FutuRide Breaks World Record

Last night I had the opportunity to participate amongst a field of 1000 cyclists in “Futuride” at Federation Square. The concept was to showcase how people and technology can work together to address the challenges of today, and change mindsets for tomorrow.

To do this, a field of 120 riders cycled on electricity-generating stationary bikes for 15 minute time intervals. The riders broke two Guinness Book of World Records by totalling 4630 watt hours for the most electricity generated by pedalling on bikes and 35,028 LED lights for the most lights lit by pedal power.

Siemens’ Australian ambassador, Cadel Evans was there pushing close to Galibier-level wattages as were Koen de Kort, Simon Clarke, Rachel Neylan and Caleb Ewen. It was an increadible atmosphere at Fed Square seeing more than 35,000 Christmas lights flooding the area with thousands of people watching. The whole production would have taken thousands of man-hours and months to pull together.

CEO of Siemens in Australia, Jeff Connolly said that the FutuRide event was a great success to kick off Siemens in Australia’s three year awareness program of how technology and people can contribute to a sustainable future.

“This event was a great symbol of what can be achieved when we combine people and technology to take action for a common cause. I would like to think that future generations would be proud of the effort we have put in today, and of our focus on building a sustainable future,” Mr Connolly said.

Thank you to Siemens for having me involved and for taking on this enormous initiative.