Celebrate National Bike Month by Biking to Work on May 14

New Oakland and San Jose Mayors Challenge Their Cities to Get Out and Ride

News provided by

Metropolitan Transportation Commission

May 04, 2015, 07:59 ET

OAKLAND, Calif., May 4, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- What better way to participate in National Bike Month in May than by getting on a bicycle and pedaling as part of the 21^st annual Bay Area Bike to Work Day on Thursday, May 14? Bike to Work Day gives Bay Area residents the opportunity to try bike commuting, lower their carbon footprint and help reduce traffic congestion. Complete information about Bike to Work Day is available at youcanbikethere.com.

In a new twist this year, Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo have marked their first National Bike Month in office by issuing a challenge to each other and their cities for a "Bike Off" — to see which city's employees and residents can bike more during Bike Month in May. City employees and residents will be able to record their bike trips via the Team Bike Challenge website. See more information below.

Both Mayor Schaaf and Mayor Liccardo hold seats on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) — the presenting sponsor of Bike to Work Day — and are in a position to serve as role models for the entire region. The challenge has been captured in a video message: http://mtc.ca.gov/news/video/btwd15_mayors.htm. Committed to making their cities even more bike-friendly, reducing congestion and helping reduce pollution, Mayors Schaaf and Liccardo have thrown down the proverbial bike glove, and both plan to ride to the office on Bike to Work Day.

Now celebrating its 21^styear, Bike to Work Day has put more people on the road to bicycle commuting than any other event in the Bay Area. Over 400 energizer stations across the nine Bay Area counties will be ready to greet bicycle commuters with free beverages, snacks, giveaways and encouragement. Located along popular local bike commute routes and at many transit stations, energizer stations will be open during morning commute hours and many will reopen for the evening commute. A full list of stations is available at youcanbikethere.com/energizer.

Too far to bike to work? Try combining bicycling and transit. Go to the Bicycling tab at 511.org to learn more about bikes on transit and to plan your bike route with the BikeMapper tool. Register as a participant for Bike to Work Day at youcanbikethere.com/user/register to be automatically entered into a drawing for a new bike from PUBLIC Bikes and a set of wheel lights from Monkeylectric.

Got a Team? Take the Team Bike Challenge!

Because competition can be a great motivator, the Team Bike Challenge and Company Bike Challenge have become essential components of Bike to Work Day. Teams of five — made up of friends, families, coworkers or neighbors — compete for top honors and much-coveted bragging rights by riding hundreds of thousands of miles during May's National Bike Month. In 2014, 1370 teams burned over 35 million calories collectively while reducing automobile-related CO₂emissions by nearly 600,000 pounds. Competition began May 1 and runs through May 31. To register, visit teambikechallenge.com.

2015 Bike Commuter of the Year Winners Announced

Now in its seventh year, the Bike Commuter of the Year award recognizes individuals who inspire bicycling in their communities through their commitment and actions. The 2015 Bike Commuter of the Year award winners are:

Alameda County — Gail Lillian
Contra Costa County — Eric Odell
Marin County — Juliette Busiek
Napa County — Jim Christman
San Francisco City & County — Rheema Colloway
San Mateo County — Nathan Losch
Santa Clara County — Katie Heaney
Solano County — Mac Halsted
Sonoma County — Eric Eisenhart

You can read about all the winners at youcanbikethere.com/2015-bike-commuter-year-winners http://www.youcanbikethere.com/2015-bike-commuter-year-winners. Awards are given out at various county events. Check with your local county to find out more about those events.

Major Bike Month Events

May 1-31 — Team Bike Challenge & Company Bike Challenge competitions
May 11-15 — Bike to Work Week
May 14 — Bike to Work Day
- 5:30–9:30 a.m. — Morning Bike to Work Day Energizer Stations
- 5:30-9:30 a.m. — Bike to Work Day Super Energizer Station, Golden Gate Bridge Vista Point
- 7:00 a.m. — Bike to Work Day Pancake Breakfast, Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
- 7:00 a.m. — Pop up Bikeway Demo, Berkeley City Hall
- 8:30 a.m. — Bike to Work Day Press Conference at San Francisco City Hall
- 4:00-7:00 p.m. — Evening Bike to Work Day Energizer Stations
- 3:00-7:00 p.m. — Walk Oakland Bike Oakland's Bike Happy Hour at the Half Orange, Fruitvale BART, Oakland
- 5:30-8:30 p.m. — Bike East Bay's Bike Happy Hour, 2727 Milvia Street, Berkeley
- 5:30-8:30 p.m. — Bike Concord's Bike to Work Day Celebration, Todos Santos Plaza, Concord
- 6:00-8:00 p.m. — Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition's Bike Away from Work Bash, Roosevelt Community Center, San Jose

A complete calendar of events is available at youcanbikethere.com/calendar

In addition to MTC (the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area), 511 (the region's traveler information system) and Kaiser Permanente, Bike to Work Day 2015 receives regional support from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) district, KPIX5, Clear Channel Outdoor, Canary Foundation Challenge, Bay Area Bike Share, REI and Clif Bar, as well as from many sponsors at the local level. Prizes for Bike Commuter of the Year and Bike to Work Day are donated by Chipotle, Mike's Bikes, PUBLIC Bikes and Monkeylectric. The event is made possible through the cooperation of thousands of volunteers, MTC, county congestion management agencies, local jurisdictions, local bicycling coalitions and the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition.

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SOURCE Metropolitan Transportation Commission