London Cycle Challenge - final stage

14 August 2014
Final stage of the London Cycle Challenge launched to keep the capital cycling.
  • Fantastic prizes to be won including a year's membership to Barclays Cycle Hire and VIP access to the Friends Life Tour of Britain finish in London.    
  • Mobile app available to log cycle rides, get cycling tips and discover new routes.
  • Final phase will keep Londoners riding and finish the cycling summer on a high.
  • The Friends Life Tour of Britain, the country's largest annual free-to-spectate sporting event,  returns to the capital on 14 September.

Riding on the success of both the Tour de France's return to London and the tens of thousands of cyclists in last weekend's Prudential RideLondon, and with one month to go until the Friends Life Tour of Britain finishes in the capital,

Transport for London (TfL) has launched the third and final stage of its London Cycle Challenge to keep the capital cycling.  

The challenge will run until 5 September and this time cyclists are encouraged to achieve a personal cycling goal. The challenge will act as a great warm-up for the Friends Life Tour of Britain which finishes in London on Sunday 14 September.  

Participants can use a mobile app to make it easier to record rides, set targets, and encourage friends and family to give cycling a go.

The app, which is free to download and available on Apple iOS and Android, allows users to log rides automatically using GPS.   The fantastic prizes up for grabs in the challenge include a year's membership to Barclays Cycle Hire, access to the Friends Life Tour of Britain finish area and an item of signed Team GB cycling kit.  

Chris Mather, Head of the Community Engagement programme at TfL, said:  `Achieving a personal cycling goal, whether that be to cycle every day or to get back on a bike for the first time in a long time, is a great opportunity to encourage more people to cycle more safely more often. The emphasis is to make that goal, and keep it, plus participants are in with a chance of winning fantastic prizes to boot. 

`With a million spectators witnessing the Tour de France Stage 3 in London last month, 80,000 people riding in Prudential RideLondon last weekend and the Friends Life Tour of Britain coming to a climax on 14 September, interest in cycling in the capital has never been higher. The challenge will give Londoners the incentive they need to take to, and keep to, two wheels.'

People wishing to take part in the challenge who don't have a bike can use Barclays Cycle Hire. In just three easy steps, users can hire, ride and return a bike at any available docking station.

Over the weekend of 16 and 17 August, to celebrate Barclays Cycle Hire's fourth anniversary, access to the bikes will be free for all. Using a bank card, anyone will be able to saddle up on a cycle hire bike for a 24-hour period, and as long as the trips are kept under half an hour people can make as many rides as they wish, all for free.    For more information on the London Cycling Challenge or cycling in London, go to tfl.gov.uk/cycling

  • Sign up for the Goal Setting Challenge at tfl.gov.uk/cyclechallenge
  • Download the app, Love to Ride, from the following links:
  • Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.challengeforchange.lovetoride&hl=en
  • Apple App Store: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/love-to-ride/id656668092?mt=8
  • The London Cycle Challenge focuses on participation, rather than miles cycled.
  • The Friends Life Tour of Britain, the UK's biggest professional cycle race and the country's largest annual free-to-spectate sporting event, finishes in the capital on 14 September. The event was re-launched in 2004 and is sponsored by Friends Life. This event will bring to a close a spectacular summer of cycling in London, following the amazing return of the Tour de France to the capital, and of Prudential RideLondon.
  • This year's successful Prudential RideLondon saw more than 80,000 people ride over the weekend, with all road closures removed ahead of schedule.
  • To relive the triumphant return of the Tour de France to the capital, go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8iGMp0azcw&feature=youtu.be
  • This summer's cycling events are inspiring thousands more Londoners to take to two wheels, building on the Mayor's ambition for cycling to be an integral part of the transport network. As part of his cycling vision, the Mayor is already engaging in a vast £1billion programme of improvements  - creating a series of enhanced cycling superhighways, urban 'quietways' for more cautious cyclists, and turning some outer boroughs into mini-Hollands.     
  • For more information on the Mayor's Vision for Cycling visit http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/how-we-work/planning-for-the-future/vision-for-cycling
  • The Mayor is committed to ensuring London retains its status as the world capital of sport, and has set up the Major Events Oversight Board. The board is chaired by Sir Edward Lister, and comprises TfL, the emergency services and other key partner agencies. It provides strategic direction and advice to the Mayor on the approach to bidding, staging and evaluating major events in London. The board ensures that all major road events continue to be carefully considered and tightly managed to ensure everyone gets full benefit from the event without undue impact on Londoners and London's transport. The board also looks at ways to ensure the major events programme is effectively communicated with Londoners, visitors, businesses and stakeholders to allow sufficient notice and forward planning for everyone