Seven Ways to Plan a Bike to Work Event in Seven Days

Talk to Your Building’s Management and Your Colleagues: You don’t need permission to ride to work but it’s always smart to know where you can safely secure your bikes - or whether they can be brought inside your workplace.

Take the Pledge on BikeWalkCT’s Bike to Work Day page: Visit bikewalkct.org and take the pledge. Last year, 687 individuals from 176 Connecticut employers pledged to bike to work. We’re sure more actually took part, but let’s have this be the year those official figures are blown out of the water. And remember: You have to take the pledge to be entered in Bike Walk CT’s prize drawing! (Patagonia jackets look good on everyone.)

Plan the Time and Place: Figure out where and when to meet your colleagues – not just at your workplace but if you’re coming from similar directions you can make arrangements to ride together. And if your city or town is having a public Bike to Work Day event – visit bikewalkct.org to find an event near you—be sure to stop by and meet other cyclists!

Make It Fun: At your workplace, the sky is the limit here. You can invite speakers, give an award on who’s gone the most miles - or evenfigure out who saved the most gas money by riding to work: as April was spilling into May, the average price of a gallon of gas in Connecticut was $3.90 and climbing, so you don’t need to ride far to see some real savings!

Get your Bikes Ready: Our dreadful winter is over, and now is the time to travel with a vehicle that never needs an ice scraper. Be sure your bike is in good working order and visit the Bike to Workpage atbikewalkct.org for helpful tips on riding to work. If you don’t have a bike or think the one you have needs work, visit your local bike shop.

The Day Before Bike to Work Day Remind everyone to take their bikes the next day (May 16th) and go over any last-minute questions. If you’re having a party or breakfast on arrival, be sure to know who’s bringing what, and if you’re stopping at your nearest Bike to Work Day event, make sure everyone knows where to go.

Post about it on social media and talk about it everyday and everywhere! Cycling needs to take a bigger role in the day-to-day travel of Connecticut’s residents, and biking to work doesn’t occur to nearly as many people as it should. Now is the time to inspire, to share, and, more than ever, to ride. 

See you at Bike to Work Day 2014!

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