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Cycling champ to attend Ride to Work Day
Oceania and Australian Road Time Trial champion cyclist Shara Gillow will be a special guest at the University of the Sunshine Coast’s annual Ride to Work Day event on Wednesday 12 October.
Fresh from competing at the recent Giro D’Italia, where she won the second stage and wore the coveted Maglia Rosaer pink jersey of tour leader, Gillow is looking forward to encouraging more people to cycle to work.
Gillow, 23, of Nambour is based at the Queensland Academy of Sport and works as a sports and recreation development officer. Her current focus is on winning gold for Australia at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The USC Ride to Work Day celebration will be held at the UniClub from 7.30-10.30am.
It is open to all USC staff and students and community members who cycle, walk, use public transport or even car pool.
They will be treated to breakfast, guided warm-down exercises, expert advice for bike maintenance and the chance to win prizes, including cycling gear and a $400 bicycle. To register, go to ride2work@usc.edu.au
The event has been organised by Travel2USC – a group committed to raising the awareness and use of sustainable forms of transport – and supported by the Sunshine Coast Council’s TravelSmart program and Revolution Cycling.
USC’s efforts to encourage staff and students to commute using bicycles is paying off, with a recent survey showing that the percentage of students who ride bicycles to the University at least once a week has increased from 1.65 percent in 2009 to 4.2 percent in 2011.
For USC staff, this has increased from 1.18 percent to 6.2 percent over the same period.
— Terry Walsh