Bestwig is pedalling hard: city cycling 2025 with record participation
Bestwig. Even more participants, growing enthusiasm - and plenty of kilometres cycled for climate protection: the municipality of Bestwig has drawn a thoroughly positive balance after this year's city cycling event. Mayor Ralf Péus is also completely satisfied: "The figures speak for themselves - cycling continues to gain in importance and has become part of everyday life for many people. This is precisely the aim of the city cycle: to make the bicycle visible as a practical and climate-friendly alternative to the car."
A total of 114 cyclists in twelve teams were on the road for Bestwig for three weeks in June - that's 21 more participants than last year, when there were eleven teams. Two participants even broke the 1,000 kilometre mark, while three others fell just short of this.
A total of 34,489 kilometres were cycled - 11,426 kilometres more than in the previous year. This achievement corresponds to a CO₂ saving of around 5.7 tonnes, says Alexander Böer, who is the contact person for cycle paths at the town hall. "A great result for health, the environment and climate protection."
In addition to collecting kilometres, the municipality of Bestwig also offered several accompanying activities: There was great interest in the driver safety training at the Velmeder Schützenplatz - organised together with the road safety advisors from the Hochsauerland district police authority. The mayors' tour, during which the participants travelled around the municipal area together with Mayor Péus, this time visited several fire stations in the Ruhr and Valmetal valleys that are currently being built or renovated.
In addition, the municipality of Bestwig invited participants to take part in an online picture search: cyclists had to guess and cycle to distinctive places in the municipality based on picture details.
In the run-up to the Bestwig Gastgarten, the most active cyclists and the successful participants in the picture hunt were honoured with small prizes and vouchers.
Mayor Péus emphasised: "City cycling is a strong impulse, but our commitment to cycling does not end after three weeks." The municipality of Bestwig is working continuously to keep the existing cycle paths in good, safe condition and to further expand the cycle path network. The possibility of a new cycle path between Heringhausen and Gevelinghausen is currently being examined under the direction of the Hochsauerland district.