Search title image

TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

July/August 2007

Photo Album:
Participants in Bike to Work Day 2007 and Team Bike Challenge
Take to the Roads En Masse

Bike to Work Day hit a milestone in 2007 when, for the first time since the event began 13 years ago, participation topped the 100,000 mark. Cyclists across the Bay Area took to the streets on May 17 for a zero emission, healthy commute. Thousands of volunteers assisted event organizers MTC and the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition by staffing 190 “energizer stations,” where cyclists could refuel with free food and liquids, pick up special tote bags and get encouragement.

“On a normal workday, some 36,000 Bay Area residents bike to work,” said Susan Heinrich, MTC’s coordinator for the regionwide event. “We tripled that figure on Bike to Work Day this year.”

Some riders didn’t wait for May 17 to pedal in to work, nor did they stop afterward. A record 237 teams and 1,059 contestants — more than double the number that participated last year — took part in the month-long Team Bike Challenge. The contest encouraged commuters to form bicycle teams (of up to five people) made up of their colleagues, friends, neighbors or local officials. Participants earned points for their team each time they biked for transportation purposes during the month of May, with novices and “Big Wheels” (company CEOs, elected officials and the like) scoring extra points.

Two teams tied for first place, each logging 333 points, the maximum possible score. Winning team “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, attributed 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. Each of the tied winning teams will receive a bike rack to place at a public space of their choosing.
— Karin Betts

Photographers captured scenes of Bike to Work Day in Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, San Jose and Walnut Creek, where they found scores of enthusiastic riders buoyed by clear weather and energizer stations handing out free snacks and giveaways. For some intrepid commuters, Bike to Work Day marked the midpoint of a month-long contest to see who could make the most trips on two wheels instead of four. The tied winning teams are pictured in the bottom row: To the left is Santa Clara County’s Bicycling on Roads and Trails, while on the right is Marin County’s Team PSYCHE.
(Photos by Noah Berger, Peter Beeler, Sean Co, Susan Heinrich)

Click to enlarge in a new window:

Contents