Bicycle
The University Bike Park is open!
Details of the underground bike park and how to register are here.
Top Ten reasons to get on your bike
Getting a new bike or maintaining an old one
Maps and route planner:
Leicester and Leicestershire are covered by a series of 6 cycling maps which link together; the Leicester map being the central one.
Where to park your bike on our sites
- Cycle/shower facilities on Main Campus (map)
- Buy a discounted cycle D-lock - Security offer the acclaimed Squire “Urban Protector 230” D Lock, which has a Sold Secure 3 minute attack resistance standard and usually retails at £45 for the reduced price of £10 for students with a NUS Xtra card and £15.00 for University staff and students without an NUS Xtra card
- Cycle coding - secure your bike against theft
Getting a new bike or maintaining an old one
- bike maintenance - UHL are running a number of sessions for Hospital-based staff and students. Dr Bike comes to Central Campus regularly - check the BUG for updates.
- Cycle to Work scheme
- Buy a discounted bike - Show your University ID at Bikes 4 All at Sanvey Gate for a 10% discount
- Beginners guide to buying a bike
Other useful info
- Business mileage - claim expenses for using your bike for business (see point 5.3.4. and claim on the standard form adding in that it's on a bicycle)
- Bicycle Users Group - cyclists discussion forum
- Cycle calculator - how much does your daily cycle commute save you?
- Improve your cycling skills and confidence - The council run free sessions for beginners and improvers.
Cycling is good for you!
Gentle cycling will burn up about 300 - 600 calories an hour – but more strenuous cycling could burn off up to 1300 calories an hour
Cycling for 8 mins (approx 1 mile) burns over 50 calories (equivalent to one Celebrations chocolate)
Getting on your bike can yield much the same health benefits as doing a specific training programme. Cycling for an additional 30 minutes on most days of the week, combined with reducing calorie intake, can achieve weight loss comparable to that achieved by doing three aerobic classes a week.
As well as improving physical health, cycling has a positive effect on emotional health – improving levels of well-being, self-confidence and tolerance to stress while reducing tiredness, difficulties with sleep and a range of medical symptoms
Cycle safety
One of the barriers to taking up cycling is a perception of the physical danger posed by motor traffic. However, the real risks are minimal and, research suggests, are outweighed by the health benefits by a factor of around 20:1. It may be more risky to your health to be sedentary
The number of cyclists killed annually in GB road accidents has been in decline since the 1930s. The percentage of all road deaths that were cyclists has remained fairly constant at around 4% since the 1960s.
All estimates show that risk in cycling is in the same class as walking and driving (that is, very low) but for motorcyclists the risk is more than fifteen times greater
