Breaking point in sight

Although it's so cold it feels January, about 60 bikers gather in Prague's Jiřího z Poděbrad square. They grab the posters and stickers spread on concrete pillars by members of the Oživení association and start to decorate their bikes. It is the third Thursday in March, and we are at the start of another regular event where Prague's bikers ride through the city streets together. For years, they have been trying to point at the fact that their city clearly prefers cars.

Within two hours, most bikes turn into mobile ads promoting the „big spring cycle“, scheduled to take place in exactly a month. Cycling promoters from Oživení and its partner organisation Auto-mat have considerable expectations. Last year, they registered record interest: Participation jumped from a mere 300 people in the past years to 3,000. Many activists think the number is desperately low, but hard-line optimists see this as evidence that interest in cycling has been growing despite the hostile environment of Prague streets - and that the proverbial „breaking point“, with cycling becoming a respected alternative to city transport like in other cities worldwide, might be in sight.

Let's join forces

„Naturally, the situation will not change at once,“ says Michal Křivohlávek from Oživení. "The breaking point comes when 10% of the city's inhabitants mount their bikes,…