World Bicycle Day, observed on 3 June, has become an annual reckoning for cities striving to reimagine urban mobility. The United Nations touts the bicycle as a simple, affordable and environmentally friendly mode of transport, yet in cities across the global south, the distance between aspiration and reality remains vast. In Rio de Janeiro, transport experts warn that without significant investment in safe, integrated cycling networks, the bike will remain an afterthought rather than a genuine transport alternative. Meanwhile, Bogotá has transformed cycling into a cultural cornerstone, with hundreds of thousands of daily trips blending recreation, romance and commuting. In Moroccan cities, academics argue that embracing the bicycle is no longer a recreational choice but an “inevitable necessity” to curb emissions and improve quality of life, though it demands a wholesale overhaul of infrastructure and entrenched commuting habits.

Viewed from Rio de Janeiro, the call for safer cycling is urgent. Andrea Santos, a transport engineering professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, stresses that expanding and adapting the city’s cycle network is essential to making cycling a serious transport option. The key obstacle, she notes, is safety. Without protected lanes and better integration with public transport, many potential cyclists—especially women and lower-income residents—remain deterred. This equity gap is a recurring theme in cities where cycle infrastructure is often concentrated in wealthier neighbourhoods, leaving peripheral communities underserved.

In Bogotá, the narrative shifts from deficiency to cultural exuberance. The capital’s Ciclovía—a weekly closure of major streets to motor vehicles—has become a social institution, drawing cyclists, pedestrians, and skaters in a shared reclaiming of public space. With more than 886,000 daily bike journeys recorded by city authorities, cycling here is woven into the fabric of daily life, from romantic outings to museum crawls. Social media on World Bicycle Day overflowed with images of pets riding in baskets, underscoring how the bicycle has evolved into a vector of joy and community. Yet even Bogotá’s success story is incomplete; the challenge lies in extending safe infrastructure beyond the recreational corridors to the city’s less privileged barrios.

Morocco’s debate offers a sobering counterpoint. Saïd Larbi, an environment and sustainable development researcher at Ibn Tofail University, insists that a “structural revolution” is needed—not merely painting bike lanes, but reengineering urban space and shifting deeply ingrained transport cultures. This call resonates far beyond North Africa. As cities from Latin America to the Maghreb mark World Bicycle Day, the message is unified but nuanced: pouring concrete is the easy part; fostering a genuine cycling culture demands political will, safety, and a deliberate effort to make the bicycle accessible to all. Until then, the promise of a truly sustainable urban future will remain, quite literally, an uphill ride.