Transport for LondonCycle into spring with Bike to School Week
Children love to cycle
The week-long event provides training on and off the road.
Children can also learn about practical issues such as secure cycle storage and using cycle paths safely and correctly.
Vicki Hill, Sustrans Bike it! coordinator, said: 'Children love to cycle and our aim is to harness that enthusiasm and develop it so that they can become safe and responsible cyclists at an early age.
'Children who have been taught to cycle safely have a much better developed road sense.'
The scheme has quadrupled the number of child cyclists in target schools since starting four years ago.
Currently, of the 8.3 million youngsters travelling to school each day, less than two per cent cycle, despite research showing that one in three would like to.
Bike to School Week is supported by Sustrans Bike It!, the Department for Transport and Cycling England - the independent body charged with delivering programmes that get more people cycling, more safely.
More information on cycle routes across the capital is available at tfl.gov.uk/cycling
Two wheels are better than one
As spring is just around the corner, this is the perfect time to get your two-wheeler out of storage for a check-up.
With water bottle ready, you can ride off into the sunset on some of the UK's 12,000 miles of walking and cycle routes on traffic-free paths, quiet lanes and traffic-calmed roads.
Here are some facts to get you started:
- On average, cyclists live two years longer than non-cyclists
- Cyclists breathe in less pollution from traffic than car drivers
- Cycling is the least polluting way of travelling after walking
- Ten bikes can be parked in the space of one car
- Two kilograms of carbon are saved for every short journey that is made using a bike instead of a car
