A team of cyclists from the Ski Club of Great Britain’s head office based in Wimbledon clocked up over 2150 miles as part of Transport for London’s month-long cycle challenge, beating last year’s effort by over 250 miles.

For the 2010 Cycle Challenge, the Ski Club had over half the office cycling to work with 18 cyclists, some bike regulars and some “newbies” involved. Over the month of June the team managed to pedal 2153.17 miles, beating 2009’s effort by 265.17 miles – that’s six times the distance from Bourg St Maurice to Mèribel. The team also saved more than half a tonne of CO2 during the challenge.

“It’s a great effort which ties in perfectly with our Respect the Mountain campaign aimed at raising awareness about snowsports and the environment,” said team member Betony Garner.

“It was great to take part in the challenge again this year” added Ski Club cyclist Dan Jordan. “I think it’s a brilliant scheme to get people out and about and on their bikes and it’s fun to compete with your team mates to see who can cycle the furthest”.

The Respect the Mountain Campaign is a Ski Club of Great Britain initiative that was first set up in 2004 to help raise awareness of the environmental impact of snowsports and how skiers and boarders can minimise their impact and preserve the mountains for generations to come. The Respect the Mountain campaign has donated over £34,000 to several environmental projects including the Woodland Trust tree planting scheme, research projects, awareness tools including makesnowsportsgreener.com and the Eco-guide to Mountain Gear.

The Ski Club are planning to take part in the London Cycle Challenge again in 2011.

www.cyclechallenge.tfl.gov.uk