Press Release

For Immediate Release

MTC Honors Bay Area's Team Bike Challenge Winners and Bike Commuters of the Year

Marin County and Santa Clara County Teams Tie for First Place

Contact:
Cole Portocarrero, Bike to Work Day event coordinator, 415.246.8078

OAKLAND, Calif.,June 12, 2007...The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), organizer of Bike to Work Day/Month, hosted an awards luncheon Friday celebrating the winning teams from May’s month-long Team Bike Challenge. Award-winning members included bicyclists from Team PSYCHE of Marin County and Bicycling on Roads and Trails of Santa Clara County, who tied for the top honors. The sponsors also honored the Bike Commuter of the Year from each of the nine Bay Area counties.

The Team Bike Challenge contest encouraged regular bicycle commuters to form teams — made up of their colleagues, friends, neighbors or local officials — to take on biking as a mode of transportation throughout the month of May. Participants earned points each time they biked.

“I found cycling to be more convenient than driving for many trips,” explained MTC Commissioner and Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager, who participated in the Team Bike Challenge. “This contest showed how easy it is to make cycling an everyday means of transportation and inspired me to continue commuting by bicycle.”

A record 237 teams took on the challenge this year, more than double the number that participated last year. The reward? Each of the tied winning teams will receive a bike rack from Peak Racks to be placed in their respective county at a public space of their choosing.

Team members logged points on the Bicycling page at the Bay Area’s traveler information site, 511.org, with the amount of points varying by the type of rider. A novice could earn two points per ride, as could a “Weekend Warrior,” which refers to someone who rides for leisure but doesn’t normally bike to work. “Big Wheels” — such as a CEO or public official — earned three points per ride. Other categories earned a single point for each trip.

The two teams tying for first place across the nine Bay Area counties each logged 333 points during the month-long competition, the maximum possible score. Bicycling on Roads and Trails of Santa Clara County is made up of a group of spunky coworkers — Jeff Hole, Dan Dizon, Christian Suder, Jocelyn Lau and Lennie Garcia — from Cisco Systems in San Jose. Sharing the spotlight is Team PSYCHE of Marin County, comprised of Town of Fairfax Finance Director Ian Roth, Fairfax Town Manager Linda Kelly, Fairfax Planning and Building Director Ann Welsh and town staffer Susan Waters, along with Mayor Larry Bragman. PSYCHE stands for Public Servants Yearning to Curb Hazardous Emissions. Roth, team captain, attributes their success to “constant hounding by me” along with a team blog where he delivered inspirational messages. “Every couple of days I thought up a goofy thing to keep us going,” he said. In addition to their bike rack, team members also received a Timbuk2 messenger bag in recognition of their dedicated time in the saddle in May.

Within each county, the other top-placing teams were Webcor Builders Green Light of Alameda County, We Can Do It! of Contra Costa County, Redwood Retreads of Napa County, Bakers Bike Deux of San Francisco City and County, The Rolling Digmers of San Mateo County, Solano Cycle Slugs of Solano County and Wheels of Fortune of Sonoma County. More information on each of the winning teams can be found on the Bike to Work Day Web site.

The ceremony also was an opportunity to honor a “Bike Commuter of the Year” for each of the nine Bay Area counties, as follows:

• Alameda County: Lisa Lestishock

A pediatric nurse practitioner residing in Oakland, Lestishock averages 30 miles a day during her bike commute.

• Contra Costa County: Robert Haas

Haas has been a regular bike commuter for 19 years. Five days a week, he pedals to and from BART on both ends of his commute from Moraga to El Cerrito.

• Marin County: Kerri Kazala

Kazala lives in Mill Valley and uses her bicycle to pedal over 60 miles to her job in Daly City. 

• Napa County: Joel King

King pedals every day to his job at the county of Napa, where he works as an agricultural biologist. King’s passion for cycling is contagious, as he has encouraged many friends and co-workers to try bicycling as a means of transportation. 

• San Francisco: Marvin Johnson

Rain or shine, Marvin rides his bike to work and back from his Glen Park neighborhood to his job at Beverly Prior Architects in San Francisco. 

• San Mateo: Craig Horak

Horak is an avid bike commuter who pedals 50 miles a day round-trip from Burlingame to his job in Emeryville and has inspired countless family members and friends to use their bicycles for transportation purposes.

• Santa Clara: Jack Miller

Miller has been the ultimate bike commuter for decades. He can be found pedaling from Mountain View to his job in San Jose and back in all kinds of weather.

• Solano: Scott Morrison

Morrison’s dedication to bike commuting started when he signed up in April of 2006 for Solano Napa Commuter Information’s new Commuter Bicycle Incentive Program, which promotes bicycling by helping offset the cost of a new bike for commuting. At first he was only bike-commuting a few days a week, but now he has made it a habit and has logged over 2,500 commute miles, losing 80 pounds over the last year. 

• Sonoma: Christine Byrne

Byrne is a Sebastopol student who pedals her way to high school, her job, her friends’ houses and to errands. She also has started a program at her high school called “eCO2mmute Month” to encourage her cohorts to choose alternative means of getting to school other than by car. In addition, she arranged for local businesses to donate refreshments to congratulate students for choosing the environmentally-friendly commute mode.

More information on these honorees can be found on the Bike to Work Day Web site. MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area, and sponsors the 511 traveler information service.

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