European Mobility Week is back (by bike). Until September 22, throughout much of Italy, from children to grandparents, events, bike rides, and public meetings are scheduled. And Fiab, the Italian Federation for Environment and Bicycles, believes in this Week to promote the use of two wheels that are "healthy", "economical", "fun", "ecological" and above all "inclusive", "not only in the sense of being accessible to everyone, without social or economic distinction, but also – and I would say especially – as an effective means of developing social relationships". The complete calendar of initiatives is available on the andiamoinbici.it portal.

For Tuttobiciweb the bicycle occupies not just this week, but every day of the year. And even though I'm not its director, I feel I can say that Tuttobiciweb covers it from every angle, competitive and technical, professional and vocational but also youth and amateur, and artistic and literary as well, ranging from news to history, from interviews to opinions, from maps to ratings. The bike as a muscular-powered Formula 1, as a means that is complete in itself, as an instrument that also plays silence, as a companion, as a friend, with an angelic nature, and like an angel has wings, takes flight, and makes others fly. In the sky, and on earth too.

Among the infinite testimonies and interpretations, this one from Milanese writer, poet and translator Milli Graffi is not as well known as it deserves: "A bicycle helps a boy rediscover his boyhood. The bicycle is the small room that is enough for him to live. In fact, in the bicycle you are inside. Being something that is inhabited, it is a dwelling. You travel around the world and look at the world from within, a within where you coexist with the pleasure of wind and sun. The roads become constellations. The favorite route is luminous like the Milky Way. The nearest stars and the farthest stars are measured by heartbeat…" (from "Words of Sport", Municipality of Como).

Among the infinite stories and narratives, this one by Alfonso Gatto, poet following the Giro d'Italia for "l'Unità", continues to move us: "Passing through Tivoli we met Brizzi. He raced in 1910. Now he was just an old man with paralyzed legs. He had wanted to come down from the house where he always stays alone in the company of memories, sitting in his wheelchair, to greet the Giro. When he saw it pass in front of him, for a moment, he lit up and leaned forward with his torso as if he wanted to lift himself up on those poor useless legs. He fell back immediately and with his head resting on his arm began to cry, in the void that the distracted crowd had left around him" (from "You Wanted the Bicycle", Sellerio).

Among the infinite advice and commandments, rules and decalogues, this one from Swiss traveler and author Claude Marthaler is often overlooked: "It's better to set off with little money, an old bike and no sponsors rather than give up on realizing your dream". And also this: "You don't need to be an athlete, training happens by pedaling. Everyone learns to know their own limits and to choose their own stages. The same goes for mechanical knowledge: bicycle repair is learned while traveling" (from "The Song of the Wheels", Ediciclo).