Bike to Work Day 2009: Health Benefits of Biking to Work

The first Bike to Work Day was started by the League of American Bicyclists in 1956 as part of National Bike Month. Since its creation, Bike to Work Day has been used to promote the use of bicycles as an alternative form of commuting to and from our workplaces on a daily basis. Most people who work out of the home live near enough to their place of employment for cycling to be a valid mode of transportation, but only a small portion of people choose to ride bicycles instead of driving cars.

National Bike to Work Week 2009 is May 11th through May 15th, with Friday, May 15th being National Bike to Work Day. For many cities National Bike to Work Day is full of special events associated with bicycling. Some of the special activities vary from "fueling-up" stations to safety briefings! Cities also use Bike-to-Work Week as a jumping off point to make people aware of biking trails and routes through their city and to inform the populace of not only the environmental benefits that will be realized when more people cycle, but also the health and economic benefits each individual rider will receive on a daily basis.

BikeLeague.org has a list, organized by state, of community events that have been submitted to their web-site. If you community is not listed, it would be a good idea to call your local paper and see if any events are on the community calendar for Bike-to-Work Day or Bike to Work Week.

If there are no events scheduled, BikeLeague.org hasalso created a handy PDF guide to helping your village, town, or city make the most of Bike to Work Day. If your town has not already begun preparations for 2009, it is not likely that your community will have a large-scale celebration, but the guide will come in handy in planning for 2010, so hop on the bicycle seat and start pedaling for next year's event!

Sources:

"National Bike Month Guide." May Is National Bike Month. League of American Bicyclists. 2009.