Wokingham Borough Connect
 Pedal your way to prizes in May!
The annual Love to Ride Bike Month Challenge helps everyone discover the benefits of riding, whatever their experience level.
This year, we’re launching the Ride 5 initiative to encourage riders of all levels to set goals, stay motivated, and ride more often.
There are some great prizes on offer, so download the app for Apple or Android now. You can log rides automatically, sync another app or log rides manually.
Encourage others to join in the fun and ride solo, with your cycling group or sign up your workplace to ride up the leaderboard with colleagues.
Prizes to be won throughout the month
- Register by midnight on Wednesday 30 April for a chance to win £1,000
- A £4,000 holiday - the more you ride in May, the more chance of winning
- Encourage five people to join the challenge and you could win £500
- Ride just five miles in May and you could win £500
- Complete five courses in May and you could win a £500 Airbnb break
- Complete five transport rides in May and you could win a £500 tab for a restaurant of your choice
- Rate five routes on the app and you could win £500
The free My Way to 5K scheme, run by Places Leisure, starts at Arborfield Green Leisure Centre this week. Groups run from 9.30am on Wednesdays or from 6pm on Thursdays, working towards an informal 5km Parkrun. It's funded by My Journey Wokingham and Beat the Street Wokingham.
 More than 2,000 children learn to cycle safely
Over the past year, our training provider Avanti Cycling has provided Bikeability Level 1 and 2 training to 1,918 children in Years 5 and 6.
These levels help youngsters to feel more confident and in control of their bike before they learn to cycle on quiet roads and identify possible hazards.
Avanti also smashed their target by providing Level 3 training to a further 237 children, teaching them to tackle faster roads with more complex junctions.
On top of that, 130 children attended Bikeability Learn to Ride sessions to start their cycling journey and 182 children, mostly Year 4, attended Bikeability Level 1 training, teaching them the skills needed to progress to Level 3.
This is all funded by the Bikeability Trust and Active Travel England as part of our efforts to get more children cycling safely to secondary schools.
A range of routes into riding
We run weekly Balance Bike Clubs for 2-4 year olds at Finchampstead Baptist Church and Woodford Park Leisure Centre in Woodley.
Almost 900 children attended last year, some learning to ride a pedal bike along with the way, so they had the chance to build confidence in a fun environment.
We also ran outdoor Learn to Ride sessions for 19 children as part of the Easter Holiday Activities and Food (HAF) event at Dinton Pastures Country Park.
About 140 people attended the HAF event and 200 people visited a community fun day at the School Green Centre in Shinfield, which we also supported. We had full bookings for bike checks at Shinfield and our spinner wheel was in high demand to win a ”make your own smoothie” or another prize.
 Schools make leaderboard for greener travel
The following ten primary schools all took part in Sustrans Big Walk and Wheel this year which ran from 24 March to 4 April:
- All Saints Primary School, Wokingham
- Westende Junior School, Wokingham
- Wescott Infant School, Wokingham
- Hawthorns Primary School, Wokingham
- Loddon Primary School, Earley
- Oaklands Junior School, Crowthorne
- Highwood Primary School, Woodley
- Hillside Primary School, Lower Earley
- Nine Mile Ride Primary School, Finchampstead
- Floreat Montague Park Primary School, Wokingham
Top on the national leaderboard were Westende Junior School (250th, small primary schools) and Hawthorns Primary School (245th, large primary schools).
Walk to School Week takes place from 19 to 23 May. We have FREE resources for schools that have signed up and we're encouraging others to join in, so please email us if you're interested.
 Want to ride your bicycle?
In preparation for the Wokingham Bikeathon, you can take part in some guided cycle rides which are aimed at beginners and those returning to cycling.
All rides are led by an experienced British Cycling leader and follow the pace of the slowest rider - so don't worry, you won't be left behind.
Please sign up online for the date that suits you.
We're also offering adult road cycle training with experienced Bikeability instructors on 23 May and 7 June, which you need to sign up for in advance.
Our adult cycle training for beginners and improvers will be starting again on Saturday, 24 May at 10am and 11am at Alder Grove Primary School, Shinfield.
The sessions cost £11 and need to be booked in advance.
Registration is now open for the Bikeathon (22 June), which starts and finishes at Cantley Park. Participants can try one of four routes which are either 15, 26, 36 or 51 miles long, and chat with community groups on the event field.
 Date announced for improved bus route
The number 3 bus between Wokingham town and Barkham, Finchampstead and Arborfield will be more frequent from Monday 19 May.
Reading Buses is already running an hourly service on the 3 on a commercial basis, including more frequent journeys between Arborfield and Reading.
We tendered for a contract to run the Wokingham to Arborfield stage more frequently earlier this year, following feedback from residents.
There'll still be buses up to every 15 minutes between Reading and Shinfield, via Royal Berkshire Hospital, with minor changes to allow for the route extensions.
The improvements are funded by developer contributions and the Government, the latter through our Bus Service Improvement Plan in partnership with Reading Buses.
Park & Ride fares are £1 return for a limited time and, for Winnersh and Mereoak Park & Rides, this includes parking.
 The power we're supplying... it's electrifying!
To support uptake of electric vehicles (EVs), we're helping to organise an event at Winnersh Triangle Business Park on Friday, 11 July between 10am and 2pm.
Guests can test drive EVs and hear from experts like the Energy Saving Trust about the grants and tax benefits that EVs and related infrastructure can bring.
They can also network with specialist suppliers and installers. The event is mostly focused on Berkshire businesses but residents can attend.
The event will be organised in partnership with Let's Experience Electric and Reading, Bracknell Forest, Windsor and Maidenhead, Slough and West Berkshire councils.
It will support our Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy, which we approved earlier this year to help fill gaps in commercial provision, mostly with Government funding.
 Upcoming activities and events
- Free Balance Bike Club at FBC in Finchampstead (Wednesdays)
- Free Balance Bike Club at Woodford Park Leisure Centre in Woodley (Thursdays)
- Learn to Ride sessions (£10) at FBC in Finchampstead (Wednesdays)
- Learn to Ride sessions (£10) at Woodford Park Leisure Centre in Woodley (Thursdays)
- A weekly 10-week running programme is set to launch at Arborfield Green Leisure Centre starting on 30 April and 1 May
- Adult Cycle Training for Beginners/Improver (£11) at Alder Grove Primary School, Shinfield (Saturday mornings)
For more information on our regular cycle training and activities, visit our website. or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X (Twitter).
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