<P> Critical Mass is an event typically held on the last Friday of every month in cities around the world where bicyclists take to the streets en masse . While the ride was founded with the idea of drawing attention to how unfriendly the city was to bicyclists, the leaderless structure of Critical Mass makes it impossible to assign it any one specific goal . In fact, the purpose of Critical Mass is not formalized beyond the direct action of meeting at a set location and time and traveling as a group through city streets . </P> <P> There is a long - running cycle helmet debate among activists . The most heated controversy surrounds the topic of compulsory helmet use . </P> <P> Cyclists form associations, both for specific interests (trails development, road maintenance, bike maintenance, urban design, racing clubs, touring clubs, etc .) and for more global goals (energy conservation, pollution reduction, promotion of fitness). Some bicycle clubs and national associations became prominent advocates for improvements to roads and highways . In the United States, the League of American Wheelmen lobbied for the improvement of roads in the last part of the 19th century, founding and leading the national Good Roads Movement . Their model for political organization, as well as the paved roads for which they argued, facilitated the growth of the automobile . </P> <P> As a sport, cycling is governed internationally by the Union Cycliste Internationale in Switzerland, USA Cycling (merged with the United States Cycling Federation in 1995) in the United States, (for upright bicycles) and by the International Human Powered Vehicle Association (for other HPVs, or human - powered vehicles). Cycling for transport and touring is promoted on a European level by the European Cyclists' Federation, with associated members from Great Britain, Japan and elsewhere . Regular conferences on cycling as transport are held under the auspices of Velo City; global conferences are coordinated by Velo Mondial . </P>

Extempore on cycle the best mode of transport among youth