16,500 kilometers on the wheel

The "Stadtradeln" cycling competition took place from June 25 to July 15. The aim of the competition is to motivate people to cycle and to rethink old habits. In addition, via the app "RADar!" comments and complaints about local problems can be made, thus also contributing to a better bicycle infrastructure.

This year, the University of Bayreuth took part in the competition together for the first time and, with a total of 86 active cyclists and a total of almost 16,500 kilometers cycled, directly took first place in the Municipality. Representatives of Green Campus, the university health management, the supplementary study "Sustainability" and the student parliament promoted the competition at the university and organized internal prizes. The best students received vouchers for a bicycle store and the best university employees received a voucher for the university store. In addition, the best team of the university, "(R)ATmosphere Chemistry", received a beer garden voucher of 100€ to celebrate their joint success. Volker Audorff was doubly pleased. In addition to the 2nd place of the employees, he also won the raffle of the rickshaw ride, kindly provided by Carry and Smile.

In total, around 2,500 kg of CO2 were avoided during the competition period, making a positive contribution to sustainable mobility and greater climate protection. The campaign was also well received by the participants. "For me, the city cycling competition was a super incentive to get on my bike not only for everyday, short trips or when the sun is shining," commented student Jennifer about the cycling competition. Sandra, a staff member at the University of Bayreuth, added: "It was a lot of fun and definitely spurred me on to cycle more than I'm used to."

For the organizers it is certain that this success can only be a start. Luca Thomas (Student Parliament) clarifies: "We are very satisfied with the first city cycling event at the University of Bayreuth, but overall, a lot still needs to happen both at the university and in the city so that cycling becomes more attractive and people use their bikes in everyday life even without competitions. The possibility of reporting problem spots through the "RADar!" app is already a good start."

The competition will also be advertised at the University of Bayreuth next year. Green Campus, the university's health management, representatives of the sustainability supplementary studies program, and the student parliament will continue to work to strengthen bicycle mobility to and at the university.