Bike Week / Bike to Work Day 2011

[Trek420]

Silly question but is there a site that has all the different dates/events? I'm trying to get some coworkers involved and it's a pretty far flung group.

[tangentgirl]

Trek, the LA site is http://www.metro.net/around/bikes/bike-to-work/, but I haven't seen any place that has comprehensive dates for different cities.

[Biciclista]

OUr bike to work month is May (and bike to work day is in May too) I have had a team every year since 2006. Lucky for us we have the largest bike club in the world right here in Seattle so they do all the organizing.

[Melalvai]

Here's my report on our Bike & Walk Commuters' Day (more pictures here):
About 100 people visited one of three breakfast stations on Friday at Brashear Park, Courthouse Lawn, and Baptist Student Union. Most of the visitors to Brashear Park were students on their way to school. Science teacher Mrs. Keck offered extra credit for students who visited the breakfast station. Hundreds of students and parents driving past on Cottage Grove stared hungrily out the car and bus windows!

Baptist Student Union had the highest turnout. Many of the Truman students had heard about the stations through facebook or word of mouth. Courthouse Lawn saw the lowest turnout, with about 20 visitors. Local musicians provided entertainment for visitors.

Mocha Hut and Downtown Grocery Stores donated gourmet coffee and free-trade coffee. Volunteers baked low-sugar muffins and cookies, and Sweet Espressions provided pastries. Donations from the Possibility Alliance and volunteers bought bananas and oranges. Other supporters included Sodexho, Grace Community Bible Church, Baptist Student Union, Steve's Garden Deli, ATSU, ECO, the Kirksville Bike Co-op, and the City of Kirksville.

A half-dozen boys bike to school almost every day. They're middle school age. I called them the Bike Brigade.

[Tri Girl]

Mel- THAT. IS. AWESOME!!! What cool kids!!!

[Tri Girl]

OK- so I have to whine/vent for a minute here:

I want to organize another bike/walk to school day during Bike to Work Week. We organized something on International Bike to School day last October. Most of our kids live too far to walk or bike to school (we are not a neighborhood school) so in the fall I had parents drop off the kids a block away and they walked and that counted. I want to do it again. So I found a safer way that doesn't involve crossing streets (principal was concerned about safety). Apparently that's still too worrisome (it's probably less than .2 of a mile, around the corner on the same block and I have enough teachers out there to monitor). Grrr... organizing this is so much more trouble than it's worth. I don't know that the kids even get anything out of it. I TOTALLY understand her concerns for safety, I really do. I don't want anything to happen, either. It's just in this day and age you have to be so careful to CYA. I'm just disappointed I can't do all the things I want to do because we are such a litigious society now and you have to be so careful. I miss the days of our childhood when we didn't worry so much.

And then, to encourage our very unhealthy staff to get out and move, I said that any teacher that gets to school under their own power on Friday will get a free breakfast in the teacher's lounge (complete with prize baskets that I'm putting together). I will make them breakfast (pancakes and omlettes). I gave them the option of parking at one teachers house (.5 mile away), the principal's house (less than 2 miles away) or my house (2.7 miles away) and either biking or walking to work. You should have seen the looks. Some of them with kids were like "how will I get my kids to school?" Ummm... I don't know- WALK the .5 mile with them. Even the preschoolers can walk for 10 min- they do it all the time when you take them to WalMart. So far I don't think anyone is going to participate. I overheard someone talking and they didn't like my idea very much.

Just frustrated. People just cannot see any other way than getting in their car and driving. Not even for one day a year. I realize not everyone wants to ride their bike or walk to school/work everyday, but it's just one day a year.

Sorry- vent over.

[radacrider]

@ Tri Girl : So sorry, I can understand your frustrations. My son's school is having a Walk&Bike to school month. He was already and excited, because he either walks (from the ex' which is 1/2 mile away) or bikes (from our house which is 4.5 miles). He then gave up because they don't record miles so they won't be competing in the total miles for each school category. Sometimes the school is the problem.

Last year, the teacher cars were pretty full the whole time, so much for modeling, huh?

So, my son and I just enjoy our biking and he knows his total for each month is pretty cool (108 miles combined walking and biking). Good enough for him.

[shootingstar]

Dearie wrote this up a few days ago:

http://thirdwavecyclingblog.wordpres...-are-they-for/

I'm almost afraid to show link to the local group in Calgary.... anyway. Lessons learned from how to make such an event better in future. Hopefully.

I am aware in Vancouver, the local cycling advocacy group works with a few choice schools where it is the teachers they develop approaches, etc. on bike to school week. It tends to be the occasional school here and there where there are naturally just a few lead teachers who are regular cyclists themselves. But a few high school students with such a program , have been pulled in to volunteer for the large signature event where several thousand cyclists show up for a free BBQ near a bike path in the downtown area. Yes downtown, VAncouver can cyclable in this way if you know the network of bike routes.

[tulip]

Richmond's is May 20th. It's pretty small, but the city is making great progress.