Dear Member,

The VeloMai campaign aims to increase the numbers of wider staff trying out cycling. The more experienced cyclist may say “Why should I bother? It’s just a gimmick, I cycle every day anyway”. But we would argue that there are many reasons for registering your rides and finding other ways to participate in local or corporate events. Here are a few:

• There is strength in numbers. The higher the participation rate, the more the Institutions will sit up and take notice and adapt their policies to take greater account of cycling
• Higher participation makes cycling more visible and shows that it is the new normal and even cool to cycle
• Experienced cyclists can act as role models for the newcomers and provide encouragement as well as advice tips, route recommendations
• It’s a great networking opportunity to get to know people across your DG, your Institution and across the different participating Institutions

The EUCG has 20 20 vision . We are aiming for 20% of staff to be cycling by the end of  2020. This is also a goal of the Commission’s local staff committee in Brussels .We hope that the VeloMai organisers and the Institutions will also take up this target.

We have gone from a few hundred participating in 1 agency (EASME and 1 DG (MOVE) in 2016, to 1700 across the whole Commission in 2017, to 2700 across the Institutions in 2018. This year we can do even better.

By boosting the number of new colleagues coming to cycling, VeloMai is powerful instrument that can help us achieve our 2020 vision. Come and join us this year!

Paul Murphy, EUCG President