Bike Week is here again!

Bike Week is Queensland’s major celebration of all things cycling and eleven thousand people enjoyed cycling for transport, recreation and fun in 2009.  BQ have once again added to the already successful program of events to create even more opportunity for passionate cyclists to get on their bike.

Dust off the old bike and join in the action around town.

New Events for 2010 Bike Week include:

Bike Orienteering - Using specially produced maps, riders navigate their way along roads, tracks and trails to control markers (checkpoints) placed at specific locations.  Suitable for anyone who can ride a bike and great for family groups.  There will be several courses, of varying distances, so you can choose one that suits you.

National Ride2School Day will be on the same day as the Scody Ride to Work Day.  Encourage your local school to register to promote cycling is good for their health, good for their education, good for the environment and good for the family budget.

And of course the annual Bike Week favourites are back with the Quest Women’s Ride (new picturesque course!!), Epic Bicycle Maintenance Workshop, 10 Speed dating (you never know who you’ll meet on two wheels), Scody Ride to Work Day, Film night, the Leisure Rides and of course the City CX - bikes under lights with a new venue.

The week winds up with the BDO Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge and Great Brisbane Bike Ride on Sunday 21 March.  Thousands of cyclists are expected to take up this challenge with the new course that is not to be missed.  We also have the Goldcross Cycles Family Fun Ride for those families who want to have an active day in the outdoors.

The Bike Week initiative is supported by Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads and the Brisbane City Council to encourage more people to get out on their bikes to help reduce congestion, pollution and modern day health concerns.

Bike Week 2009 was a success with more than 3800 cyclists participating in the BDO Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge, Great Brisbane Bike Ride and Goldcross Family Fun Ride.

Check out the 2010 Bike Week Program.

ENTRIES ARE NOW OPEN

Happy Cycling!

Can’t see your town or city listed? Perhaps there’s nothing happening yet in your neck of the woods … BQ would love to give you a hand to set-up Bike Week events! Email bikeweek@bq.org.au.

Bundaberg - City to Coast Community Bike Ride. Sunday 5 April starting at 9am. Ride goes from Bundy to Burnett Heads with longer option for experienced riders. More info: Bronwyn 4151 3377.

Pine Rivers - a fair including a barbecue, film night and riding program will be on Saturday 14 March at the Pine Rivers Uniting Church grounds (30 Narangba Rd, Kallangur). Starts at 3pm. More info: Phil Smith 0414 823 125

Sunshine Coast - A full calendar of events 7 to 15 March with events including Ride to Work Day, BMX racing and maintenance workshop. More info. (903kb PDF)

Townsville - James Cook University BUG will be celebrating Bike Week with buddy rides for first timer commuters, girl power workshops and a ride. More info: Adella Edwards 07 4781 5681.

Toowoomba Region BUG - Bike Week Ride, Sunday 15 March. Start 6:30am, Oxygen cafe (cnr Ruthven & Little Sts). Town ride of approx 30 km, part course for beginners. Finish with coffee at Oxygen Cafe. All welcome. Further information please contact: Marg Stewart phone: 07 4630 7229 email: bmstew1@bigpond.net.au / Matt Davis P: 0407 587 049 email: toowoombabug@gmail.com. See www.toowoombabug.blogspot.com.

Cairns, Mackay and Capricorn Coast will hold events later in the year.

Saturday 14 March.

• Epic Cycles Bicycle Maintenance Workshop. 10 am - 12 noon. Take the mystery out of mechanical basics and learn to enjoy your cycling without hassles. (Update: this event is FULL).
• Babes on Bikes. 2.00pm. If you have a baby trailer, bike seat or a tag-a-long, this is the ride for you.

Sunday 15 March.

• Women’s Ride and Workshop. Join other women on either a leisurely 26km or an energetic 40km ride; enjoy the coast views and sea breezes along the Wynnum foreshore. Rides start early, workshop is 9 am - 10.30 am. UPDATE: This event is FULL.

Monday 16 March.

• 10-speed dating, 6.30pm. Are you a single cyclist? Meet some like-minded people. (Update: this event is FULL).
• Sustainable Transport seminar 5.30 – 7.30pm. We all know cycling is the way of the future. Find out how the vision is being made real around south-east Queensland.

Tuesday 17 March.

• Cycle Queensland info night. 6-8pm at Ahimsa House, West End. Pedal away from the everyday on this year’s Darling Downs loop.

Wednesday 18 March

• Leisure Rides, on the north, south, east or west sides of the city, thanks to the Brisbane Bicycle Touring Association.
• Film Night. Off the Rails. Follow Tim Cope’s epic adventure across Russia and China. 6.30pm, Schonell Cinema. UPDATE: Only a few seats left. You must book if you want to attend the movie.

