Take the Greater Manchester Cycle Commute Challenge and be in with a chance to win £100

During Bike Week 2010 (19th – 27th June), Love Your Bike has teamed up with CycleGM to encourage people across Greater Manchester to take the GM Cycle Commute Challenge. Cycle to work at least once during Bike Week and people could be in with a chance to win £100. [1]

Anyone can take part in the GM Cycle Commute Challenge on an individual basis or can register as a business, organisation, school or college and take part as a team. There are £100 prizes for individuals and for the company, organisation or education facility which collectively records the most miles cycled during Bike Week.

Over 25 businesses, organisations and Councils across Greater Manchester have already signed up for the GM Cycle Commute Challenge. [2]

Cycling to work makes sense and is a fantastic way to improve your health, whatever your current condition. Cycling can help people:

Lose pounds: 30 minutes of cycling 5 times a week will burn off the equivalent of 11 kg of fat per year

Get there quicker – beat the traffic congestion queues and save money

Be fitter and feel younger… well, regular cyclists enjoy a level of fitness equivalent to someone ten years younger

Reduce your risk of heart attack. Physical activity reduces the risk of developing major chronic diseases (e.g. coronary heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes) by up to 50%, and the risk of premature death by about 20-30%

Reduce CO2 emissions and air pollution.

Pete Abel from Love Your Bike said:

“Many people think that doing regular exercise is time consuming and expensive, but it does not have to be. By cycling for 15 – 30 minutes (2 – 5 miles) to and from work, people can incorporate exercise into their routines.  Over 50% of the car journeys in Greater Manchester are less than 5 miles and with our congested roads, cycling can often be quicker and is certainly cheaper and healthier.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

[1] See http://www.cyclegm.org/pages/ cycle_commute_challenge_2010.aspx for more details.

[2] Companies / organisations that have already registered for the GM Cycle Commute Challenge include: Action for Sustainable Living, Ask Property Developments, BPP Law School, BT BUG Manchester, Cheadle Hulme School,  CLES, CMFT NHS Trust, Commission for the New Economy, Creative Concern, GMPTE, GMTU, Graduate Prospects, Greater Manchester BME Network, Manchester Metropolitan University,  Manchester Friends of the Earth, Manchester International Festival, Manchester Joint Health Unit, MERCi, NHS Bolton- Get Active, NHS Stockport, NHS Trafford, ReachOut!, Royal Bolton Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, Stockport Community Cycling Club, Stockport Council, The Co-operative Group, TSK Group, University of Manchester.

[3] The award-winning Love Your Bike campaign is co-ordinated by Manchester Friends of the Earth. See http://www.loveyourbike.org