They fought for the Cycling Capital of Poland cup

As many as 92,000 cyclists from across the country collectively covered over 19 million kilometers in a month. They rode for various cities and municipalities, competing for the Cycling Capital of Poland trophy. Among them were residents of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship, including the Police commune, which participated in the competition for the first time. Although it did not win the trophy, its local government decided to reward those who cycled the most for the municipality, as well as several dozen randomly selected cyclists who participated in the competition.

This competition was held for the seventh time in June. Anyone wishing to participate had to download the free Active Cities app, register, select the appropriate category (city or municipality), and join a team. Every kilometer covered was recorded and converted into points. Participation was free.

Police participated in this competition for the first time. And their debut proved quite successful. Over 100 Police cyclists rode a total of 25,441 kilometers for the municipality.

"In my opinion, the results were excellent," said Grzegorz Ufniarz, Deputy Mayor of Police. Although they placed a rather distant 117th (in the urban-rural municipalities category), he emphasized that "there's no shame in that," especially since 145 municipalities in this category competed. The municipality's population also influenced the ranking, meaning the same distance traveled in smaller municipalities could have resulted in a higher ranking.

Last Wednesday, at the Police Municipal Cultural Center, Police's participation in the competition was summarized and awards were presented to cyclists who racked up kilometers for the municipality. Some rode alone, others in groups of friends or family, or alternately.

Mr. Grzegorz Matuszak, who was present at this meeting, rode on behalf of the Police Commune either alone or with his family (his wife Justyna and sons: Julian and Jacek), or with friends.

"I rode about 300 kilometers during that time, my sons about 200, and my wife less because she started riding later," he says. "I was the main motivator, and my friend was the one who motivated me. We have such a good team and we ride together."

Another participant, Mr. Marek, rode over 2,000 kilometers in June for the Police, riding almost every day. His wife, Mrs. Krystyna, contributed about 300 kilometers to the municipality's total during that time.

"A competition like this is an additional motivation for this activity," admitted Krystyna. "Although it's been organized for years, this is the first time our municipality has been registered in the app. So we wanted to ride on its account."

The next chance to win the Cycling Capital of Poland trophy will likely be next year. ©℗

Agnieszka SPIRYDOWICZ