Bicycle Week in Bogotá

Harley-style bikes rev up to start Bogotá's Bicycle Week.

Bogotá's sixth annual Bicycle Week kicked off today with mountain biking, a children's obstacle course, an exhibition of exotic bikes and even a bicycle museum in the Parque Nacional.

The week, whose schedule is available here and here, also includes forums on cycling, cycling instruction for women, a bicycle exhibit and other events.

Despite being a big advocate of cycling, I've long felt dubious about bike promotion events which consist primarily of fun and games. But my attitude is changing, in part because fun and games do seem to sell other activities, including driving cars, and also out of a feeling of futility: What else can we do, after all, with the huge onslaught of pro-driving propaganda and societal pressures?

However, Bogotá could do more substantial things to promote urban bicycle use, such as taming traffic, controlling air pollution and making cars pay the true burdens they impose on society, by raising the price of gasoline and charging for parking.

The bicycle museum. 

A child in the bicycle museum. 

Future racing champs? Kids ride an obstacle course. 

Classic bikes and riders. 

Women mountain bikers charge uphill in the Parque Nacional. 

A Guy Fawkes bicyclist.

Welcome to the Day of the Bicycle in Bogotá.

By Mike Ceaser, of Bogotá Bike Tours