Bike to Work Day

Title: Bike to Work day
Description: National Bike to Work day
Date: 2012-5-18

Can’t make the Tour and can’t call in?
Switch the 4 wheels for 2 or 3!

Started in 1956 by the League of  American Bicyclists as part of National Bike Month, Bike to Work encourages people to commute on their bikes to realize all the benefits that cyclo-commuting has to offer.  Less congestion, and reduced stress are just two positive results of commuting by bike.

A 2009 study of nearly 2,400 adults found that those who biked to work were fitter, leaner, less likely to be obese, and had better triglyceride levels, blood pressure, and insulin levels than those who didn’t actively commute to work. Gordon-Larsen, P., et al., 2009

So?

Although when the sun sets this 18th, Bike to Work week will officially end, keep a good thing going by continuing to ride your bike!  Not only will you get some miles in,  you’ll avoid  some of the nastier side effects of sedentary commuting as we outlined earlier.  The National Bike Challenge is still going strong all the way through August, so keep on pedaling and record those miles!

NBC Update

Since May 1st, 23,400 riders have pedaled 1,717,258 miles in the National Bike Challenge.
California has slipped to 28th place, although riders grew to 1,273 registered riders pedaling 102,113 miles. Are you one of them? Chances are good that you are!
Here’s the top 10 standings as of 5/19:
Top 10 States / Points Top 10 Companies / Points
1 – Vermont   / 210.84
2 – Wisconsin / 149.64
3 – Nebraska /  123.85
4 – WashDC   /   54.90
5 – Iowa        /   41.74
6 – Colorado  /   38.10
7 – Penn.       /   20.42
8 – Ohio        /   19.03
9 – Minn.       /   15.24
10 -Montana  /   14.74
1 Trek Bicycle Corp,       / 219526
2
Kimberly-Clark Corp.  / 103214
3 Retired                       /   44217
4 Specialized Bike Components/ 43471
5 American Electric Power / 33907
6 Ingersoll Rand               / 32523
7 Texas Instruments         / 26300
8 Oshkosh Corporation     / 25687
9 U of W – Madison           / 21002
10 NW Mutual                  / 19584

Since the NBC will run through August, there’s still time to register for this months’ prize and get the wheels rolling, or watch in amazement as the the leaders pull away from the pack.

According to Wes Parsel of the OCTA, 900 of you have signed up for Bike Month with the OCTA’s Bike Month Program.

Here’s the breakdown:
53% commute to work,
22% will connect with public transportation,
16% are 1st time “cyclo-commuters”,
and 132,000 (!) miles are committed during May.

Remember, riders are allowed to be enrolled in both the OCTA program and the NBC at the same time, so if you are enrolled in only one, register for the other and get even more mileage from your good deeds.  If you are commuting but aren’t registered with either, register for both!

At the conclusion of the OCTA program, keep on riding; there’s no reason to stop, and your mileage could help California break into the top 20 or better!

We look forward to sharing the results with you when they come in.