I think the
Panasonic ZS50 is an excellent choice for people who cycle. It's a very small digicam with a field of view equal to a 24-720mm zoom lens on a full-frame camera. The camera has an electronic viewfinder, which is a fantastic feature when the light is bright outside, which is most of the day.
Issues: tiny sensor, so cropping isn't that easy. Also, tiny sensor = noisy photos at higher ISOs. This camera "only" has 12 megapixels, though, which mean you actually can shoot about ISO 400 for fairly noiseless photos, and of course you can go higher with noise reduction software. You can't really handhold a camera at 720mm and expect sharp photos (but you can't with a full-on DSLR, either). You're stuck with a lot of depth of field (i.e., everything tends to be in focus). Finally, f/stops aren't particularly large as you leave the wide-angle range.
If you can find one, the discontinued
Panasonic LF1 is a fantastic camera for a cyclist, too. It's what I've used on some of my trips. The camera features a larger sensor and an f/2 lens at the wide end, plus it has that all-important optical viewfinder. Field of view: like that of a 28-200mm lens. There's a great pano feature, too. I hope Panasonic comes up with an updated model. This is the camera I took to Italy last year for my bike rides. You can see all my shots I posted last year on BF:
http://www.bikeforums.net/fifty-plus...it-summer.html
As per someone else's comment, I also own and like the A6000. I own a lot of lenses for the camera. too. If I had to use the camera with one lens, it would be either the 10-18mm or the 16mm. Ordinarily I pair my 10-18mm lens with the small 55-210 (I don't care much about "normal" focal lengths). It's a pain changing lenses, but worth it for the best photos.
The camera has many awesome features. Among them: the camera will take four photos and blend them together. You set the ISO as high as you want - e.g. 28,000 - and the camera will figure out what's reality and what's random noise and remove the latter. So you can shoot under very low light conditions and come back with winners.
The camera body the 10-18 into my waist pack. A second lens can go in my jersey pocket or the extra pocket on my waist pack.
Here are some images from a recent trip to NYC, all made from or next to my bike during evening hours:
As for how to make good photos, that's the subject of books and classes. Here are two of the things I do: I shoot early and late in the day for the best light. No matter what the light, I think about what I want out of a photo. And I move around a bit to see if I've got the best background.