The Cambridge Cycling Challenge has been running over the last three weeks. Aside from the fact that my little jaunt to Paris fell right in the middle allowing me to log plenty of miles, the whole aim of this challenge was to encourage new cyclists to give it a go. Never one to be competitive (!), I took on the job of coordinating Oakland's effort, resulting in 5 new cyclists either starting or returning to the sport. One guy in particular had his bike in the shed for over a year, came out for a 10 minute ride on a borrowed bike, went home, fixed his own bike and has been commuting to work since!
Cycling offers an opportunity to make a difference in so many ways. The obvious one is health benefits. The challenge resulted in the equivalent of 1200 lb of fat being burnt, and over 2000 logging journeys. In addition, cycling to work offers benefits in terms of increased productivity, reduced sick days and so on.
From an environmental point of view, The Guardian's Green Living Blog often features cycling stories (including these guys who have just cycled 3000 km down the Danube to raise awareness of biodiversity). During the Cambridge challenge, over 20 000 trips were logged, 17 000 of them for work purposes. this equates to over 34 000 kg of CO2 being saved - not a bad effort!
The challenge now is for the new riders to keep going and to continue to make a difference to themselves and the environment.
By the way, the challenge ran alongside a similar one in Oxford. As I write this (with only a few hours to go), Cambridge lead Oxford 123 - 111 in new riders! Get in!
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