Issued by City of York Council
Workplaces in York are being invited to take part in a free competition to encourage more people to ride bikes as part of the 2013 York Cycle Challenge.
More than 81 businesses and 1,500 people are set to take to the streets over the next three week period from 1 to 21 July for the annual event.
The challenge is supported by City of York Council’s i-Travel initiative, made possible by £4.6 million of government funding which the council successfully bid for in 2011.
Unlike other cycling events, The York Cycle Challenge is all about encouraging people to simply hop on a bike so that they can experience the benefits of riding first hand.
Participants can cycle anywhere they like, anytime they like, over the three-week period and organisations that can encourage the largest uptake of staff to bike ride for just 10-minutes or more will win prizes.
The York Cycle Challenge was run in the region in 2012 with much success and three months after the event, 40 per cent of the non-cyclists who took part were cycling regularly each week.
Cllr Dave Merrett, Cabinet Member for Transport, Planning and Sustainability, said: “We saw a great response from businesses across the city last year, with hundreds of cyclists taking part and clocking up over 100,000 miles in the York Cycle Challenge – the equivalent of cycling over four times around the world.
“This year we hope to do even better and the council is encouraging its staff to take part. With the Tour de France just around the corner, we hope this will motivate even more people to try out the cycle challenge.”
There will be a live league table on the challenge website showing which organisations are currently in the lead at the Love To Ride website.
There are a whole host of prizes that people can win just by participating, including a new bike, 200+ cinema tickets and more prizes are to be revealed shortly.
City Screen and Bike Outlet are among 81 businesses that are already signed up to ‘The York Cycle Challenge’. Registrations are still open and it’s free to participate. For more information please visit the i-Travel website.
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