Dave and Jen For Oxfam

Today was National Ride To Work Day. Apparently. Not being familiar with the initiative I only found out about it by way of a friend asking me how it went. We shared puzzled looks and hit the internet. The website is typical of Australian government initiatives and quite frankly looks abysmal. I’m not even going to punish myself by commenting on government copy writers using phrases like “maximise the return on your bike parking investment”. That way madness lies.

What is clearly apparent looking at National Ride To Work Day is that they are at least meaning well in encouraging people to hit the roads on a bike. And spending a few million dollars in doing so. Does anyone really actually want to read The Hon Peter Garrett introduce his little booklet about riding to work as “inspiring”? The first case study within it is by a pharmaceutical company that talks about it’s Mind Body Environment (MBE) Committee, without even being ironic, which makes me realise I liked Peter Garrett a lot more when he actually took pharmaceuticals instead.

We spent a little time this evening reading the site in any case, as it is still a nice thing they are going about in a weird way. A lot of links from the “inspiring” National Ride To Work Day website actually go to Bicycle Victoria which cites itself as “a self-funded community organisation, dedicated to getting more people cycling more often”. Reading the previous year’s report it looks like BV run the show after expanding from a state wide initiative.

Aside from the site there are some interesting claims in the report, though it doesn’t do much to challenge my comfortable disinterest in “Days”. There are a lot of good charity “Days” out there. People tell me this whenever this topic comes up, and usually cite Red Nose Day as a common example. I’d like to see some analysis on charity “Days” in specific and listen to eager and jaded event managers alike, but it wont really change my opinion of them as an end user. I don’t feel any different on World Day for Safety and Health at Work as I do on World Day to Combat Desertification or even World Day of Remembrance for Traffic Victims.

Those are some pretty serious topics but I would challenge anyone to justify the incredible amount of money spent by governments and, yes, even charities on making people even notice there is a Day. Let alone participate. So when it comes to my friend asking me how National Ride To Work Day went? I still have no idea. I was too busy riding to work. Like I do every day. Even on National Walk To Work Day. Sorry.