Talk:Cycling in Europe

What about cycle races?

I appreciate the focus of this article may be the actual cyclist, but surely something like the Tour De France, a major event should get a mention? ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 13:36, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

Maybe we should have a separate travel topic article about bicycle races, like we do for other spectator sports. Certainly lots of people travel to see the Tour De France (which might even be able to support its own article), and I imagine people travel to see other bicycle races too. —Granger (talk · contribs) 16:19, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

Most people would assume a section "Cycling in Europe" in a travel guide to be about cycling for transport and/or cycle touring. Whilst some cyclists do follow events like the Tour de France, many don't. All they have in common is that they involve bicycles. Including Tour de France in an article about Cycling in Europe is a bit like including Le Mans 24h in an article about Driving in Europe - they both involve cars on roads and most people watching the Le Mans are also drivers. PsamatheM (talk) 16:37, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

People (enthusiasts) will travel short'ish distances to see an event but often just use it as an excuse to go for a ride. When I lived in France, some would turn out to watch the TdF pass through the local town but many just joked about it being a competition between pharmacy companies. It's a popular race but, there are many other less formal "challenges" that cyclists do participate in. some rather than watch the event will cycle sections before of after the race (i.e. days/weeks before or after), and challenges like Mont Ventoux. I personally think there is a case for separating the "doing" from the passive "watching"; "Cycling in Europe" is about doing cycling whereas Tour de France is about a spectating. PsamatheM (talk) 16:37, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

That was what I was thinking, as well, thanks for the confirmation ShakespeareFan00 (talk) 17:44, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

Merging EuroVelo cycling routes into this article?

Hi all, I see a lot of duplication on this page and on EuroVelo cycling routes. Wouldn't it be much better if we merged these two articles? Xsobev (talk) 10:45, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

Sure. Why not? Hobbitschuster (talk) 23:42, 30 April 2018 (UTC)

EuroVelo cycling routes is quite long and of interest only to part of the audience. I think we instead should replace the list in this article with a few paragraphs explaining what the routes are and who would benefit from them. --LPfi (talk) 20:02, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

I agree with your suggestion - that would be much more useful than just this list (which has been copied from Wikipedia anyway and can be found there if someone really wants it). I would still propose to only have one page on this topic, and not the two we have at the moment. Xsobev (talk) 09:17, 3 May 2018 (UTC)

There's a potential overlap with tour cycling. Unfortunately it seems we have no editors who routinely cycle triple digit km in a day... Hobbitschuster (talk) 15:52, 4 May 2018 (UTC)

"Challenges" in the Baltic countries

Kattimattinen wrote that the rural roads and dedicated cycling routes in the Baltic countries offer "challenging riding experience for cyclists". What does this mean, the same as "interesting" in scare quotes? What is the nature of these challenges? The possibility to cycle great distances or the risk of getting under a lorry? –LPfi (talk) 09:04, 13 February 2023 (UTC)

Also for Romania: "the country's scenic roads and rolling hills offer a unique and challenging riding experience for cyclists". Is this "challenging" added routinely? Is Romania more challenging than riding in any other hilly country? I understand that biking in a country with deficient infrastructure is challenging, but this seems to be put here as something positive. Is it purely flowery? –LPfi (talk) 09:15, 13 February 2023 (UTC)