyal customers coming back for more pricey spin sessions. For that reason, the target SoulCycle customer is not just someone who wants a workout, but someone who yearns to take part in a communal experience that is at once trendy, energized, and healthy. To go to SoulCycle is to be young and hip.

SoulCycle advertises itself as a full-body workout that has "revolutionized indoor cycling and taken the world of fitness by storm." The company currently has 18 locations in and around New York and seven in California, and is planning studios in Massachusetts and Washington D.C. It boasts an 85% retention rate among riders, and revenue has risen 60% each year since 2010.

Its social media metrics are similarly impressive. SoulCycle has nearly 30,000 followers on Facebook, another 25,000 followers on Twitter, and some 23,000 followers on Instagram. Its digital strategy is a simple extension of its feel-good branding. Online, the company posts stories and responds to tweets with a cheerful, upbeat persona and a liberal dose of exclamation points and smiley faces. It also recently launched "Soul Tunes" to compile the hottest hits from the studio and share them through a Spotify profile.

All in all, SoulCycle has come a long way since co-founders Julie Rice and Elizabeth Cutler opened their first studio in a Craigslist sublet on Manhattan's Upper West Side in mid-2006. The building didn't have a front desk and wouldn't allow them to post an outdoor sign, so at first the pair struggled to market their company. They handed out fliers and gave away tons of free classes to bring in riders. But Rice and Cutler also saw SoulCycle as filling a fitness niche in New York and, because of that, trusted that people would come.

"Elizabeth and I started SoulCycle because we were actually the customers — we were looking for an exercise experience that was going to be fun, exciting, challenging," Rice explains. "There were a lot of workouts, but there was really nothing out there that was efficient, that was joyful, that was about community, that was something that you really looked forward to."

Joy, fitness, and community. That was the central philosophy that Rice and Cutler emphasized again and again to would-be riders. It was also their answer to the most commonly voiced skepticism: "I could do this for free at my gym. Why would I come to you?"

It is, undoubtedly, a fair question. SoulCycle is many things, but cheap is not one of them. The regular single-class price is $34. Add in the $3 shoe rentals (you need special cycling equipment to participate) and a $2 water bottle, and you've hit $39 a session. By comparison, plenty of spinning classes in New York can be found for closer to $25 apiece.

SoulCycle also doesn't offer monthly passes, and its multi-class packages are barely discounted: 5 for $165 (that's $33 a pop), 10 for $320 ($32), 20 for $600 ($30), and 30 for $850 ($28.33). Those packages also come with expiration dates, so it's use it or lose it.

Why are SoulCyclers willing to spend so much? "People value what they pay for," Cutler says. "If someone pays to take that class, they are going to come in and work so hard that the energy in that class is going to be epic."

Rice points out that money spent on one SoulCycle class could as easily be thrown at two or three cocktails in New York. "It is so easy in this city to spend dumb money on things that don't matter," she says.

Customers certainly have bought in. Just six months after it opened in 2006, SoulCycle had long waiting lists, and the first studio became profitable. Its rider base has since expanded from mainly 30-something moms to men, teens, tweens, and even the elderly (one customer is 89). Its merchandise line now features dozens of items, including sweatshirts that retail for $125 and tank tops that go for $54.

"We used to say to people, 'This is really different; this is going to be an experience that you'll remember,'" Rice says. "[SoulCycle] will change your attitude about fitness."

SEE ALSO: Here's How One Startup Aims To Revolutionize The Hiring Process

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Cyc Fitness' mega-hyped cycling method finally has a home in New York City. After opening boutique studios in Austin, Texas and Madison, Wis., Cyc exclusively told Business Insider it will open its next spot in January at DavidBartonGym, occupying an entire floor of its Astor Place location. 

"We found incredible riders in Austin and Madison, and we saw the demand for harder workouts than just spinning," Alex Blodgett, founding partner of Cyc, said to Business Insider. "New Yorkers don't have a lot of time, but they want a full body workout."

Designed by Under Armour-sponsored athlete Keoni Hudoba — who is now Cyc's creative director — the 45-minute indoor cycling sessions include weight training inspired by more than 20 different sports, such as boxing, volleyball, and swimming. Classes range from $20-$25 and are sold in packages of five, 10, or 20. There are no monthly subscriptions, but the more classes you buy, the cheaper each individual class becomes. 

"We know young professionals in New York pay for a lot things like rent, so we have to come in competitively with that,"Stephen Nitkin, founder and CEO of Cyc, told us. "Our strategy is to create a socially active lifestyle so people will go ride bikes with their friends and not just go to the bars with them."

