Rugby cyclist wins Warwick Cycle Races competition
A delighted cyclist from Rugby has collected his new mountain bike, courtesy of this year’s Cycle Races in Warwick.
Matthew Hartwell, aged 29, from Rugby, was picked from about 300 entries and has won a Claude Butler Cape Wrath 24-speed mountain bike.
As a part of this year’s TravelWise Cycle Races in Warwick, which took place on September 16, a competition was organised, offering one lucky person the chance to win the new mountain bike – donated by Hinckley Cycle Centre.
Matthew cycles a four mile return journey to work everyday, saying that it helps him to keep fit and beat the traffic, and he is thrilled with the win, saying: “I can’t believe I won, it’s great, I can replace my ten year old mountain bike with this fantastic new one. I can’t wait to get out on it to work and on weekends with my family.”
Competition organisers Warwickshire County Council asked all the competition entrants from across the West Midlands and beyond to answer two questions:
What is TravelWise?
Do you cycle regularly to work or education?
There were some interesting results with 2% of people saying TravelWise is a travel company, 96% correctly saying it’s a scheme to encourage sustainable travel, 1% thinking it’s a bus company and 1% didn’t know.
The other question saw 31% of people saying they cycle regularly, 7% frequently, 24% occasionally, 12% rarely, and 25% never.
The National TravelWise Association, of which Warwickshire County Council is a member, is a network of sectors, including local authorities, health sector, academic sector and passenger transport executives working together to promote healthy and sustainable transport.
Cllr Martin Heatley, Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet member for the Environment, said: “Congratulations to Matthew. Cycling is a great leisure pursuit, way to commute, and way to keep healthy. The Cycle Races are a wonderful showcase of some of the best cycling talent out there, and a great way to promote cycling to a wider audience.”
For more information on the Cycle Races visit http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/cycleraces