bicycle

Nearly half of all traffic activity in Amsterdam is by bike. The Dutch can be seen pedalling day and night, rain or shine (although never with a helmet) through the city streets. Bike paths connect the entire country.

With companies going broke, banks collapsing and even Dubai finding it hard to find money, British leisure company Halford's surprised the markets by announcing a 24 per cent earnings increase. "Staycationers" helped create this recession miracle.

The French-made bikes are the same type that visitors to Paris have been using since 2007. The Parisian bikes are grey; the Dublin bikes are blue, to reflect the city's official colour, rather than the occasional colour of the Irish sky.

This futuristic-looking machine is a 1.2 kW-electric-motor-powered, carbon-fibre, foldable bicycle called the YikeBike. It aims to solve the never-ending problem of city parking, and will possibly become the trendy, green person's status symbol in 2010.

Lance Armstrong's Tour de France comeback is a big story. And it's getting bigger, because the Texan is working with controversial British artist Damien Hirst to make his bike prettier with butterflies.

Talking Heads singer David Byrne is helping New York City increase the number of bicycle commuters by providing bike racks.