Ride2Work Day is coming up on Wednesday 16 October, and we’ll be holding a celebratory breakfast at Mawsons Place in Hobart but it would be great to see some new faces over our coffees.
If you ride to work, have you ever considered encouraging or mentoring someone else at your workplace to ride?
When you register to take part in Ride2Work Day at www.bicyclenetwork.com.au/ride2work you’ll have the option of becoming a workplace organiser.
This can be as simple as putting up posters advertising the Bicycle Network or other breakfasts, or you could organise your own workplace breakfast if there are none nearby. The Bicycle Network webpage lists community breakfasts it’s aware of but you can also check with your local council.
You may want to use the opportunity to help your colleagues start riding. The easiest way it identify someone willing to ride, help them plan their preparations and be there for support and advice.
If there is more than one willing rider, then you could organise group sessions to plan rides and possibly riding buddies for people who live near each other.
Planning the first ride to work
So where to begin? Help your colleague/s work through this list to plan their first ride to work. That could be on Ride2Work Day or beforehand if they want to make sure they can do it.
- Work out a route to work that mostly takes shared paths, bike lanes or quiet streets. Remember, in Tasmania you can ride on the footpath except for a few short sections of city streets. This means that if there is a section of busy road, then the footpath is an option to get through it.
- If you live too far to ride, consider driving part way and riding the rest. That way you still save on parking costs, use less petrol and get some exercise in. Riding to separated infrastructure like the Intercity Cycleway or University Trail and parking is a good idea.
- Try the ride on a weekend to time how long it takes and tweak the route. It’s not a race, just ride at a pace you feel comfortable with.
- Get your bike ready – pump the tyres, make sure brakes are working and charge front and rear lights. If there is anything wrong with the bike, get it repaired at a bike shop and top up on any missing tools like a spare inner tube or pump.
- No special clothing is needed to ride to work. Comfortable cotton shorts/leggings and tops are fine, along with raincoat and rain pants and for shorter distances then the clothes you wear to work will do.
- Choose a bag that won’t crease clothes for work. Backpacks are good for starting out but in the long term pannier racks could be something you want to consider so you can carry more things easily and not get a sweaty back doing it.
- Check where you will park your bike at work and where you can get changed, and possibly shower if you think you’ll need it.
- Find your closest Ride2Work Day breakfast and ask whether anyone else in your workplace is interested in going, maybe you can ride in together?
Sometimes people have good intentions but it’s difficult to get themselves motivated. The chance to win a $1000 Webjet voucher if they register for Ride2Work Day may give them that final incentive.