NEWS RELEASE
PORCUPINE HEALTH UNIT
*************************
Bike It! Timmins is once again hosting a Timmins Bike to Work event.
This year it will be held on Wednesday, July 9, 2014.
The aim of this event is to get non-bike riders and those who already cycle to use this active form of transportation to get to work.
Cycling to work offers many advantages such as: affordable transportation; improving the environment by reducing one’s carbon footprint; and health.
“It’s a great way to get your minimum physical activity requirement of 150 minutes a week,” says Marty Paul, a Health Promoter at the Porcupine Health Unit.
The Timmins Downtown BIA is a partner for the event and will be hosting activities including free valet parking at the Downtown Urban Park from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for those who bike to work during the event.
“We hope to get a large number of bicycles to the Urban Park,” says Noella Rinaldo, General Manager of the Timmins Downtown BIA. “It’s a great way to develop a sense of community pride and create awareness of the need for more cycling infrastructure.”
If you’ve been thinking of biking to work, Paul says this event is a great way to try bike commuting for the first time.
He provides a few simple tips to make the experience more enjoyable:
1. Plan your route. Remember that the route you take by car is often not the best path to take by bike.
2. Prepare the day before. Pack your bag, lunch and clothes, check your bike and your helmet and give yourself sufficient time. Being frazzled the morning of your first bike commute may result in an aborted mission!
3. Repeat. Your bike commute will get considerably easier the second time. Don’t let your efforts go to waste by limiting your bike commuting to one day a year.
The Porcupine Health Unit is located in Northeastern Ontario, serving the entire Cochrane District and Hornepayne, in Algoma District.
The main office is located in Timmins, Ontario, with branch offices in Cochrane, Hearst, Hornepayne, Iroquois Falls, Kapuskasing, Matheson, Moosonee and Smooth Rock Falls.
*************************
