Join Love to Ride, the cycling initiative, and log your North Somerset rides this March to win prizes including a £2,000 bike, an electric bike worth £1,750, cycling holiday vouchers and much more.
North Somerset Council is encouraging individuals, community groups and businesses in the area to register for this active travel challenge as a way to encourage more zero-emission trips for the commute, for exercise, for leisure and for the school run.
The ‘Ride it Out’ campaign will run from 1-31 March and is free to enter. It complements the region’s Joy in the Journey campaign, whose focus is to get more people travelling actively.
The challenge has four themes to encourage more people than ever to take to two wheels. Helpful resources and video content will accompany the campaign, such as a webinar with advice for new or nervous cyclists.
Week One’s focus is on riding for health. Week Two encourages riding for relaxation – to reconnect with a friend or with nature or to reduce stress levels. Week Three’s message is to go green, with cycling a zero-emissions activity. The month ends with a celebration of the freedom and adventure of cycling under the #RideFree hashtag.
Geoff, a Love to Ride prize-winner from North Somerset Council, said,
If you look for reasons to cycle rather than excuses not to, you’ll soon start to love cycling. While the weather may look terrible outside, when you are out in it, it is rarely as bad as it appears!
Prize-winner, Izzy, works at Weston General Hospital. She said,
I like being able to combine exercise with getting to work. It also means I don’t have to worry about finding a parking space!
Pete is a participant from Avon and Somerset Police. He said,
It is encouraging being a part of the Love to Ride community. It’s fun to see other people’s pictures and stories, as well as being able to satisfy my competitive streak by collecting badges and comparing stats.
There are great prizes up for grabs for logging rides and sharing #RideFree stories:
- grand prize: a £2,000 bicycle
- weeks one and two: 5 x £100 local bike shop voucher
- week three: green: a £1,750 electric bike
- week four: freedom: £1,000 in cycling holiday vouchers
- plus North Somerset-specific prizes from top bike brands.
Cllr James Tonkin, North Somerset Council’s executive member whose portfolio includes transport, said:
Our new Active Travel Strategy aims to harness the huge rises in walking and cycling we’ve seen in the last year. Logging your zero-carbon journeys through Love to Ride – as an individual, community group or business – is a positive step that will help move us towards our carbon goals.
If you’re an individual, community group or business keen to encourage active travel, contact sustainable.travel@n-somerset.gov.uk for an informal discussion of the current offers. This includes match-funded active travel grants; free 1-2-1 cycling training; ride leader training; free Dr Bike mechanic visits to your workplace; free loans of bikes for individuals; free loans of electric bikes, cargo bikes and trailers for businesses; additional help for job seekers; and much more.
Find offers for businesses and communities on the Travelwest website at https://travelwest.info/for-businesses and have a look at https://staging.betterbybike.info/ for offers for individuals.