Bike To Work Day

In my fair city, today is Bike To Work Day. I like the concept, but am trying to push it harder and farther.

For the second (2nd) year in a row I’m conducting a Bike 2 Work Contest. This event, like last year, is co-sponsored by that crazy MinusCar fellow. And like last year, we are each tossing in hundreds of dollars for prize money.

The upshot of the contest is rollers fill out an entry form complete with their body weight (weighed in person by me). The contest starts on Bike To Work Day and ends in the middle of October. Participants keep a log of the days they’ve biked to work. They get a sign-off to keep them honest on a weekly basis.

At the end of the contest we reconvene. I take their weight again. The number of days they biked to work coupled with the number of pounds they’ve lost, multiplied by a mystery factor, gives an individual a score.

Last year we were able to give $600 for first, $400 for second, and $200 for third. This year the top three will again get cash. I’m thinking the amounts will be somewhat lower. In addition we’ll be giving prizes as rewards for effort. These have yet to be finalized and will remain a mystery until the last day. The concept is for participants to put forth some effort in the hopes they’ll bring home a nice reward for their efforts.

This year I’d mailed all the info to all the radio, TV, and our local newspaper to try to get a “media” division going. While general public types have zero for an entry fee, media types needed to come up with $100 each. The media types would be playing for a local charity. If a particular media type won their division, their charity would get 100% of the entry fees as a nice donation. I’ve not been contacted by any media types regarding this. Therefore my expectation for this division is zero participation.

While I know of at least a few people who work for the local newspaper, like this dude, that are avid bikers and bike commuters, the TV and radio types seemingly are not up to the challenge.

Next week I’ll have numbers. I’ll let you know how many of each division are participating. Rumour has it our new mayor will be attending Bike To Work Day. I handed him an entry form back when he was a candidate. I wonder if this will be a one day thing for him or a great way to lead by example.


Ride On.