Bike Month: Cycling enthusiast to lead Frocks on Bikes ride

Lillybeth Melmoth, 37, is leading a Frocks on Bikes ride as part of Bike Month. Photo/Andrew Warner.

If Lillybeth Melmoth could cycle everywhere, she would.

The 37-year-old gets excited when she knows she can get somewhere by bike.

Melmoth cycles to work from Matapihi over the rail bridge to work in the Tauranga CBD and it takes her just 10 minutes. "It is quicker than taking the car," she said.

She liked to listen to music while she cycled because it made her "feel alive". "It just invigorates me," she said.

"I love the health benefits that you get for the rest of the day. It is easy to sit down all day but when I have got to go somewhere and I can bike I get really excited."

Melmoth is leading the Ride to Dinner in the Domain with Frocks on Bikes on Thursday, February 15, as part of Bike Month.

Melmoth said the Frocks on Bikes ride to the domain would leave Bayfair after a briefing at 6pm, before dinner at the Papamoa Domain and a cycle back home.

She expects about 30 people to join the ride which will take cyclists on the road and through local waterways before they reached their destination.

"It is quite nice to cycle in a group; it is very social," Melmoth said. "It is a nice way to meet people if you are not from the area and to explore the local waterways."

Melmoth said Frocks on Bikes was about making it normal for women, in particular, to hop on a bike.

"It is quite normal for a guy to get on their bikes but I think a lot of women are resistant to do it," Melmoth said.

Sport Bay of Plenty's Bike Month is a programme of activities and events revolving around cycling from February 1-28.

Activities include the Aotearoa Bike Challenge, a workplace-based cycling competition, and Go By Bike Day on February 14, a one-off event encouraging people to use cycling as a mode of transport around the region.

Sport Bay of Plenty's communication adviser Laura Weaser said the focus of Bike Month was to help create more opportunities for locals to get on their bikes.

Weaser said the aim was to help people become more comfortable and confident with biking as a method of transport, a social activity or a new hobby.

"What we do is very much community focused, and helping bring people together through sport and recreation," she said.

"That's why we pair with local providers such as Frocks on Bikes Tauranga to support and promote the good work they do and help create active events all ages and abilities can enjoy."

Bike Month:
- Bike Month from February 1-28
- Go By Bike Day on February 14
- Visit www.sportbop.co.nz/bike-month