Riding near and far in the Bike Commute Challenge
Staff members Anne Lee, Breesa Culver, and Nickey Robare participating in the Bike Commute Challenge.
Every year the Bicycle Transportation Alliance’s Bike Commute Challenge (BCC) encourages thousands of Oregonians to bike to work. Most of our staff already bikes to work on a daily basis, but the BCC gives us the extra push to encourage everyone on staff to bike commute everyday.
This year, 24 staff members participated, riding a total of 425.5 trips. All that added up to 2867.2 miles pedaled, representing a whopping 91.1% commute rate! We’re very proud of all the committed cyclists on staff. 14 participants had a perfect 100% commute rate.
Our team captain, Adult Program Manager Zan Gibbs, put out some extra competitions to staff to encourage more cycling. The challenges she presented were most miles ridden with a 100% commute rate, least miles ridden with a 100% commute rate, the commute on the heaviest bicycle, and the first person to ride up Mt. Tabor during their commute. The highest mileage award goes to our Deputy Director Anne Lee, with a total of 340 miles – that makes up 11.8% of our total miles for the month! A close second goes to Mechanic Forrest Scott, who rode 318 miles (that’s another 11%). The award for least miles went to Social Media Specialist Nickey Robare, who rode a mere 14.4 miles all month (she lives one block from the office).
We always end the BCC ranking in the top five for our category, Business or Nonprofits, 25-99 employees. This year brought us a special challenge of competing in a league with the BTA to determine, once and for all, who is Portland’s Best Bike Nonprofit. In the end, the BTA had a slightly higher commute rate at 92.3% and rode more miles, but we completed more trips overall. So, we both won, and we’re both the best.
If you competed in the BCC and logged at least seven trips, don’t forget our special discount at the shop. Just print out your trip log and bring it in to receive 10% off new and used parts and accessories until October 31st. You can also join us at the awards party this Thursday, October 6th from 5:30-7:30pm at the Memorial Coliseum. Community Cycling Center staff members James, Brian, Laura, Kim, Forrest and Gram will be there to help pass out free pizza and beer.
The Bike Commute Challenge is a friendly competition, with glory and awards going to those who ride the most. However, we think everyone who signs up is a winner – because we all get to experience the joy of commuting by bike.