World's biggest bike congress opens in Vienna

The dangers of drunk-cycling, the eternal war between cyclists and pedestrians and a dozen cities' efforts to be hip, green and healthy have brought over 1,000 experts together in Vienna for the world's biggest cycling conference. The four-day Velocity meeting kicked off Tuesday in the Austrian capital and was to host some 400 workshops and discussions on topics such as city bike paths, e-bikes and bike-sharing schemes, as well as ways of encouraging people to opt for two-wheels in Chile, Hungary or San Francisco. It is important to "take up on new trends, promote creativity and innovative ideas and develop... cycling cultures and communities," Manfred Neun, head of the European Cyclists' Federation (ECF), which was organising the forum, said at its opening. The ECF holds Europe-wide conferences every two years to discuss city planning and transport safety and to promote cycling as an environmentally-friendly sport and means of transportation.