Along with its fitness center launch, Cyc will release "Cyc Social," an online social networking platform similar to Facebook that will allow riders to connect with friends, see where people in their network are sitting, and book a bike nearby, as well as receive notifications when friends sign up for classes. 

Because of the way it's designed, Cyc is a social experience that's good for all types of wheeling and dealing. Blodgett said Cyc has even talked to local businesses about using the cycling studio as an alternative to a restaurant for a business meeting.

"Your ride with your client doesn't have to end there," Nitkin said, "Because we're open inside a gym, there's all these high-end amenities that you have access to afterward, like a steam or sauna."

Cyc riders in NYC will have free access to DavidBartonGym’s facilities before and after classes, and DavidBartonGym members also get discounted cycling sessions.

Though time will tell if Cyc can become as popular as famous spinning brands SoulCycle or Flywheel, keep an eye on this new company as it continues to close the market gap between boutique studios and elite gyms.

SEE ALSO: The Best Hotel Gyms In America

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Making New Year's resolutions to save money, get healthy, or cut your carbon footprint in 2014? You could hit all three by simply riding your bike to work.

Not only does biking have the potential to improve individuals' health, wealth, and standard of living, but the combination of more cyclists and fewer cars on the road could give the entire country a much-needed boost. 

Here are 13 reasons you should consider making biking to work a new habit in the new year:

It would make cycling safer for everyone.

Research shows that unlike cars, the more bicycles on the road, the safer it becomes for cyclists. 

"It's a virtuous cycle," Dr. Julie Hatfield, an injury expert from the University of New South Wales, says. "The likelihood that an individual cyclist will be struck by a motorist falls with increasing rate of bicycling in a community. And the safer cycling is perceived to be, the more people are prepared to cycle."

It is vastly cheaper than driving. 

Due to rising fuel costs and tire upkeep, the cost of owning a car increased nearly 2% in 2012 to $8,946, according to AAA. 

It costs just $308 per year to keep bikes in shape — nearly 30 times less than cars, according to the Sierra Club. It says: "If American drivers were to make just one four-mile round trip each week with a bicycle instead of a car, they would save nearly 2 billion gallons of gas. At $4 per gallon, total savings would be $7.3 billion a year."

It's a free gym on wheels. 

On average, bicycle commuters lose 13 pounds in their first year of cycling alone.

"[Bike commuting] can be a very effective cardiovascular benefit," says Lisa Callahan, MD, of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. "If you're overweight and start an exercise program, sometimes it's harder on your joints because you are overweight, so something like swimming or biking that's not pounding on the joints can be a good thing." 

You won't miss morning traffic jams.

Americans spend upwards of 25 minutes per day commuting to work and more than $700 per year simply burning fumes in traffic 

Cycling could help you get there faster for a lot less. 

"Half of the working population in the U.S. commutes five miles or less to work, with bike trips of three to five miles taking less time or the same amount of time as commuting by car," writes Kiplinger editor Amanda Lilly.

You don't even have to own a bike. 

There's been a wave of new bike share programs in major cities like Washington, D.C., Boston, Chicago, and Miami, which typically allow riders 30 to 45 minutes of transportation for a small annual fee. 

When New York City's bike share launched in May, annual memberships cost $95 — about $10 less than subway commuters spend per month.

Women could use the extra bone support.

As women age, they become increasingly susceptible to bone deterioration through osteoporosis.

A team of researchers from a Swedish university found middle-aged women were less likely to sustain wrist fractures if they commuted by bike or participated in other physical activities like walking.

We could save hundreds of millions on health care expenses. 

"The most important socio-economic impact of cycling lies in the area of health care," says Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists. 

Nowhere is that more clear than in Portland, Ore. A study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health found that "during the next 30 years, Portland’s residents could save as much as $594 million in health care costs because of an investment into biking culture" and "fuel savings of $143 to $218 million." 

You inhale more harmful exhaust in your car than on a bike.

Though fuel emissions are bad news in general, drivers are actually more susceptible to harmful air than bicyclists. 

"Studies show you get the biggest hit of the nasties when you’re inside a car," notes the Grist's Umbra Frisk. "Sure, a personal Mobile Emissions Source [cars, for example] appears hermetic, but it’s an illusion: MES occupants are very close to sucking on the tailpipe of the MES just ahead of them. In a bus, riders’ lungs are a bit above these sources. And bikers and pedestrians are on the outskirts."

