Gym Team encourages pedal power for wellbeing and a good cause

Gym Team encourages pedal power for wellbeing and a good cause
Kasia Slapek

Forth Valley College’s Gym team is encouraging staff and students to turn to pedal power to raise money for a worthy charity and improve their fitness and wellbeing this summer.

The Team - which has built up a strong group of eager participants for their weekly gym workout sessions at the Falkirk, Stirling and Alloa Campus gyms – have also been helping Maggie’s Forth Valley with their events, most recently when Kasia Slapek took the warm up at the Kelpies starting point, for those who took part in a fundraising walk from there to their Larbert centre.

It was after this event that she was asked by the charity – who are a partner in this year’s UCI Cycling Championships running across Scotland 3-13 August - to see if she and the Gym Team could help them promote their cycling fundraising challenge called Gran Fondo.

The Team were only too glad to help and they have loaned a spin bike to Maggies, to allow their supporters to clock up the kilometres – anywhere between 250-500km – from now until the end of the cycling event next month. The main UCI event will also see the Men’s elite race rolling through Falkirk.

The challenge can be done physically on a road bike or on a static bike with everyone who registers receiving a Maggie’s cycling jersey and a medal on completion.  Anyone interested can also join through the dedicated Maggie’s Virtual Gran Fondo Facebook Group.  For more information click here.

Applicants can also track their rides on Strava and join the dedicated Strava group to be part of the chat.  The sponsorship target is £200 per person taking part. 

Kasia, said: “For our Team as fitness instructors, we know only too well that physical activity does not need to only be done in a gym or on a floor lifting weights, any physical activity helps improve your fitness and wellbeing. It would be amazing to encourage our staff and students to cycle more this summer and sign up for a very good cause at the same time, and we would all encourage them to get involved with the Gran Fondo event for Maggies!”

The 2023 UCI Cycling World Championships will be the inaugural edition of the UCI Cycling World Championships organised by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), and is scheduled to be held between 3 and 13 August 2023 in Glasgow, and across Scotland. The UCI Cycling World Championships, to be held every four years in the year preceding the Olympic Games, brings together various disciplines of cycling for them to be held as part of one event, including the UCI Road World ChampionshipsUCI Mountain Bike World Championships and UCI Track Cycling World Championships.