Bike Month Commuter Challenge - What Are You Waiting For?
Okay, so here’s the deal: There has never been a better time to hop on your bike and try out bike commuting. It’s Bike Month in Tacoma, so there are plenty of other bike commuters out there, the weather forecast for the next week is gorgeous, and you could win wonderful prizes.
The 2012 Bike Month Commuter Challenge, sponsored by REI lasts the whole month: May 1st -31st
The month long Bike Commuter Challenge is back again with plenty of opportunities to get out and ride! Sign up as a team or individual to participate. Log at least five trips during the month of May and be entered to win great prizes including a $200 REI gift certificate, bike tune-ups, light sets and team pizza parties. A $100 REI
gift certificate will be awarded to the man, woman, and college student who logged the most cycling miles in the month of May. Your college, university, or place of employment must be located in Pierce County in order to participate. Visit www.piercetrips.com for more information and to log your trips.
So what’s stopping you? Maybe you’ve never fixed a flat, and you’re a little freaked out? We’ve got you covered: there are several bicycle maintenance workshops to help you learn the basics of caring for your bike. Maybe you’re embarrassed to admit it, but you don’t feel you have a full grasp of the rules of the road (or would just like a little brush-up if it’s been a while) – bicycling basics workshops have you covered with a “no question too basic” attitude. Maybe you’ve just never bike commuted, and have specific questions? Try the Smart Commuting workshop. Need more incentive than the pure joy of the wind in your hair (through your helmet of course) and the calories you’ll burn? How about the Zeitbike Letterpress Ride/Seek?
Information on all these workshops and more, including your sign up for the Commuter Challenge, are available from www.piercetrips.com
Five trips in the next three weeks isn’t that many, but you’ll want to get started soon to take advantage of the sunshine while it lasts. And don’t forget to challenge your co-workers/classmates to ride to work as well. Think of it as a team-building opportunity.
More information at PierceTrips.com
Filed under: biking-tacoma, Get-Involved
12 comments
T Thorax O'Tool May 9, 2012
I’m waiting for the Murray Morgan bridge to open. I work in the port, and I’m stuck waiting until then. I see people bike SR 509, but I’m not doing that. I DON’T WANT TO DIE. People drive like crazy on that freeway.
F fredo May 9, 2012
Do these bicycling commuters take a shower after they ride in or do they just plop down in their cubicles drenched in sweat?
D David Boe May 9, 2012
#2 Fred/Fredo/TreeGuy – it all depends on where you live and where you work. My trip into work in Downtown-T is primarily downhill in the morning – and thus I am greatly refreshed but not at all ‘shiny’ (besides, if you belong to the Y – you can always pop-in for a clean-up before a meeting). Now the ride home is the opposite – and I find it to be a perfect tonic after a stressful day (need more hill!). Try it – you might just like it (and save money and get some exercise at the same time – I won’t mention helping the planet as well because that would not be a Fredo-compliant incentive).
F fredo May 9, 2012
My question was more general in nature and I didn’t mean to hurt anyones feelings.
Obviously, the vast majority of commuters who this program is reaching out to don’t work next door to the YMCA. How are you going to get people riding their bikes to work if there isn’t a shower nearby?
D David Boe May 10, 2012
Fred/Fredo/TreeGuy – ya just figure it out. I am 12 blocks from the Y – heck, just about anywhere downtown is 12 blocks from the Y. Lots of folks drive to the Y early in the morning to work-out and shower – well, they might try biking to the Y and shower – and then use the Downtown Bike Locker so their ride is secure and under cover. You might just find that you see the glass as half-full rather than empty when you get out of the physical confinment of a single-occupancy vehicle (and I bet you could walk next door and Tacoma Bike might just be talked into giving you a loaner so you can give it a try).
M Matt in Tacoma May 10, 2012
Let’s not forget that Tacoma was a cycling town over 100 years ago. The topography and the road hazards and the bikes haven’t changed much since then, only perceptions.
@TO’T – You could take Dock Street to D Street, then Lincoln Ave Bridge, etc. I used this ‘scenic’ route through the port to get to FWay and it’s not bad. Fat tires and caution for the RR tracks recommended!
@Fredo – If you shower before you leave and don’t ride too hard, most odor issues are avoided.
Ride On, Tacoma! Ride On!
A AreteTacoma May 10, 2012
There is definitely a need for more bike friendly routes to the Mall area where I work in a nearby office. There is not a single bike safe route through the Nalley Valley from the North End. It doesn’t stop me from using Cedar/Pine, but I bike fast and start early when traffic is light. Since the Mall is our second biggest buisness area as well as a regional center according to PSRC, it neess to get some attention if the city is truely serious about bike commuting. The lack of lockers and showers at my work is a problem, but I bring a change of clothes and no one has complained yet.
F fredo May 10, 2012
I think it’s fine when coworkers or clients have bad body odor from commuting on bikes. It makes it easier to imagine that I’m some exotic third world country.:)
C Chalky White May 10, 2012
You don’t need to go third world to experience body odor. It is common in most first world countries. Ever visited France, Belgium, Spain or Italy? Or Hempfest?
C Christine May 10, 2012
I work with a guy who gets terrible BO. I wish it was from biking, its just from being unhygenic.
R rainlover May 10, 2012
I don’t use my bike to commute but use it for almost all my errands around town. Most stops are less than 5 miles from home and as long as my purchases aren’t very heavy or extra bulky it works great for me :) I would love for the challenge to include a category for bike rides that are not job related. I agree about the mall area needing some good bike routes, it’s scary over there.
J JJ May 11, 2012
I also agree with AreteTacoma with the Mall area needing friendlier bike lanes.One has to carefully plan a route to get somewhere because of densified traffic which can be very dangerous.I tend to ride slowly here (under 10 mph).Many times I use the sidewalks unfortunately because some streets are too dangerous with speeding cars or higher speed traffic.I do however avoid going in the specified designated business districts as riding a bicycle on sidewalks there is not legal according to municipal codes.It’s good to keep a map of the designated business districts handy on rides in case one is wrongly accused of riding on a permitted sidewalk.
I know of someone whom got a ticket when in fact he was in the right (wasn’t riding on a sidewalk in a prohibited designated business district) rather he used a permitted sidewalk in a non designated area..