Bike to Work Day, October 15th
This Wednesday is Ride to Work Day - the idea is to promote cycling to work as a healthy and more eco-friendly alternative to driving. You can register as an individual or workplace group.
The website has all sorts of resources for making it a fun event that will show people how easy it can be to ride to work. They suggest workplace breakfasts, giving prizes for ‘least-likely rider’ or ‘best-dressed bike’, or getting the boss to ride in to work. They’ve also got state resources like maps and safety information.
I don’t have my own bike at the moment, but am thinking of getting one. Cycling obviously has many health benefits, because it’s great aerobic exercise. It can also save you heaps on petrol money! To see how good it can be for the environment, you can calculate the emissions your car puts out - if you ride to work, that’s how much pollution you’ll be preventing.
So if you’ve got a bike in the shed, not being used, why not give it a whirl on Wednesday? It might become a habit. Apparently Ride to Work Day has been really good at convincing people to make it a regular part of their life instead of just a once-a-year event. On National Ride to Work Day last year, 25% of registered participants rode to work for the first time; five months later 29% of first-time riders were still riding to work.
Tags: bike riding, cycling
October 27th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Damn, I was so busy the last couple of weeks that I missed this one!
And I always cycle to work except when it’s raining, than I take public transport.
It’s 20 km to Curtin University, which gives me some good excise by the time I am back home again! Luckily I don’t do that every day though but today was particulary nice as it was not too hot, sunny and not too windy and the route along the river is always beautiful!
November 6th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
The best way to make it a regular part of life is to make it flexible and make it work with your travel needs. Cut down on short trips in the car, and use a bike. If you’re going to venture forth and commute all the way, or part of the way to work via bike - consider a folding bike. Those small wheeled things are all you need in some place, but they look goofy. I found a great full-size, rock solid mountain bike here: http://www.montaguebikes.com.au. It fold away into a bag, which is a good thing since Victorian trains make life with bikes a bit more tricky. Folding bike make it easier to store and easier to use now - easier to be carbon neutral!
November 7th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I only recently acquired a bike and I love it. I also don’t pay enough attention and missed bike to work day, altho i blogged about my http://elsewear.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/on-yer-bike/“>new found love the weekend before. I take my dog to my parents while i’m at work and she loves running along beside me, altho we don’t like the rain. I didn’t ride all week becuase of the rain, but i did this morning and i remembered how much fun it is!
i thought it wouldn’t collect any rain until next year.
But the good thing about the rain is my new rainwater tank is half full