Tomorrow is National Cycle to Work Day in the UK - an opportunity to leave your car in the driveway, dust off your bike and sail down to the office with the wind in your face. OK, and probably a few raindrops too, if we’re honest : )
Source: thesartorialist.com via Agne on Pinterest
National Cycle to Work Day is part of Samsung Bike Week, a larger 9-day event that began on 16 June and will come to an end on the 24th.
Organised by ‘Don’t Drive on the 5‘, National Cycle to Work Day is an opportunity for everyone – from veteran cyclists to those who haven’t been on a bike in years – to experience the benefits of cycling. In fact, the theme of this year’s National Cycle to Work Day is ‘Everyday Cycling for Everyone’.
If the health, environmental and financial benefits of biking to work wasn’t enough to convince you, maybe the idea of cycling for charity will encourage you to participate. For every mile you cycle and record using Samsung’s Hope Relay app, they will give £1 to charity.
To read more about the event, you can visit BikeWeek.org.uk or check out our Storify post about it.
Professional cyclist Laura Trott explains this nationwide charity event in this video:
Cycling Events Across North America
For those of you living outside the UK, it’s likely that there’s a Bike Week, Bike to Work Day or maybe even a Bike Month taking place near you at some point during the yea, particularly if you live in North America where cycling has seen a rise in popularity.
Source: tetinotete.tumblr.com via Maria on Pinterest
For example, various cycling events are held in Canada throughout the year. In Winnipeg, Bike to Work Day also takes place tomorrow (22 June), while in Toronto it was held last month on 28 May.
While there is a large car culture in Canada, and keeping your car in good shape (perhaps by looking into Lebeau’s windsheild replacement offers) is an important part of staying safe on the roads, more and more people are able to forgo this hassle in favour of a less high-maintenance mode of transport.
Similarly, cycling has risen in popularity across the states, with bike events cropping up throughout the year. As part of National Bike Month in the US, San Fransisco hosted its Bike to Work Day on 10 May, Seattle’s Cascade Bicycle Club hosted a Bike to Work Day on 18 May and several other cities across the country organised similar events encouraging professionals to commute via bike.
Of course, cycling isn’t just popular in the UK and North America. Many European and Asian countries greatly surpass them in regard to the number of routine cyclists on the roads. Don’t believe me? Check out this video of rush hour in Utrecht, Netherlands.
Will you be participating in National Cycle to Work Day? What would convince you to swap out your car for a bicycle? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
Related posts:
June 21, 2012
Outdoors