November 29, 2013, by offcampus

‘Ready, Set, Pedal’: On Reflection

‘Ready, Set, Pedal’, an Advantage Award student-led event, pedalled into success on the 18^th November 2013. A busy morning was spent setting up our stalls ready for Sustrans, Dr Bike and the Pulp Friction smoothie bike. Then, from 11-3 in the Portland Atrium, we were actively involved with getting more students on their bikes.

So, the question is: how successful was Ready, Set, Pedal? We estimate that over 200 students engaged with the event. This is estimated from the number of students who were placed on the leader board for the ‘how fast can you make your smoothie’ competition, the numbers of students who drank glasses of free smoothie (produced by the pedal power of students) and the number of freebies given away. Many engaged with Dr Bike, making use of the excellent, free bike maintenance. Sustrans were on hand to offer expert cycling advice, tailored to the students’ needs, and our route planning station allowed students to look at alternative routes to get to campus on their bikes.

Our main aim for Ready, Set, Pedal was to encourage students who were non-cyclists to start cycling. First year students were the best target group to focus on because they were already thinking about their new houses in Beeston or Lenton in the next academic year. They were beginning to think about how they would travel to university. These students were grateful to hear about cycling as a possible mode of transport for when they move off campus. Ready, Set, Pedal persuaded these students to begin cycling through advertising the U-cycle renting scheme, the safe and fast bike routes, and by comparing it to the cost of the £199 bus pass.

        

In the aftermath of the event, prizes have been awarded to the top three winners of our smoothie bike competition –including an amazing digital camera. On top of this, our Facebook group for Ready, Set, Pedal has remained active through uploading photos of the event and blogs such as this one.  We have also been mentioned in the Sustrans newsletter thus widening our audience. Hopefully Ready, Set, Pedal can continue to encourage students to get cycling.

Would you like to get cycling? The below links might be useful to you:

Sustrans website-http://www.sustrans.org.uk/

University of Nottingham Sustainability team website-http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/sustainability/transport/cyclingandwalking/ucycle.aspx

Pulp Friction website- http://pulpfrictionsmoothies.org.uk/

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