Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne

In this wide-ranging memoir, artist, musician, and co-founder of the American new wave band Talking Heads, David Byrne gives an account on how urban bicycling has become more popular as climate-conscious city dwellers reinvent basic transportation. Byrne has relied on a bike to get around New York City since the early 1980’s. 

 

Did you know that some of his bike rack designs are on the Stanford campus?

The inventive and functional sculptural bike racks at the Cantor and Anderson Collection are designed by Byrne. While primarily known for his music, he’s also a prolific visual artist and long-time cycling advocate. The tech-themed racks are located along Lomita Drive. 

Bike Nation: How Cycling Can Save the World by Peter Walker

A revolution on the roads is approaching. Is it time for drivers to give way? Guardian news correspondent Peter Walker, takes us on a journey around the world, exploring the varying attitudes to cycling on our highways. Visit the shining examples of Amsterdam and Copenhagen, where cycling culture is an intrinsic part of the approach of politicians and officials. How have these cities made provision for cyclists and what are the extraordinary benefits?

Bikenomics: How Bicycling Can Save the Economy by Ellie Blue

Bikenomics provides a surprising and compelling new perspective on the way we get around and on how we spend our money, as families and as a society. 

Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality by Melissa Bruntlett and Chris Bruntlett,

Chris and Melissa Bruntlett share the incredible success of the Netherlands through engaging interviews with local experts and stories of their own delightful experiences riding in five Dutch cities. Building the Cycling City examines the triumphs and challenges of the Dutch while also presenting stories of North American cities already implementing lessons from across the Atlantic. Discover how Dutch cities inspired Atlanta to look at its transit-bike connection in a new way and showed Seattle how to teach its residents to realize the freedom of biking, along with other encouraging examples.

Divorce Your Car: Ending the Love Affair with the Automobile by Katie Alford

A long-time advocate for transportation reform, Alvord prefers getting around on her own two feet using mass transit and bicycles. She tracks the dramatic and negative impact of automobiles from the early days of the 1900’s to the present.

Joyride: Pedaling Toward a Healthier Planet by Mia Burke

Joyride tells the dramatic and enlightening behind-the-scenes story of how a group of determined visionaries transformed Portland into a cycling mecca and inspired the nation.

The Bicycle Diaries: My 21,000 Mile Ride for the Climate by David Kroodsma

Climate researcher David Kroodsma dreamed of bicycling down his driveway in Palo Alto and pedaling for months until he reached the tip of South America. When he finally planned his trip, he wanted more than just adventure; he also wanted to raise awareness about the impacts of climate change on the countries he would explore. So he set out on a well-packed bicycle with a business card, a laptop, and an eagerness to share his knowledge. His project, Ride for Climate, caught on; he gave over 100 school and assembly presentations, garnered dozens of newspaper accounts of his journey, and appeared on international television.

Along a Long Road by Frank Viva

Bike on, Bear! by Cynthea Liu

B is for Bicycles by Scott and Jannine Fitzgerald

Duck on a Bike by David Shannon

The Red Bicycle by Jude Isabella 

Experience adventure, culture, discovery, and life-long learning via bicycles with these movies from around the world:

Bicycle • 2014 • Directed by Michael B. Clifford

Bicycle tells the story of cycling in the land that invented the modern bicycle, its birth, decline and rebirth from Victorian origins to today. The film weaves bicycle design, sport, and transport throughout the retelling of some iconic stories and interviews.

Blood Road • 2017 • Directed by Nicholas Schrunk

Blood Road follows the journey of ultra-endurance mountain bike athlete Rebecca Rusch and her Vietnamese riding partner as they pedal 1,200 miles along the infamous Ho Chi Minh Trail through the dense jungles of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Their goal: to reach the site where Rebecca’s father, a U.S. Air Force pilot, was shot down in Laos more than 40 years earlier. During this poignant voyage of self-discovery, the women push their bodies to the limit, while learning more about the historic ‘Blood Road’ and how the Vietnam War shaped their lives in different ways.

Motherload • 2019 • Directed by Liz Canning

Motherload is a crowdsourced documentary about a new mom's quest to understand and promote the cargo bike movement in a gas-powered, digital and divided world. Her experiences as a cyclist, as a mother, and in discovering the cargo bike world, teach Liz that sustainability is not necessarily about compromise and sacrifice and there are few things more empowering, in an age of consumption, than the ability to create everything from what seems to be nothing.

My Italian Secret: The Forgotten Heroes • 2014 • Directed by Oren Jacoby

This documentary tells the incredible story of Gino Bartali, a two-time Tour de France winner who spent his training rides transporting forged documents to the Jewish Resistance during World War II. By risking his life to help the underground, Bartali saved more than 800 Jews from the Nazis—an incredible feat for which he never sought credit while alive.

Ride the Divide • 2010 • Directed by Hunter Weeks.

An award-winning feature film about the world's toughest mountain bike race, which traverses over 2,700 miles along the Continental Divide in the Rocky Mountains. The film weaves the story of three characters' experiences with immense mountain beauty and small-town culture as they attempt to pedal from Banff, Canada to a small, dusty crossing on the Mexican border.

Rising from the Ashes • 2013 • Directed by T. C. Johnstone

A team of young cyclists try to outrun the past. “This is the land of second chances,” the coach of Team Rwanda says. The riders—Hutus and Tutsis—find that cycling gives suffering a purpose.

Wadjda • 2013 • Directed by Al-Mansour Haifaa

An enterprising and rebellious Saudi girl enters a Quran recitation competition at her school and hopes to win enough money to buy her own bicycle.

Why We Cycle • 2019 • Directed by Gertjan Hulster and Arne Gielen

Why we Cycle invites regular cyclists and scientists from all walks of life to talk about Dutch cycling culture. There are more bikes than people in the Netherlands. The movie shows many different angles why cycling has remained so popular. In the end, it leads to a general conclusion. Talking about we cycle means we are dealing with a bigger question—What kind of society do we want to be?

American Flyers • 1985 • Directed by John Badham

Sports physician Marcus persuades his unstable brother David to come with him and train for a bicycle race across the Rocky Mountains. He doesn’t tell him that he has a cerebral tumor. While David powerfully heads for the victory, Marcus has to realize that the contest is now beyond his capabilities.

Bicycle Thieves • 1948 • Directed by Vittorio De Sica

Hailed around the world as one of the greatest movies ever made, the Academy Award–winning Bicycle Thieves defined an era in cinema. In poverty-stricken postwar Rome, a man is on his first day of a new job that offers hope of salvation for his desperate family when his bicycle, which he needs for work, is stolen.

Breaking Away • 1979 • Directed by Peter Yates

This charming, Academy Award winner cycles high on comedy as four friends come to terms with life after high school.