You're way more likely to get sick taking public transportation.

Fresh air does a body good. A study by the University of Nottingham found that public transit riders were "six times more likely to suffer from acute respiratory infections," the New York Daily News reports.

Supposedly, occasional riders were even more at risk. Another study found a host of illness-causing viruses lurking in passenger vehicles, including E. coli, salmonella, and campylobacter, according to Safetyissues.com.

Businesses will save millions in lost productivity.

A recent study by Dutch economic think tank TNO found people who commuted to work by bike were less likely to call in sick.

"Commuting to work by bicycle by just 1% could save [Denmark’s] employers approximately $34 million in lost productivity from absenteeism," Oregon state rep. Earl Blumenhauer writes in American Bicyclist. "That’s assuming a workforce of 7.1 million people. The U.S. has more than 154 million people in its workforce."

Uncle Sam will pay you to bike to work.

Since January 2012, cyclist commuters have been entitled to a $20 per month tax-free reimbursement for bike-related expenses.

This applies to workers who bike at least three days per week to the office. Qualifying expenses include bike repairs and storage expenses, according to the National Center for Transit Research.

You'll never have to worry about a parking spot again.

Hundreds of major companies have entered the American League of Bicyclists' "Bicycle Friendly Business" program, and cities like New York require commercial office buildings by law to offer some sort of bike storage.

Otherwise, invest in a sturdy bike lock, and all you need is a spare bike rack or street sign to park your ride. Folding bikes are another useful option, as they can be packed into a bag and stashed easily under a desk or a closet. 

Because all of your excuses not to bike are lame.

We get it. Biking makes you sweat. Cab drivers are tyrants. You could smack into a car door and knock yourself out.

But hear us out. Start slowly. Buy a sturdy helmet, throw a change of clothes into your basket, or, better yet, leave some at the office. Research the safest bike route to take (Google Maps offers biking directions in most cities), and read up on the rules of the road for cyclists. 

Like any form of new exercise, chances are you'll need time to get in a good groove with your two-wheeled commute. Once you do, trust us — you'll be hooked. 

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Today, Bill de Blasio takes over as mayor of New York City, and Janette Sadik-Khan steps down from her post as commissioner of the Department of Transportation.

She will be replaced by Polly Trottenberg, the current Under Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation.

In her six-year tenure, Sadik-Khan has made a lot of changes. 

She focused on reducing the number of cars on NYC streets. She built hundreds of miles of bike lanes, introduced a hugely successful bike share program, created pedestrian plazas, and transformed Times Square.

Her grand goal was to make it easier and safer to get around in New York, and to make the city a better place for residents and businesses, she explained in a 2011 essay for Slate.

Sadik-Khan was also responsible for managing a $2 billion annual budget and 4,700 employees. She was in charge of maintaining and improving 6,300 miles of road, nearly 800 bridges, 12,000 intersections with traffic signals, and the Staten Island Ferry.

New York has hundreds of miles of new bike lanes.

Between 2007 and 2011, the number of New Yorkers commuting by bicycle doubled, meeting a DOT goal ahead of schedule.

To triple that number by 2017, Sadik-Khan led the installation of 350 miles of bike lanes on streets throughout New York, providing a relatively safe way for cyclists to get around.

The bike lanes have aroused plenty of criticism, largely from neighborhood groups. At a 2011 event at the Center for Architecture, Sadik-Khan defended the expansion as a public good: 

“Some people have tried to paint bike lanes as elitist, which is really hard to believe because [the bicycle] is the most affordable way to get around town other than walking, and it’s really heavily used by a wide range of social and ethnic groups."

There are guards on duty to keep everyone where they belong.

On the eve of the opening of New York's bike share program, Sadik-Khan announced that Street Safety Managers — who first went to work on the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg bridges in 2011 — would be on duty in areas with heavy pedestrian, cyclist, and vehicular traffic.

Their job was to remind everyone to stay in their designated lanes. They were be on the streets during morning and afternoon rush hours between April and October.

Neighborhood traffic is slower, and safer.

In July 2012, Commissioner Sadik-Khan and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced they would expand the Neighborhood Slow Zone program to 13 new residential areas, all at the request of local applicants.

The program adds traffic calming measures and reduces the standard speed limit from 30 mph to 20 mph, which Sadik-Khan said would improve safety:

“Our residential streets need to be drawn to this human scale, and by simply reducing the speed of passing cars by 10 miles per hour, we can save lives as we make the streets people walk along more inviting.”