Bike To Work Day

Bike-to-Work Day promotes the bicycle as an alternative means of transportation. Organized nationally by League of American Bicyclists for one weekday in May and supported by the Congressional Bike Caucus, it is part of May Bike Month. The City of Albuquerque is sponsoring Albuquerque’s 4th Annual Bike to Work Day on Tuesday, May 16th.

Studies indicate that if people try bicycle commuting once, some of them will try it again, so the promotion aims to encourage them to give it a try. There will be four sites of organized celebration with a drawing for prizes based on the Bike To Work Day Pledge cards. The message to commuters is that bicycling is good exercise, good for the environment, a good way to save money, and a great way to avoid traffic congestion and construction on the Big-I.

For the afternoon commute (4:30 to 6:00 p.m.), Nob Hill merchants will be offering snacks and coupons to bicycle commuters along Central Avenue at the Triangle Park at Girard and Central. The biggest celebration will be in Downtown Albuquerque, on Civic Plaza, starting at 7:00 a.m. and running until 2 p.m. A pancake breakfast with Mayor Jim Baca is being organized for 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. for everyone arriving by bicycle.

There will be other snack foods, entertainment and booths on the plaza, including the Ski Systems BMX trick team at lunch, the band Anna Wolf and the Hounds of Carlisle (featuring Albuquerque cyclist and bike shop owner Greg Overman), and an antique bicycle show. There will be information about all manner of cycling in and around Albuquerque, including information about bicycle parking racks and other bicycle accessories.

Bike To Work Day is again promoting Effective Cycling, a class organized by the League of American Bicyclists, to teach cyclists how to ride safely in traffic. There are classes scheduled for May 20th, June 17th and July 22nd.

If you are interested in bicycle commuting training at your worksite, perhaps during a lunch hour, call Chuck Malagodi at 768-BIKE and he can arrange to have a speaker come to your work site and talk for 20-40 minutes about the essentials of Effective Cycling.

Further details can be found on the Web site for GASP!, the Greater Albuquerque Spokes People, Bicycle Transportation Advocates .

Gail Ryba can be reached at , and Chuck Malagodi can be reached .

Register for prizes in the Bike To Work Day Pledge card drawing, or pick up a pledge card at area bicycle shops.

On a related note, the Albuquerque Comprehensive Bicycle Plan is going through the review and adoption process. It will be reviewed by the Environmental Planning Commission on April 27th. See the GASP Web site for details.