On yer bike!

Wednesday 02 July 2014

Islanders taking part in Cycle Challenge Jersey clocked up an astonishing 77,230 kilometres – the equivalent of going around the planet twice.

The Transport and Technical Services department say that nearly 100 people took part in the event, which ran from 2 to 22 June, and that they burned off 1.2 million calories between them.

Transport Minister Kevin Lewis said: “This is the second year the States of Jersey has run a Cycle Challenge event, and we are delighted to see that the number of new cyclists is on the rise and that seven new organisations registered.

“I was also very pleased to hear that TTS Department have once again won awards, which demonstrates the Department’s continual commitment to greener, more sustainable travel. Thank you to everyone who took part.”

Workplaces competed to see who could get the most staff riding to work every day, and the winners were: RBS International and Natwest (12% participation, 500+ employee category); UBS AG (15% participation, 200-499 employee category); OSS-RBC Wealth Management (33% participation, 50-199 employee category), Bel Royal School (93% participation, 20-49 employee category); Beaumont Structural Consultants (100% participation; 7-19 employee category), and Environmental Policy team at the States (100% participation, three to six employee category).

The Transport department say that of the people who took part in the 2012/2013 events, 40% of “non-cyclists” who took part started riding weekly; 43% of occasional cyclists start riding regularly and 32% non-commuting cyclists start riding to work regularly.

They say 12% of car drivers switched to cycling to work as their main mode of transport.