Cyclists are being encouraged to get on their bikes this week to be in with a chance to win prizes.

Tens of thousands of people took part in last year’s Cycle to Work Day and Hertfordshire County Council hopes it can exceed records this year by encouraging residents to pedal their way to work this Thursday.

A quarter of a million miles were pledged last year, with cyclists offsetting nearly 7,000kg of CO2 and burning more than 12 million calories.

With this year marking Hertfordshire’s Year of Cycling, the council hope to inspire people across the county to get on their bikes to make this year’s Cycle to Work Day even bigger and better.

To help encourage people to take part in the national cycling event, the county council are asking people to upload cycling pictures at: www.flickr.com/groups/hertscycling and prizes will be awarded for the best photos.

For further inspiration, Hertfordshire will also host Stage 6 of the Men’s Tour of Britain, the UK’s biggest professional cycling race and free-to-spectate event, later this month.

The Women’s Tour raced through Hertfordshire’s streets in May, and was a huge success with thousands of people turning out to watch.

Cyclists can pledge their interest in taking part on Thursday, Spetember 4 online at: www.cycletoworkday.org