Every year the Bike Commute Challenge introduces first-time bike commuters to the fun, health, safety, and environmental benefits of commuting by bike. In 2008 nearly 10,700 individual participants from more than 1,000 businesses logged over one million miles of bike commutes. This year we expect even larger numbers, with thousand of individuals trying bike commuting for the first time.
Bike commuters get to have fun and eat cookies.
With the support of Metro’s Drive Less Save More campaign, BTA staff will present dozens of Bike Commuting 101 Workshops at workplaces throughout the Metro area. Individuals, organizations or businesses interested in signing up for a free workshop can schedule one by contacting Stephanie Noll at 503-226-0676 x23 or stephanie@bta4bikes.org. Many workshops are open to the public.
Don’t forget to submit your best bike commuting photos for the “BCC Photo of the Day” blog every day during the month of September.
I am interested in obtaining a few more Bike to work posters for our office. Is it possible to have them sent over? Say 3? I am team captain for Lifewise Health Plan.
Thank you,
Dawn Hess
I think how the winner of the Bike Commute Challenge is calculated is flawed. They take no account for mileage. A bicyclist that rides 30 miles a day is helping the environment way more than someone who rides 2 miles a day. Why is this not taken into account? Mileage should be a key factor.
Jim Castor
Not sure that I agree that “a bicyclist who rides 30 miles a day is helping the environment way more than someone who rides 2 miles a day.” A person who chooses to live close to work can, as a result, use many resources more efficiently and can have a more compact “environmental footprint.” Ideally, from an environmental perspective, we would all have a short commute. Those who choose to live close to work should not be penalized for that decision.
Sometimes it is not economically feasible to live close to work. Or maybe the school disctrict local to the work place leaves something to be desired. Just because someone lives far enough away to have a 30 mile round trip commute (I do) doesn’t mean we’re not being environmentally conscious.
Both valid points from Jim & Steve, but I don’t think you can assume everyone is fortunate enough to be able to choose how close they live to their place of work.
So I have to side with Jim on this, if you’re not able to live in the most ideal location, but you still want to make a huge effort to make a difference – then hell yeah, you deserve more credit.
You have to look at what the purpose of the challenge is… to encourage people to choose and try bike commuting with regularity. If you want to have a side challenge for those serious riders who put in the major miles, I say that would be a good idea. Don’t try to pollute the purpose of the commute challenge by turning it into some sort of a bike race, that will discourage participation.
I think the calculation (http://bikecommutechallenge.com/how_does_it_work#math) is correct. I live one mile from work, and my participation in the Challenge is going to be high. I shouldn’t be penalized because I don’t have very far to go.
A bicyclist who rides 30 miles a day is not helping the environment very much if the rest of his or her coworkers are driving.
That’s why workplace participation is so important.
I agree that participation is the key. We do have side challenges here at DEQ. We recognize and reward the longest commute, the most days biked, etc. Most of us who ride on a regular basis are going to do so regardless of the Challenge. Our goal is to get new butts on bikes. Yeah!
I get the point about participation and I agree. BUT it is a lot harder for someone who faces a 15 mile trek between cities than someone a mile or two away in town. Not to mention the lack of bike paths even makes it more challenging for someone get out there and ride. I just think that miles ridden should be part of the formula as well as participation.
I agree with everyone, but refuse to give credibility for the subject. WHO CARES! RIDE! Enjoy yourself. This is another example of “we need ribbons 20 people deep so no one feels left out”. IMO everyone here is a winner, so who cares how things are calulated, awarded, etc?
When we start looking at what about me(s), we lose the whole picture’s goal, and that is to make a difference for the enviornemnt, for US, for our kids, etc, because there are too many people our there that don’t give a rip!
The BCC counts one-way and part-way bike trips, so anyone can participate no matter how long the commute. You can combine biking with transit, driving, or walking and it still counts. The goal is to fit bike commuting into your schedule in whatever way works for you.
It’s great for individual workplaces to recognize folks who bike longer commutes, too.
I’m hoping that the work/bike commute is about sustainability. I have to be at work at 5am. I have a short commute to the MAX and then a 23 mile return. I’m looking at 30 miles a day, 5 days a week. Frankly, this is going to be a challenge for me.
If I’m just looking at time, bike commuting is going to add about 2 hours to my already busy day.
I enjoy the ride. Evidently, I prefer the choice of riding rather than the economic necessity of being required to ride.
Bike commuting shoud be fun and easy. It’s not a competition. It should be about the health and social benefit. Kudo’s to anyone who just rides to get there and avoids a trip by car. The distance is irrelevant.
My workplace has a Smart Commuter Program with three components: Transit, Carpool/Vanpool, and Bike/Freewheel/Walk. Many benefits are provided to all participants, but the Bike/Freehweel/Walk participants get extra recognition at the end of the fiscal year. We give certificates and awards to our top ten commuters who bike, freewheel, or walk to work. The awards are given for both total mileage and total days commuted by biking, walking, skateboarding, etc. I think there should be two rewards one for mileage and one for the most days! Both the long mileage commuter and short mileage commuter are putting in the effort! I live 4.6 miles from home and rode in today for the first time ever after being the ETC for my workplace for years. It was exhilarating!
It seems that the Bike Challenge website is frozen or messed up can someone fix this…I’ve tried for a couple of days to log in and post my rides and am about to bag it and just ride…
Nick– this happens every year with the website, because so many thousands of people are trying to log their rides all at the same time.
I find that if I try to log my rides at the beginning of the work day, or at the very end, the site freezes or crashes or is unavailable. If I go in to log my rides at any other time of day, I have much fewer problems.
New problems this year: I keep getting a “bad gateway” error. I refresh the page and the page loads just fine. Weird.
Anyway: My commute is 5 miles by car but I make it 7 by bike just because I can. When I set up my commute mileage, should I be using 10 miles round trip or 14? My normal drive isn’t 14 miles, and isn’t that the point of the challenge? But I want more credit for the mileage I actually do, so… Semantics, I guess.
Vanessa: Right on!!
Thanks for the patience with the site. I think our web folks have got everything reconfigured and running smoothly now.
While we award team winners based on participation rates, we do recognize our longest distance commuter each year with the Brian Reynolds award, and also track mileage for each individual, team, and the program overall. Kudos to those individuals with long mileage bike commutes!