Bringing Aycliffe Business Park Together | 19
confidence on the bicycle and to
encourage people to give it a go with the
knowledge to do so.
‘Doctor Bike’ is a professional mechanic
who will go along to a pre- arranged
workplace to attend to any broken bikes
and he will fix tyres, brakes and gears and
attend to any other problems that he can.
The ‘Fit for Life’ health checks involve
a 30-minute session with a health
professional looking at blood pressure
levels, cholesterol levels and general life
style.
The smoothie bike experience gives
cyclists the chance to have some fun in
creating their very own smoothie as they
pedal, through the smoothie machine that
is attached to the back of the bike.
The driving simulator demonstrates how
you are able to drive safer and with better
fuel efficiency, this is especially effective
for sales representatives who use their
vehicles for work all the time, and research
has shown savings in company fuel costs
as a result.
Meanwhile, the Local Motion is funding
Safe and Fuel Efficient Driver (SAFED)
Training courses for companies in
Darlington and South Durham. SAFED is
a one-day certified driving course aimed
at business drivers, with proven benefits
including reduced fuel costs, improved
driver safety, reduced vehicle maintenance
costs and lower carbon emissions.
The Road Safety Team at Durham County
Council delivers SAFED courses on behalf
of the Local Motion Team.
The ‘Wattbike’ challenge encourages
cyclists to complete a 300-metre ride
which is the equivalent to one lap around a
velodrome. The two bikes can be linked to
a lap top to carry out a virtual race or can
be used separately with the completion
times recorded on a score sheet.
Taking part in the first Wattbike challenge
at Prefer Resins was engineer Andy Large.
He said: “I think this is a brilliant idea,
it encourages everyone to have a go,
everyone is talking about it here, and it has
created a lot of curiosity and a real buzz
amongst the team.
”
The Wattbike was created with British
Cycling to provide an indoor bike for
training and testing that is suitable for
everyone from school children to Olympic
Gold Medallists. Within seconds you
can be accurately measuring your power
output, your pedalling technique and heart
rate.
The Local Motion team have started
working with companies on the park
including Evans Business Centre, Stiller
Warehousing and Distribution, 3M and
Roman Showers but are keen to work with
many more.
The Local Motion team have two of these
impressive bikes and the first ‘Wattbike’
challenge has just been completed at
Prefer Resins on the park.
Steve explains: “It doesn’t take long to
complete the challenge, literally about
30 seconds, you can pedal as fast as you
want to, or whatever is comfortable for
you, but it is a really good work out, you
can really feel it and it can make a big
difference to overall fitness.
“The reaction to it has been great because
it generates really healthy competition
in the workplace with colleagues trying
to achieve the best completion time; it’s
great fun! It can also be another way
for businesses on the park to network
through having a Wattbike challenge
in different companies, as the project
develops it would be fantastic to see this
happen.
”
Steve said: “All the activities mentioned
are free to any company on the park
and they can be arranged at a suitable
time and location to suit the needs of
the business. We are really interested in
working with more companies to help this
project to grow and I am happy to talk
about the benefits of this at any time.
”
For further information about the Local
Motion project please contact Steve on
03000 268 007 or email him on
[email protected]
Opposite page: Sustainable travel ranger Steve
Shepperson (centre) with Linda Dixon and Neil
Wilson from Prefere Resins on Aycliffe Business
Park
Above left: Linda Dixon from Prefere Resins gears
up for her go on the Wattbike
Above right: Sustainable travel ranger Steve
Shepperson watches on as another Prefere Resins
employee takes on the Wattbike Challenge