Success again in the Aotearoa Bike Challenge!

Our Christchurch team is proud to have again been crowned the winner of our category (20-49 employees) in the annual Aotearoa Bike Challenge. Through February, we rode a total of 7,110km, including 4,089km of commuting trips, saving around 740kg CO₂.

Throughout the month we held several bike related activities in and outside the office.

We kicked off strong and ended the first week of the challenge with a “roll for a scroll” morning tea shout from our social club. We also held a “Whose bike is it anyway” challenge. Each week, six photos of bikes from our bike parking area were placed on a noticeboard in the lunchroom and staff had a go at guessing whose they were. Kate Salmon is the inaugural champion with an impressive 70% correct.

Taking inspiration from last year’s Tour de Coffee Culture outing, a group of riders headed out for some longer rides on the final weekend of the challenge. The Friday saw an evening ride from the office to Sumner for fish and chips. A Saturday morning riding team rode to Lincoln via the foothills (60km), making sure to stop for cake! Sunday’s ride saw the team headed up and over the hills to Lyttelton for coffee and returning via Sumner (42km). There were some tired bodies after that weekend!

Our annual bike to lunch event on the leap day helped us finish strong and in good spirits with the Abley pool bikes used by those without their own bike available. As a team, we biked to the river by Te Pae for a souvlaki followed, by ice cream at Rollickin Gelato, yum!

As a collective, Abley finished 8th in Aotearoa in the 50-199 staff category, recognising the combined efforts from our staff around the country!

We had a very healthy 81% participation rate and welcomed seven new riders which was fantastic – hopefully, new commuting habits were formed during the challenge!

Congratulations to Kate Salmon for finishing as the 10th woman for most kilometres ridden in Christchurch and finishing ranked #1 of the Abley staff.

Also, congratulations to Lizzie Garside for finishing as the #1 encourager in the country.

Well done to everyone who organised, supported and took part in the Aotearoa Bike Challenge and congratulations to the other winners – we look forward to seeing if we can retain our title next year!