BIKE TO WORK DAY
Thursday, May 17
HAVE MORE FUN ON YOUR COMMUTE!
Thursday, May 17 marks the San Francisco Bay Area’s 13th annual Bike to Work Day, a celebration 
presented by 511.org and Webcor Builders that promotes bicycling as a healthy, fun, and viable form of transportation. During May, which is National Bike Month, we are honoring every kind of bicyclist out there, from new or leisure cyclists to bicycle hot-shots.
Here are MCBC’s Marin events to get people excited about riding their bikes and to inform riders about bicycling’s benefits for personal health, traffic reduction, and our environment.
Fourteen energizer stations will be set up in Marin to cheer our local participants. On the morning of Bike to Work Day, 
Energizer Stations—many hosted by local businesses—will be located along bike-commute routes in Marin to provide free snacks, giveaways and encouragement. In the afternoon from 4 to 6 p.m. at Paradigm Cycles in San Anselmo, bicyclists are invited to celebrate the day with refreshments. During that gathering we will congratulate our Bike Commuter of the Year, who will receive a variety of goodies from MCBC.
Dance to live music while you support MCBC at the Bike to Work Day Dance Party at the 19 Broadway Nite Club on Thursday, April 26. For $10, enjoy free food and good company, and learn about Bike to Work Day in the Tiki Room at 7:30 PM. Live music and dancing will start at 9 PM. A portion of the no-host bar proceeds will be donated to MCBC.
Watch a FREE screening of The Triplets of Bellville at the Film Night in Olney Hall at College of Marin on Thursday, May 3. Learn about Bike to Work Day, global warming solutions, and the impact of our transportation choices. Win prizes. Doors open at 6:30 PM; fun skit and film starts at 7 PM. Co-hosted by MCBC, the College of Marin Cinema League, COM Students for Social Responsibility, REI-Corte Madera, and Next Generation.
From April 1 to May 16, get a 10-minute bicycle safety check during the Bike Safety Checkup Offer at a participating Marin bike shop. For $10, your bike can have a mini checkup to be ready for Bike to Work Day: tire inflation, chain lubrication, bike-safety assessment and recommendations. Call for an appointment at one of the participating bike shops.
Take advantage of our Bike Education Workshops and Basic Street Skills class being taught in April and May to help cyclists prepare for National Bike Month. The classes are being offered by MCBC and will be taught by MCBC instructor Frances Barbour.
Kerri Kazala has been selected as the Marin Bike Commuter of the Year. Kerri lives in Mill Valley and uses her bicycle to pedal over sixty miles to her job in Daly City! Kerri works for Spinal Diagnostics, a state-of-the-art diagnosis and treatment center for patients with spine disorders. Her love for cycling and passion for her patients has also led Kerri to become manager of Team Spine the amateur yet successful road racing team sponsored by her employer. As Kerri’s good friend Chrystal Predeek put it, “Kerri is fit, fabulous, and making the world a better place with her no-pollute commute!”
Kerri will be awarded with a plaque and several gifts from MCBC. She will also be featured in the summer Pedal Press newsletter.
Due to its success last year, Bike to Work Day organizers are continuing the “Team Bike Challenge,” in which teams compete to see who can travel the most days by bicycle during May. Teams of two to five individuals can register at 511.org. The team with the most points wins a grand prize. Last year, the winning Marin team – from the County of Marin – was only 1 point behind the regional winner!
Need some inspiration to try biking to work? Check out the recent article by MCBC member Pam MacLean - click here.
According to Census data, approximately 36,000 Bay Area residents use a bicycle as their primary means of getting to work each day — a number that Bike to Work Day organizers expect to climb as high as 100,000 on May 17.
MCBC Executive Director Kim Baenisch says, “There are thousands of people throughout Marin County who can easily ride a bike to get where they need to go. We hope Bike to Work Day will inspire many of them to dust off their bikes and explore our extensive network of bike routes and paths to ride to work, transit, shopping, errands, or just for fun.”
Bike to Work Day 2007 promotions are being organized by the Bay Area Bicycle Coalition, county congestion management agencies, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and hundreds of local volunteers. For more information, visit www.511.org or call 511 and say “bicycling”. Get your bike tuned up now, and get ready to shift gears!
Cyclists who fill out an official Bike to Work Day 2007 registration form will be eligible to win the grand prize donated by event sponsors. Online registration is available at the www.511.org web site.
