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Cycle to Work in August

23 Jul 2012

Come along to EATS Restaurant, University Place, on Wednesday 1 August from 8.20am to 9am.

Dr Lawrence Benson setting off from Honley, near Huddersfield

Saddle up for the next Cycle to Work ride on Wednesday 1 August, which ends in a free breakfast at EATS Restaurant, University Place (building no. 37 on the campus map) between 8.20am and 9am.

There are also a series of guided routes to support newcomers and create a community of cyclists. Plus, everybody attending also gets entered into a free raffle.

For all the details (including posters and bike strips), go to:

The monthly cycle events aim to encourage staff from in and around Manchester to use their bikes to commute to work. Some cycle in from further afield too – see Lawrence’s story below.

Your Cycle to Work

Dr Lawrence Benson joined a Cycle to Work ride for the first time in June, when he cycled 25 miles across the Pennines from Honley, near Huddersfield. He left home at 6am and rolled up for his free breakfast at University Place just three hours later.

However, it wasn’t the first time that he has ridden to work by bike, for Lawrence, a Lecturer in Healthcare and Public Sector Management at Manchester Business School, has been cycling in once a year for the last nine years.

Usually a car commuter, Lawrence hates driving in and cycles all the way to work once a year to convince himself that commuting by bike is possible. During the summer, he compromises by leaving his car in Greenfield (the first village after the descent from the hills of West Yorkshire) and completing the journey on his bike.

Lawrence said: “My bike’s a hybrid, so the journey is a bit slow and the climb out of West Yorkshire is done at snail’s pace.

“However, I would do the Cycle to Work again as the first 18 miles up hill and down dale are really enjoyable, while the last seven miles remind me why I live in the fantastic, bike-friendly Holme Valley and not in the amazing City of Manchester - which is only just beginning to make itself into a true cycling city.”

Lawrence’s route

  • By country lanes from Honley to Marsden;
  • On the A62 from Marsden to Uppermill, then through Lower Mossley, Stalybridge, Ashton-under-Lyne, Openshaw, Beswick to the University.