February is Bike Wise Month, which means there's a host of cycle-related initiatives aimed at getting people, with or without Lycra, out of the chair and into the saddle.
The annual Bike Wise Challenge started last week, with businesses and organisations around the country competing to get as many staff as
possible riding a bike for at least 2km or 10 minutes throughout February.
Last year it was a battle of the councils, with friendly rivalry spurring on 41 per cent of staff at the Hawke's Bay Regional Council to take part compared to 39 per cent at the Hastings District. Each team clocked up more than 12,000km.
iWay project manager Owen Mata claimed good-naturedly that the district council's higher mileage won them a moral victory last year, despite their silver placing.
"This year we'll beat [the regional council] on both counts just to make sure," he said.
The regional council's Emily Rockwell said both sides had deployed secrecy tactics by saving up their mileage, and only recording them on the Bike Wise website at the last minute.
Both sides admitted they had recruited serious cyclists to their teams as a secret weapon.
This year both councils have talked big about winning the competition, but results this morning showed both were down on the leaderboard behind Spratz and Enza Foods.
The Hastings District Council is also hosting cycling-related events this month as part of its iWay campaign to encourage more people to use bikes.
Commuter cyclists will be rewarded with a free breakfast in Hastings' Go By Bike Breakfast next week.
Convoys will leave from Havelock North, Flaxmere or Napier and converge at the Hastings clock tower.
iWay supporters and Flaxmere councillors Henare O'Keefe and Jacoby Poulain are busy recruiting Flaxmere residents and expect a crowd of more than 100 to join them for the 7km ride.
Napier residents, too, can make the most of the cycling events.
A Go By Bike Breakfast will be held in the Napier Library's forecourt next Wednesday and the annual "Bicycle Belles" during the Geon Art Deco weekend gives guys and girls a chance to don their best art deco garb and dust off their old-fashioned bicycles for a leisurely cycle on the Rotary Pathway to East Pier.
WHAT'S ON:
Bike Mart/Try a Bike Day: February 13, St Mary's School, Hastings. Swap and sell pre-loved bikes, check out the latest bikes on the bike track and join in the family gala-like entertainment for the kids.
Go By Bike Breakfast: 7.30am-9am, February 16, free breakfasts for cycling commuters at the Hastings clock tower. Convoys leaving from Havelock North, Flaxmere or Napier.
7.30am-8.30am, February 16, free breakfast for cycle commuters at the Napier Library forecourt.
Bicycle Belles: 9.30am-11am, February 19, meet at the Napier foreshore behind the Sound Shell. Dress in Art Deco style and ride an old bike along Marine Parade in Napier.
Hastings Commuter Challenge: February 21-March 4. Cyclists can stop off at selected businesses for a free breakfast en route to work.
Sus'd Bike Maintenance Courses: February 23-24, Revolution Bikes, Havelock North. Lessons in looking after your bike.Intense rivalry in on-yer-bike month
Bike Wise rumps hit their cycle seats
February is Bike Wise Month, which means there's a host of cycle-related initiatives aimed at getting people, with or without Lycra, out of the chair and into the saddle.
The annual Bike Wise Challenge started last week, with businesses and organisations around the country competing to get as many staff as
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