TO ten years apart from the first time, the Bike Night Emilia-Romagna this year too was a colorful and bright celebration of the bike. On the night between Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th June it lit up the Destra Po from Ferrara to the sea with a thousand cyclists of all ages coming from all over Italy.
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Now in its tenth edition, the Bike Night from Ferrara to Lido di Volano marked the start of the 100 kilometer night cycling tour organized by Witoor. Participating in the night on bikes were numerous female cyclists (over 21% of the total), as well as young and old, groups of friends, families with children in tow, for a transversal and colorful procession of lights. An energy that began to fill Piazza Ariostea from 9pm, and grew hour after hour, when all types of participants arrived in the heart of Ferrara: super trained, in Graziella, in eggmobile.
Music and an electrifying atmosphere for what has become the non-competitive cycling event involving the most participants in Emilia-Romagna and which this year confirmed very high numbers and popularity: 1000 attendees, with 50% coming from outside the province. Also present in the square were Confagricoltura Ferrara, Rione Santo Spirito, Lost Road Beer, Fiab Ferrara, Uisp Ferrara, B12 Bike Professional, Polisportiva Putinati, Fondazione Ado, Destinazione Romagna Bike to enliven the wait in their stands.
From 11.30pm the queue of cyclists began and filled the ring of Piazza Ariostea, therefore the countdown to midnight, when the group left. Among those present was also Paolo Calvano, budget councilor of the Emilia-Romagna region, witnessing the city’s response to the cycling events. The start at midnight, between two wings of spectators: waiting for them is a cycle touring route along the Destra Po, three refreshment points up to breakfast at Bagno Ristoro, at Lido di Volano, directly on the beach. Many stories that mixed together during the night, in a kilometer-long luminous thread above the Po embankment that unraveled along the way. At each refreshment point, a moment to stock up on food, thanks to the local products of Confagricoltura Ferrara.
With the coming of dawn, the thousand cyclists found the energy necessary for the final sprint, before the well-deserved rest right by the sea after a journey with constant mechanical and medical assistance. The joy of having built a memorable memory, the discovery of new personal limits, the surprise of experiencing territories in a new way: many sensations that mixed together to create the unique mix of Bike Nights. An event that brings together city bikes, racing bikes, gravel bikes, MTBs, tandems, e-bikes, rickshaws, sports scooters (footbikes), recumbent bikes, and eggmobiles. People with visual (tandem) or motor disabilities also participated.
“It is also thanks to the Bike Night that yes promotes the territory, in a participatory and innovative way – commented Simone Dovigo, president of Witoor – offering a journey to remember and tell to others, and it is precisely the intertwining of stories, emotions and different types of participants that is the most significant impact of the Bike Night. After 10 years we continue to think that the bike is always more for everyone, at all hours: with Bike Night we ignite the passion for cycle tourism in many people who have never traveled 100 kilometres. And we have chosen new formats for Italy, such as cycling at night: a still magical and surprising experience that can involve a new audience that is passionate about sustainable mobility”.
