Devon Cycle Challenge shows people Love to Ride in the county
More than 1,600 people from across Devon took part in the second annual Devon Cycle Challenge.
The friendly competition between workplaces, which took place throughout September, also saw organisations in Devon competing on national leader boards.
Over 125 businesses and organisations from across the county took part in the competition which aimed to introduce as many new people to cycling as possible. During the month-long challenge, participants collectively cycled more than 182,000 miles – the equivalent of cycling around the world over seven times!
There were over 80 individual prize winners in Devon who received a range of prizes from local retailers in Devon, including bikes, vouchers, recipe boxes, a cycling holiday in Wales and cinema tickets. In addition, 196 new riders also received a voucher for a free drink from a Crankhouse Coffee outlet.
The University of Exeter took the honours for the organisation with the most staff taking part, with 293 staff cycling during the challenge. Not only did they win the category for organisations with 500+ staff in the county, but they were also won the national challenge. Coming second in the same category, and third place in the national challenge, was Devon and Cornwall Police who encouraged 226 staff to cycle.
Other winners, based on the size of their organisation, include The Environment Agency, The Park Community School, Lympstone Church of England Primary School, Newton Abbot Community Transport and Rockin Bikes. The winning teams were presented with certificates and prizes from Devon County Council.
Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member with responsibility for cycling, said: “This year's Devon Cycle Challenge has been another great success - more people from more businesses and organisations took part than before and a record number of miles were cycled. Cycling can help improve health, tackle congestion and save money, and hopefully the challenge helped some people discover these benefits. Congratulations to all those who took part - everyone has shown that we have some of the most dedicated cyclist in the country.”
Individuals and organisations are still able to register on the Love to Ride website to help increase cycling in Devon and promote cycling among staff.
The Devon Cycle Challenge is part of a package of measures being delivered by Devon County Council using Sustainable Travel Transition Year Funding from the Department for Transport to encourage more people to travel by bike.
For more information on your travel options in Devon go to https://new.devon.gov.uk/travel/ If you would like to access grant funding and support to promote cycling at your workplace go to https://www.traveldevontoolkit.info/
