Tag: Team Green Britain

Team Green Britain Bike Week, billed as “the UK’s biggest mass participation cycling event”, was launched yesterday (June 15) at the EDF Energy London Eye, with what promises to be the first of hundreds of ‘Bike Fixes’ planned to roll out around the country between June 18 and 26. The ambitious sounding scheme is an attempt to mend over 10,000 bikes and, in the words of the organizers, “liberate the multitude of unused bikes from sheds across the country” by encouraging cyclists to attend the country-wide events. Team Green Britain (founded by EDF Energy in 2009) is an online community that aims to enable people to live in a more sustainable way and this is the second year in which they have supported Bike Week.

Commenting on the depressing and long-languishing state of many of the county’s two-wheelers Phillip Darnton, Chairman of the Bicycle Association comments: “We know that 77% of people in the UK own a bike, but only 14% use them regularly and a major barrier to people getting back on two wheels is often something as simple to fix as a dodgy brake or puncture.”

For details of your nearest event visit www.bikeweek.org.uk

Things are already gearing up (forgive the expression) for this year’s Bike Week, which takes place at venues across Britain from June 18 to 26. As with last year the series of events – which aims to promote “everyday cycling for everyone” – is sponsored by Team Green Britain, the initiative founded by EDF Energy to help find ways to reduce carbon footprints. Cynics at the back please stop sniggering… Regardless, Bike Week will include a range of activities for cyclists of all ability including charity fundraisers, traffic-free rides, displays, demonstrations, training sessions and much more besides. But the main ticket for this year’s Bike Week will be the ambitious sounding “Britain’s Biggest Bike Fix” which aims to get, yes you guessed it, as many bikes back in to good running order as possible.

By their estimates 77% of us own bikes but only around 14% of us use them in any sort of regularity – often due to the fact that once-loved machines now languish ever-so-slightly-broken in cobwebbed garages. With this in mind Bike Week are seeking out volunteers, either professional mechanics or enthusiastic (and presumably competent) amateurs, to join their Dr Bikes service and lend a hand at local points across the country. Details of how to get involved as a fixer or fixee are available at: www.bikeweek.org.uk

Their useful guide to the Top Ten Maintenance Tips is also available here.