177 participants, over 12,000 journeys, and nearly 85,000 kilometres travelled by bicycle, scooter (including electric ones), or so-called PTDs (personal transport devices) - this is the result of the 4th edition of the Cycling to University competition at the University of Gdańsk. Students, doctoral students, and employees of the University of Gdańsk who took part in the campaign saved over 6,000 litres of fuel, and thanks to their choice of two-wheeled transport, an estimated 15,600 kg less carbon dioxide was emitted into the atmosphere!
On Friday, 17 October 2025, a ceremony was held to summarise the Cycle to University 2025 campaign, which ran from the beginning of April to the end of September, and to award prizes to individuals and (for the first time in the history of the competition) groups who registered the highest number of journeys from their place of residence to the University of Gdańsk. This year, 177 people took part in the competition (117 employees and 60 students/doctoral students), which is about 20% more than last year. A total of 12,467 journeys were recorded (10,147 by employees and 2,320 by students/doctoral students) - 2,371 more than in the previous edition! The total distance covered was 84,777 km, which is over 18,500 km more than last year.
‘Our participants have circled the Earth more than twice,’ said Piotr Szpajer, coordinator of the Cycle to University campaign at the University of Gdańsk, summarising the total number of kilometres travelled. ‘The competition obviously has a sporting and health dimension, promoting physical activity, but we must not forget the environmental dimension: compared to car transport, choosing a bicycle, scooter, electric bicycle, electric scooter or UTO translates into a reduction of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere by 15,600 kg! The 6,782 litres of fuel saved also represent an economic gain of over PLN 39,000.’
This year, the podium for the highest number of journeys was taken by:
In the employee group:
- Marcin Warzocha (252 bicycle journeys, 3,780 km)
- Ewa Butkiewicz (244 bike rides, 976 km)
- Sebastian Dorawa (230 bike rides, 1,380 km)
In the student and doctoral student group:
- Wiktoria Klasa (226 bike rides, 904 km)
- Wacław Chromik (214 bike rides, 2,332 km)
- Eliza Gościniak (170 electric bike rides, 2,099 km)
The awards were presented to the winners by the Vice-Rector for Student Affairs at the University of Gdańsk, dr hab. Urszula Patocka-Sigłowy, prof. UG.
A new feature in this year's edition was the team competition - in order to participate, it was necessary to form a group of four people and choose a leader to count the registered rides together. The two best teams in terms of the number of rides were the ‘Crazy Hummingbirds from WB’ team consisting of Sonia Zięba (leader), Darya Harshkova, Sebastian Dorawa and Marcin Górniak (766 journeys) and the team ‘WPiA’ consisting of Dariusz Sekuła (leader), Hanna Rutkiewicz, Jolanta Kliman and Agnieszka Martynowska (695 journeys).
The competition rules also provided for small gifts for people who registered a qualifying number of trips at two levels: 70 and 100 trips. A minimum of 100 trips was registered by 56 people, while a minimum of 70 trips was registered by as many as 78 people! Prizes can be collected from 20 October to 31 December 2025 at the CPC headquarters (Rector's Office Building, room 002).
We would like to congratulate the winners and all participants!
The Cycle to University campaign is run by the University of Gdańsk and Gdańsk University of Technology. The next edition is coming in spring!
