27 October 2010
Ride to Work Day: why not every day?
Ride to Work Day participants braved poor weather to cycle to work.
Bike riding enthusiast, Mick Peel, Senior Lecturer in Fashion, School of Architecture and Design.View Mick Peel’s bike upholstery designs.
Ride to Work Day breakfast on the Brunswick campus.
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Wet weather did not stop more than 100 RMIT University staff and student bike riders from cycling to work and enjoying a hearty breakfast and camaraderie with fellow cyclists.
They were participating in Ride to Work Day, an annual event that encourages people to forgo public transport and cars and hop on their bikes to commute to work. Ride to Work Day also aims to encourage people to continue riding to work.
The program is run by the Bicycle Network in conjunction with state and territory cycling organisations across Australia.
Craig Allen, ResourceSmart Project Officer with Property Services, organised the Ride to Work Day event for RMIT, which was sponsored by RMIT’s Human Resources.
An avid bike rider, Mr Allen was encouraged by the positive response to the Ride to Work Day, with 107 RMIT staff and students registering to participate across the City, Bundoora and Brunswick campuses.
“It’s great to see the RMIT community engaging with this event,” Mr Allen said. “We had a really good mix of staff and students participating in the Ride to Work Day, connected by their commitment to a healthy and environmentally sustainable lifestyle.
“Next year, I would like to see more students and staff who are relatively new to bike riding get on board with this event and continue to commute to work by bike on a regular basis,” Mr Allen said.
The organic muffins served at the breakfast were sourced from the Student Union’s Real Foods; the fruit was acquired from Fruit Box and Jasper Coffee supplied free certified Fairtrade and organic and shade-grown coffee.
Emma Lynas, Associate Lecturer with the School of Fashion and Textiles, said that Pedal Pushers, the Student Union Bike Collective which hosted the breakfast on Brunswick campus, offered bike-related workshops and activities there throughout the year.
Among the Ride to Work Day participants was Mick Peel, Senior Lecturer in Fashion in the School of Architecture and Design.
Mr Peel is a dedicated bike rider, who cycles to work from his Carton home virtually every day. “I became addicted to bike riding when I got my first bike, a Dragster, at the age of 10,” he said.
“Riding my bike to work is a great way to clear my head and mentally prepares me for the day ahead.
“It also gives me a feeling of independence as I am not relying on public transport to get to work,” Mr Peel said.
Mr Peel said that he was a “bicycle tragic” and had “six bikes at home”. Bikes and fashion are intertwined for Mr Peel, who designs upholstery for bike saddles.
Other participants included Sam Cutri, a teacher for the Diploma of Food Science and Technology, who commutes to RMIT from Hadfield each day, to keep fit and to save time.
St Kilda resident, Yolande Miller, who works in the Strategic Sourcing and Procurement division of Financial Services, is another regular cyclist who attended the breakfast.
Student Megan Ward, enrolled in the Bachelor of Environmental Science/Bachelor of Social Science (Environment), who commutes to RMIT from Brunswick every day, also lent her support to the event.
