We swapped cars for bikes for a month. We had no competition in Žilina.
One company, two towns, 18 teams
You can meet the Scheidt & Bachmann Slovensko employees on their bikes throughout the whole year, but during the month May, this number tripled. Even the ones with cars joined the usual bikers. Why? Because they wanted to be a part of the nationwide “To Work on Bike“ competition to save CO2 and compare their cycling performance with other bikers from Žilina and Slovakia.
70 bikers from our company were part of this year’s competition. 59 employees from the Žilina branch and 11 from Bratislava. Together, they biked 9.096 km. With this amazing performance, they took the 18th place amongst 1.335 participating companies. Our company was overtaken only by giant companies with thousands employees or universities represented by their students.
We dominated in Žilina twice
We were the most numerous participating company (59 employees) and our cyclists biked the most rides during the month. They got on the bike as many as 1.250 times to/from work. Although they cycled 6.385 km in total, the first place escaped them just by 500 km. ‘‘Of course, we wanted to win the competition with the most cycled kilometres, but we don’t take this loss to heart. At least, we have motivation for next year," said Katarína Labudová, coordinator of the „To Work on Bike“ competition in Scheidt & Bachmann Slovensko.
Bratislava cycling teams were successful, too
Eleven bikers from the Bratislava branch of Scheidt & Bachmann Slovensko cycled 2.711 km in 247 bike rides. Among 377 participating Bratislava based companies, they took the beautiful 41st position.
As a thankyou for their representation, the company prepared a joint lunch for their cyclists. As usual, they came on their bikes. Every biker was awarded with a certificate and an original T-shirt which will remind them of the participation in this year competition.
Our cycling recordmen
Among our bike enthusiasts, there were some real ‘‘hard workers“. Milan Kamenský from the Fuel Retail Solutions biked as many as 1.405 km and he became the 13th best cyclist in Slovakia in number of covered kilometres. What was his motivation for this performance? ‘‘
You only need to live far enough, be stubborn, a bit crazy like me and you will make it. :-)“ His performance earned a big applause and respect within the company. “A positive feedback from my colleagues was pushing me forward. In one month, I was able to outride bigger bike enthusiasts than me in number of kilometres. It is a good motivation, when you want to quit. In the end, I became a company’s cycling star and I enjoyed my 2 minutes of fame.“
During one of his rides, he came across something he’d have never expected. “I nearly crashed into a horse!“ For you to understand, Milan biked to work on a mountain bike on forest and dirt roads. “While riding through a forest, there was a good downhill across the valley, so I wanted to enjoy it. Of course, I was riding very fast as I saw something a few metres in front of me – it was a horse. I tried to come up with some idea, how both of us could survive. In the end, we got out of the situation without any harm,“ laughed Milan.
Tomáš Benč from the Bratislava branch showed himself off with his 1.090 km. Our imaginary third place among Scheidt & Bachmann cyclists was taken by Branislav Lulek from the Parking Systems who rode 596 km. ‘‘My 30 km per day on bike helped me to lose my weight and also to strengthen my legs. It is a great workout, that costs you nothing, moreover, it saves you money and time because travelling to work by two connection, which my local carriers offer me, takes more time than the very bike ride. It is a great motivation for using my bike not only in May,“ said Braňo.
Cycling in teams is easier
All of the cyclists composed teams of maximum 4 people and they had to think the team names over. Some teams came up with very creative names: Cycling Torpedos (Cyklotorpéda), American Psycho, Skilled and Hardworker (Šikulka a Makač) or Wild Snails (Zdivočené slimáky). However, team statistics are valued more than the names. These teams triumphed:
- TankPark (TankujParkuj)
- Team members: Milan Kamenský, Branislav Lulek, Lukáš Ondro and Daniela Makuchová.
- Together, they cycled 2.671 km in 139 bike rides.
- 3rd place among the teams in Žilina, 30th place in Slovakia.
- CycleBenchTeam
- Team memebers: Tomáš Benč, Juraj Jánošík, Radko Miháľ and Ján Demián.
- In 116 bike rides they rode 2.189 km.
- They took the 12th place between the Bratislava teams and the 44th place within Slovakia.
We have not finished with our biking
We raise the hat to all of the bikers from our company and one big THANK YOU! By riding, they reduced as many as 2.403 kg of CO2. Majority of them have already confirmed, that they will compete next year.
For those who are still hesitating, Branislav Lulek, a cyclist and a coordinator of the „To Work on Bike“ competition in Scheidt & Bachmann Slovensko, gives a clear response: ’’If they sign up, they do - as it is an intention of this competition - the right thing for the environment, traffic, but also they help to clean the air for the people of Žilina and other big towns. It happened to me few times, that I had to turn on the AC in my car because I could not breathe after getting stuck in a tailback in the Košická street on my way back home. In the second place, you do something good for you and your body. I'm very pleased with the popularity of this competition within our company and that I could be a little part of the cycling peloton, which reached such great results this year. To be part of a team with successful people makes me proud and happy.“
Milan Kamenský agreed with him: „It is not that difficult, all you need to do is to sit on a bike and go a bit further than to the supermarket and back home. A lot of my colleagues told me, that they would have participated, but they had too many excuses. At the same time, they were just too lazy and secretly jealous of my willpower. It is not about riding in any weather or every day. You just need to ride to work. The reason why I biked every day was, that I strove to cycle the most kilometres in Žilina and finally win this competition. I knew I had a chance, so I took it. Even though, 1.400 km looks a bit scary, I would be very happy if this goal drives me forth rather than back.’’
Next year with high goals
This year’s final results were a milestone for our cyclists and they are going to want to overcome them next year. And it won’t be easy. They want to ride 10.000 km, take the first place in Žilina and be placed among the best 30 cycling companies within Bratislava. Cross your fingers for us!
Types of S&B cyclists
These are the most common types of cyclists in our company:
- Offroad Hardworker (Offroadový makač)
A sportsperson in his heart of hearts who prefers to ride forests and unpaved roads instead of the normal ones whenever it is possible. They ride fast and dangerous. Their representative is Milan Kamenský: ‘‘I ride a mountain bike, so I am a bit wider, so that is why I try to avoid the main traffic roads. It takes me 100 minutes to get to work riding forest paths and just under 2 hours to get home from work. It would take me less than an hour if I used the main road.“ - Two-Wheel Stayer (Dvojkolesový vytrvalec)
They ride to work like Sagan. They overtake cars, walkers and colleagues as much as possible. They cross the finish line when our attendance system beeps at the entry. They shorten their time every day and their covered kilometres motivate them to better results. - Pedal Manager (Manažeris pedálový)
Cyclists with urban bikes wearing formal shirts and moving from the place A to place B with a relaxed tempo, so they do not sweat. They often use the public cycleway. - Pavement Cyclist (Chodníkovec bicyklový)
You can see them cycle on the pavement most of the time. They use it mainly because of the arrogant drivers. They are very considerate of other walkers, and they try to ride at safe speed. - Cycling Beauty (Krasotinka cyklistická)
A female deputy, who rides a stylish bicycle mixing business with pleasure. She does something for her slim waist and thanks to bicycle basket, she does not have to worry about carrying her shopping bags. - Eco Saver (Šetrivec ekologický)
A human being who does not live far from their workplace, but they use the two-wheel horse to speed up their movement — in any weather. They save time and environment.
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