Thursday 19 March

• SCODY Ride To Work Day. How often do you get a free breakfast, just for riding to work? Join us from 7 am at Brisbane Square in the CBD to find out.

Friday 20 March.

• City CX - bikes under lights. Cyclocross comes to town, 4pm onwards at Davies Park, West End.

Saturday 21 March.

• Getting into the road racing scene, at Nundah criterium circuit. Seminar starts 7am.
• Criterium – ‘The Bike Week Cup’. Big prizemoney will attract Queensland’s top road racers to Nundah. Racing starts 8.30am.
• Introduction to a personal cycling training program. Join highly regarded cycling coach, Marcel Bengtson for a free training session. 1pm & 2.15pm. (Update: this event is FULL).

Sunday 22 March

• The BDO Kendalls Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge. Includes a timed ascent of Brisbane’s iconic climb, Mt Coot-tha.
• The Great Brisbane Bike Ride. A long-standing tradition, and a ride which everyone can complete. Choice of 20 / 35 / 55 km.
• The Family Fun Ride. Mum and Dad and all the kids, of any age, off for a 10km spin around South Bank, Kangaroo Point and points close.

You can download it here (567Kb Excel spreadsheet). It shows all sorts of fascinating information. You can find out where your time ranks in percentage terms, check out the graph of all riders, which shows how much faster we all rode this year, and much much more. We still don’t know what kurtosis is, but you can probably get treatment for it.

Brisbane’s biggest day of cycling for the year went off as smooth as silk yesterday, with close to 4000 cyclists enjoying a bike ride on a beautiful sunny autumn day.

David Melville (7:04) and Simone Grounds (7:54) set impressive best times in the BDO Kendalls Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge. The winner’s time brings out the question: “Is it humanly possible to go under seven minutes for the Coot-tha?”

That’s a question that will have to wait for 2010 to be answered. Self-reported times don’t count!

There were many many reports of personal bests being slashed by a minute or more, as countless hours of hill training paid off big time.

There has been a great surge of interest in cycling, and its reflected in the growth of this event, 38% up on the first event in 2008. BQ also finds it interesting that more and more riders are looking for harder events, and in general are riding faster in these events.

Our photo about shows a couple of participants in The Great Brisbane Bike Ride, cruising along the riverside and enjoying themselves. That’s what Bike Week was all about: getting out on your bike and having fun!

Bicycle Queensland is pleased to report that the worst injury yesterday was a broken arm, and there were no accidents involving cars colliding with bikes.

Check the list of prize winners here.

Contact BQ on 3844 1144 or email prizes@bq.org.au to claim your prize.

• All times, listed by place order
• All times, listed by surname
• The top 10 male and female riders
• Team results

Bike Week is almost over, except for the biggest event of all: the BDO Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge and the Great Brisbane Bike Ride.

Just about everything else is done and dusted. Friday night at Davies Park, South Brisbane and today at Nundah criterium track were the two competitive events for Bike Week.

Today there 232 racing cyclists assembled at Nundah for the second annual Bike Week Cup. Ipswich cyclist Mark Ledgerwood won the main race, from a crack field of 47. Nikolai Razouvaev and Chris Williams filled the minor placings.

In B grade, Paul Barton and Lucas Nicoll in a breakaway of two held off the fast-finishing main field to finish first and second. Ian Hargreaves was the clear winner of C grade.

At Davies Park last night, cycling was the real winner, as Brisbane got its first taste of the amazing sport that is cyclocross. An enthusiastic crowd witnessed the great skills and bravery of local riders on a course that wasn’t too technical, but certainly tested the aerobic capacity of all participants.

Most of Bike Week’s free events have been booked to capacity, including the Film Night on Wednesday and today’s Personal Training session.

SCODY Ride to Work Day was also a huge success with state and local politicians mixing in with cyclists of all shapes sizes, types and ages.

Participation in Bicycle Queensland’s events is growing every year at record rates. This Sunday, the second annual BDO Kendalls Brisbane Coot-tha Challenge will be 36% bigger than the first one, with more than 2200 cyclists taking on the mountain.

The Great Brisbane Bike Ride is also up from last year’s event (and we’re not finished, as you can still enter the GBBR on the day at South Bank), so all up around 4000 cyclists will take to the streets and bike-paths to celebrate the end of Bike Week on Sunday.

Of course, with our organisational motto (Everyday cycling, every day), Bicycle Queensland loves to see the gains made during special events such as Bike Week translate into more people cycling more often. So if you have dusted off an old bike specially for Bike Week, or bought a new bike to be part of the Family Fun Ride, then maybe it’s time to work out the best bike route to work or school, and keep those cycling muscles moving.

Email BQ for free advice about becoming a cycling commuter.