Sunderland gears up during Cycle September

Sunderland City Council is teaming up with cycling platform Love to Ride to encourage more of the city's residents to get on their bikes.

Love to Ride is an online platform for both people who ride a bike regularly and those who are completely new to cycling, allowing users to share their cycling experiences, challenge others and log how far they have cycled by syncing with Strava or MapMyRide.

Encouraging cycling instead of driving is another step towards cutting Sunderland's carbon emissions, as the council and partners are committed to making the city carbon neutral by 2040.

There's still time to sign up for Love to Ride's Cycle September, which promotes cycling as a healthy and sustainable way to travel as well as an enjoyable hobby.

Cycle September is a fun and friendly competition where individuals, businesses, and communities compete against each other to see who can get the most friends, family and co-workers to ride a bike during the month of September.

Workplaces and individuals across Sunderland have already signed up to the challenge and are sharing their reasons for taking part on the platform.

Councillor Linda Williams, Portfolio Holder for Vibrant City at Sunderland City Council, said: "Cycling is a fantastic, sustainable and healthy way to get around. As we continue to invest in the city we want to promote cycling for both transport and leisure.

"Partnering with Love to Ride offers residents access to support and encouragement, making cycling enjoyable and adding a fun sense of competition for friends, families and colleagues who want to challenge each other."

So far more than 557,000 people have signed up to the platform, over 129,000 of which were not already cyclists.