Biketober is done and dusted and while the riding to work continues for commuters all over the country, some statistics from the month-long bike riding challenge should be celebrated.
More than 6300 riders from 1100 workplaces took part in Biketober across Australia in October 2023. They logged 77,542 trips and covered a whopping 1,770,768km, which amounts to 49,204 kg of CO2 saved.
Biketober is open to all riders who log their rides during October and there are chances to earn prizes and track their contribution to a happier, healthier world.
Participants are awarded points based how often and how far they ride, and how many people they encourage to get involved in the challenge. Workplaces can also register as teams and compete against other workplaces of similar sizes.
Bicycle Network landed itself in the workplace for 50-199 staff category, with the likes of VicHealth, the Victorian Planning Authority and RMIT Online.
Spurred on by office posters, internal updates and words of encouragement around the coffee machine, our team logged 477 rides, which tallied more than 8000kms and saved 496 kg of CO2.
We had three team members ride more 1000km during October; one even rode for all 31 days.
While we are quietly chuffed to claim first place in our category, we are more encouraged by the diversity of workplaces that got into spirit of riding to the office.
Organisations with larger workforces, such as the University of Melbourne team, which logged an impressive 2627 rides, the City of Melbourne which tallied 2281 rides, and Court Services Victoria, which logged 921 rides, made impressive contributions to the count.
National Ride2Work Day 2023 is also held during Biketober and Bicycle Network's transport data team recorded impressive increases in rider numbers at key sites.
Our latest Super Tuesday count results also show a sharp increase in bike commuting across Melbourne after the lull of the pandemic.
So while Biketober might be over, there's reason to expect the bike commuting movement to keep building.
Or become our friend and subscribe to receive our fortnightly newsletter.