The first few months of the 2020/21 financial year has flown (or crawled) past, depending on where you are in the country, and it's been anything but business as usual here at Bicycle Network.
As an organisation that prides itself on being honest, inclusive, progressive and committed, we wanted to give our members a quick report on what's happened this quarter and how we're tracking.
July – September 2020
Supporting our members
- We smiled as 1,593 members joined us and cried as 1110 members left us. We’re now 47,676 members strong.
- Our riders rights team helped 67 members get back on two wheels after a crash
A quick thank you – we want to take this moment to thank our loyal members who have continued to stick by us during a difficult year and to the new ones who have joined our family - a big welcome!
Spreading the word
- We spoke on behalf of Australia's bike riders 180 times in the media on issues such as the introduction of minimum passing distance laws, the development of new bike lanes to help people ride during COVID-19 and how bikes can reduce climate change.
- We provided our members and friends with 200+ articles and posts to keep them in the loop and help them ride (even if it is only within a 5km radius). See Can I still ride my bike outdoors? for the latest lockdown restrictions.
You can see all our latest posts in the Newsroom (and filter by state) or on Facebook and Twitter .
Making it easier for people to ride
- We celebrated Victoria joining the rest of Australia, announcing the introduction of minimum passing distance laws. To go with the announcement, the Victorian Government also announced funding for more pop up bike lanes. See Minimum passing distance laws and pop-up lanes coming to Victoria.
- We took our bikes for a spin along the first of 40km of City of Melbourne rapid-roll out bike lanes.
- We caught up with Victoria's new Minister for Roads and Road Safety and put forward our priorities which would make it safer and easier for people who ride.
Delivering amazing event experiences
- We found new ways to get people pedalling both indoors and out, encouraging 1,710 people to ride with us during the pandemic thanks to Park it for the Planet (where we saved 5742kg of Co2), Women's Health Week and our Peaks Challenge Zwift training rides.
- We sucked it up when we had to cancel the United Energy Around the Bay and Great Vic Bike Ride due to COVID-19.
- We opened Peaks Challenge 2021 ticket sales and over 1,000 people have already committed to finding out what it takes to become a Peaks Challenge Finisher.
Keeping our team together
- Our team in Melbourne continued to work from home but in Hobart the lucky ducks got to go back into the office.
- We maintained a strong financial position thanks to a state government rescue grant and the Federal Government JobKeeper allowance.
- We introduced bike salary packaging for our team members to show the rest of the world how it should be done.
If you want to connect or chat with us or to keep up-to-date with our advocacy, events and latest news you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using @bicycle_network.
Otherwise, drop us a line via the Contact Us section of our website.