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National Cycle to Work Day next Thursdaycycle to work logo

National Cycle to Work Day next Thursday

Dame Sarah Storey backs day of bike commuting
by John Stevenson
Wed, Sep 04, 2013 16:36
6

We know many road.cc readers are regular bike commuters already, so when Cycle to Work Day comes round next Thursday September 12, why not help encourage your friends and co-workers take the plunge?

Backed by cycling organisations such as CTC and British Cycling, as well as bike industry bodies, and organised by Cyclescheme, Cycle to Work Day aims to get a million people to ride to work on September 12.

Over at the Cycle to Work Day website, you can grab the Champion Toolkit which is packed with ideas for ways you can help friends and co-workers get on their bikes.

Suggestions include leading a ride into the office; organising free bike check ups for anyone who rides in on the 12th in conjunction with your local Cyclescheme dealer; and persuading the boss to stump up for free coffee and croissants for anyone who rides in (though sadly, that’s not tax-exempt any more.

If your colleagues are nervous about riding in traffic (and with the publicity that surrounds every cycling death you couldn’t really blame them) why not see if your local council provides free adult cycle training. The confidence boost and traffic skills they’ll get will be invaluable while we all wait for Dutch-style infrastructure in the UK.

Paralympic champion Dame Sarah Storey is the face of Cycle To Work Day, and a champion of everyday cycling as well as an elite competitor.

Dame Sarah said: “If we start by encouraging people to cycle to work, then they'll feel healthier, will save money and be more inclined to ride their bikes for other journeys and leisure time too.

“Cycling is one of the best modes of transport for local journeys and Cyclescheme provides the means for people to obtain a bike in order to make those journeys to work. We hope to inspire even more people to challenge themselves, dust off the bike and cycle to work on the 12th September."

National Cycle to Work Day
Dame Sarah Storey
Cyclescheme
Cycle To Work
John Stevenson

John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.

He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.

Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.

John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.

He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.

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