Looking for a better way to travel to work, Dunedin registered nurse Corbin Bungard custom-built a three-person tandem bike from an old frame.
He then decided to invite fellow nurses Sara-Jayne Guest and Lucy Campbell to ditch the car and ride to work.
Mr Bungard said the bike came about as he was aware of how terrible car parking was around the hospital.
"The tandem not only provides some great laughs, but it’s also sustainable and beats finding [a park] and paying the parking fees."
Building a bike for three was great, enabling others to join the commute.
"The more the merrier, right?"
The trio had been cycling together on the bike for a while now and taking part in the Aotearoa Bike Challenge was a great way to track their commutes.
It also encouraged them to bike more frequently.
After some modifications, the three nurses planned to take the tandem bike on a rail trail tour, he said.
Love to Ride spokeswoman Christina Sorbello said just over 1000 Dunedin residents and close to 100 workplaces made over 13,000 trips by bike, cycling more than 185,000km in total throughout the month of February for the Aotearoa Bike Challenge.
While the challenge was now complete, it encouraged Ōtepoti Dunedin residents to continue with their wheels in motion and get creative with how they commute and incorporate cycling into their lives.
Tens of thousands of New Zealanders took part during the month-long challenge, inspiring nearly 4000 new riders on to their bikes.
More than 23,000 New Zealanders from around 3000 workplaces took part, cycling more than 3,990,500km during nearly 270,000 trips.
New Zealanders saved 226,898kg CO2 (carbon emissions) from entering the atmosphere — an improvement of over 15,000kg CO2 compared to the 2022 Aotearoa Bike Challenge, which showed New Zealanders could play their part and have fun while doing it, she said.
