Cycling is at a tipping point: while some cities build bike lanes and ban cars, others are experiencing a backlash. Will the future of cities be two-wheeled?

Guardian Cities cycle week: what it is and how you can get involved

In the battle against air pollution and gridlock caused by cars, cities around the world are increasingly turning to a low-tech, two-wheeled solution.

Urban cycling, however, appears to be at a tipping point. While London and even Los Angeles look to build better bike lanes, and Oslo or Madrid make efforts to ban cars from their centres entirely, other cities appear to be back-pedalling, embracing driverless cars or banning some people from using bikes altogether.

On the eve of this battle, join Guardian Cities all week long as we report from the painted lines. Our correspondents have been everywhere from Tehran, where some women are defying the religious leaders who consider cycling a threat to morality, to Seattle, where bicycles have been embraced by an unlikely group: riot police.

We’ll look at how China’s “dockless” bike shares are poised to use the UK as a springboard for global dominion; ask whether bicycles and driverless cars are mutually exclusive; and look back at what killed America’s now-forgotten 1970s bike boom.

Above all, however, we want to hear from you. Do you love urban cycling or find it a scourge in our cities? Speak your mind any time in our comment threads, but tomorrow we’ll also be specifically discussing what it’s like to be a woman traveling on two wheels, and on Wednesday we want to hear about the good, the bad and the ugly of your commute.

Cycle week challenge: strike up a conversation with a fellow cyclist Read more

We’re kicking off today, however, with a challenge: strike up a conversation with a fellow cyclist.

It can be as short or long as you like, and be about bike etiquette, the weather, or something more philosophical, we don’t mind. Just have a chat and tell us about it using #cycleconvo. Get a selfie, too, if you can!



Lastly, if you happen to be at the Velo-city global cycling conference in Arnhem-Nijmegen, the Netherlands, this week, come and say hello.

Whatever kind of cyclist you are, we want to hear from you.

Guardian Cities is dedicating a week to exploring the future of cycling in cities around the world. Explore our coverage here and follow us on on Twitter and Facebook to join the discussion.

Accept our challenge to have a conversation with a fellow city cyclist? Tell us about it here, or on Twitter or Instagram using #cycleconvo, and we’ll feature the best at Guardian Cities