Travel by bike next week and you might get a free breakfast
Next week Napier and Hastings iWay teams will be out each weekday morning handing out healthy breakfasts to anyone cycling to work, school or just on an early morning jaunt to the shops.
Go By Bike week runs between February 10 and 14, during which time the iWay teams can be found under the iWay flags on the side of the road around sunrise each day, with breakfast being served between 6.45am and 8.30am.
The actual locations of the breakfasts, at 10 different sites in Napier and Hastings, will be revealed closer to the time on social media.
“This is a great time to start the change. By cycling to work at least twice next week, you are taking steps towards improving your own health and well-being, and saving the planet,” says Graeme Taylor, Napier City Councillor and Regional Cycling Governance Group member.
“Handing out a breakfast muffin and fruit is one way we can reward people making the effort to use our great network of pathways and on-road routes across both cities,” says Lyndal Johansson, Community Walking and Cycling Development Officer.
Also on offer at the breakfasts, while stocks last, will be slap bands, bicycle bells and zip maps.
“Cycling is a great way to keep active and by commuting to work on a bike you’re using pedal power for recreation but as a mode of transport, as well as saving money on fuel and reducing emissions. Now that’s quadruple bottom line benefits,” says Hastings District Councillor and Active Transport chair Damon Harvey.
For those interested or already taking part, any rides you complete next week will count towards your tally for the Aotearoa Bike Challenge national competition. It is not too late to enter the competition – which has some great prizes, and discounts just for participants – either as an individual or as part of a team.
Hastings District Council initiated iWay, then called a model communities project, in 2010. Hastings District and Napier City Councils have worked together on iWay networks and events since 2015.
It aims to ensure cycling and walking infrastructure across the two cities and district is consistent, and allows the sharing of events and educational programmes and campaigns.
Currently funding for iWay projects, programmes and campaigns is provided by the Councils, subsidised by Central Government through the New Zealand Transport Agency.
The network builds on the first of the Napier pathways, on Marine Parade, built by the Rotary Pathway Trust.
For more information about iWay and associated events, go to www.facebook.com/loveiway, visit www.iway.org.nz, or www.hbtrails.nz.
For more information about the Aotearoa Bike Challenge, go to www.lovetoride.net/nz.
