Cycling clinic, kickboxing, cultural dancing – we did it all at our South Philly office

We Philadelphians love our bicycles.

In fact, a study from the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia shows that Philadelphia has twice as many bicycle commuters per capita than any other big city in the U.S., and the number continues to grow.

At UnitedHealthcare, we love our bikes, too. We even sponsor a pro cycling team that competes worldwide. In fact, our team was in town for the Philly Cycling Classic on June 2nd and took time from their training schedule to conduct a cycling clinic for over 40 kids at our South Philly office.

Pro cyclists Jeff Louder and Danny Summerhill talked about how to eat, train and ride like a professional cyclist. The program was geared toward students from the World Communications Charter School, but contained great health and fitness education for the whole community. Both Jeff and Danny made it clear that you don’t have to aspire to be a professional to enjoy cycling, and everyone can see the benefits of good nutrition and regular exercise in their daily lives.

During the clinic, UnitedHealthcare and the cycling team were also proud to donate $1,000 to the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation to purchase a stationary bike for community use.

UnitedHealthcare and their pro cycling team donated $1,000 to the Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation to invest in a stationary bicycle.  Left to right: UnitedHealthcare’s Angelica Cuellar Hardin; pro cyclist Jeff Louder; Lisa Wright; pro cyclist Danny Summerhill; and John W. Chin, executive director, Philadelphia Chinatown Development Corporation.

The cycling clinic was held at our retail office in South Philadelphia, which we opened last year to better serve the community on a face-to-face basis. The office offers information and assistance to anyone who wants to learn more about their health care options, and provides special service to the unique health care needs of people of diverse cultural backgrounds, including those that do not speak English.

The clinic coincided with the one-year anniversary celebration of the office opening. In addition to the cycling clinic, the day was filled with fitness activities like kickboxing, zumba and line dancing, as well as cultural performances, such as hip-hop dancing, salsa dancing by George Dennis of Mambodelphia, and the Rejang and Randa Nabia Indonesian dances. Families also enjoyed fun activities such as face painting and Wii console gaming.

UnitedHealthcare mascot Health E. Hound cheered on dancers from a youth hip hop dance group.

After a great day of fitness tips and multicultural celebration, we had further reason to celebrate on Sunday when a member of UnitedHealthcare’s pro cycling team, Kiel Reijnen, won the Philly Cycling Classic. Kiel finished the 120-mile race in only 4 hours, 35 minutes, and 34 seconds. I’m very proud of Kiel and the entire UnitedHealthcare cycling team for such a great win in my hometown!