Visitors to Leicester can enjoy free rides on the city e-bike scheme to help them discover a trail of 40 giant rockets in the city, thanks to funding from BID Leicester.

Santander Cycles Leicester has been up and running since April, allowing users to make quick and easy trips across the city. When complete, it will be the largest docked e-bike hire scheme in the UK, with over 500 e-bikes available across 50 stations.

Now, to celebrate Rocket Round Leicester and a busy programme of events taking place over the summer months, BID Leicester is offering users the chance to explore the city by accessing credit to use on the e-bikes, for free.

Every Wednesday in August plus the last Sunday of the month, £5 worth of credit will be offered to the first 200 people to email Ride On customer services.

Simon Jenner, Director of BID Leicester, said: “We’re delighted to be able to offer members of the public free rides on the Santander Cycles Scheme. We want to encourage people to get outdoors and get active this summer, using sustainable transport methods to get involved with some of the city’s great events, including Rocket Round Leicester.

“Leicester is a cycling-friendly city, so it will be great to see more people find confidence in travelling on two wheels. I hope these free rides will encourage people to get familiar with the e-bike scheme, making cycling an easy and safe option for everyone.”

E-bike docking stations cover the city centre and surrounding neighbourhoods. All journeys must begin and end at a docking station, but there are already 18 of these on streets and operational throughout the city centre.

The e-bike scheme is run by Leicester City Council, with sponsorship from Santander UK and additional investment from the operator, Ride On, and their delivery partner Enzen Global.

Deputy city mayor Cllr Adam Clarke, who leads on environment and transportation, said: “Leicester City Council continues to invest in and champion cycling as a sustainable transport method which will improve our air quality, health and wellbeing. The Santander Cycles Leicester scheme has already had a great start – with more than 25,000 journeys registered in the city so far – and I hope the free credit for rides offered by BID Leicester will encourage even more people to give it a go and discover a love for cycling.”

£5 credit for rides can be used on Wednesday 11, 18 and 25 August, and Sunday 29 August, and are available to new and existing users. Simply download the ‘Ride On UK’ app and register for a free account, then email Ride on Customer Services at [email protected] with the code for the next available date. Codes are: BIDRRL11, BIDRRL18, BIDRRL25 or BIDRRL29 respectively. Credit can be requested up to midday on the Tuesday before the free ride, and is automatically applied to the users account.

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