GETTING READY: Participants making their way to the starting point.
KUCHING: The city’s bid to become a cycling-friendly city received a huge boost yesterday following a strong turnout at the launch of its inaugural ‘Let’s Share The Road’ cycling safety campaign.
More than 550 cycling enthusiasts took part in the campaign which had a ‘fun and joyride’ concept that took them around the city to promote cycling safety awareness.
It was organised by the two city councils of Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) and Kuching South City Council (MBKS) in collaboration with Sarawak Cycling Association.
Also giving support to the campaign was the Cycling Recreation Club Kuching (Kooch).
ALL-ROUND SUPPORT: The campaign seems to attract people of all ages and nationality.
“Realising that road safety is an important issue for cyclists in the city today, it is important for both drivers and cyclists to understand the concept of road sharing.
“This campaign targets all road users to educate them on the proper road etiquette when seeing cyclists. For instance, when it comes to road sharing with cyclists, drivers must maintain a distance of 1.5 metres at all times to ensure safety,” DBKU chief deputy director Kartina Zamhari told reporters prior to the launching at the esplanade at Jalan Gambier here.
Also present at the event was the city hall’s board member Peter Pui.
Besides mentioning that ideas had been put forward to turn the campaign into an annual event, Kartina said the campaign would increase public awareness on practising a healthy lifestyle while promoting cycling as a sport and recreational activity.
“We want to make cycling as a way of life to promote healthy living,” she highlighted.
With traffic congestion and environmental concerns becoming hot issues in the city of late, the timing of the campaign could not have come at a better time.
ON YOUR MARK: Kartina (right) prepares to launch the campaign.
Starting at 8am yesterday, the event was divided into three categories – 10 km ride for VIPs, 30 km fun ride and 60 km joy ride.
The VIP category entailed participants to cycle along the city centre, including the Padang Central.
Participants in the fun ride cycled to and fro the esplanade all the way to the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK), while those in the 60 km joy ride category cycled to as far as the Bako roundabout. Cycling enthusiasts could be seen gathering at the esplanade as early as 6.30am.
Lucky draw prizes awaited participants.
A ‘Share the Road’ limited edition cycling jerseys were also on sale at the event.
The jersey features a light reflector strip at the back to increase safety when cycling at night.