I wanted to share Unique Holidays: April 2022: National Bike Week – third week. Did you know its National Bike Week? I didn’t until I was online this morning. Which stinks because Charlie has his bike and can go bike riding, but my bike is in storage, and I can’t ride my bike. Are you lucky and have a bike you can ride?
National Bike Week – third week
Pedal your way to healthy living and safer transportation this week during Bike to Work Week. This holiday is observed each year in the week of Bike to Workday, falling on the third Friday of May. Which runs from May 16th to May 22nd this year. Held as a celebration of biking to work, this week is a part of National Bike Month and includes a whole host of bike-related activities sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists, which are held from coast to coast across the U.S.
HISTORY OF BIKE TO WORK WEEK
Celebrating the bike is not an exclusively American concept; bike weeks are even held globally! A yearly international event, Bike Week usually falls on different dates depending on the Country. The U.K. has been running this week for more than 90 years now, which has even gained popularity in Asia, America, and Europe.
Created by the American League of Bicyclists, Bike Week in the U.S. falls in Bike Month. This organization is usually responsible for creating a buzz around this event each year Alongside other local bicycle organizations. Some U.S. States that show frequent participation in this event include Austin, Boston, Pasadena, Portland, Roseville, Santa Barbara, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, and Washington.
A survey conducted 12 years ago shows how commuting to work via bikes increased in popularity. Cities like New York with 22,000 bicycle commuters, Los Angeles with 17,345 bicycle commuters, and Portland with 16,846 bicycle commuters topped the list of people biking to work on a regular basis. Another survey from 13 years ago listed biking as the primary means of traveling to work for 0.55% of the American population.
BIKE TO WORK WEEK ACTIVITIES
- What is the best way to celebrate a week revolving around biking? Bike ride everywhere, of course! Where should you bike? To work, to the grocery store, with family, and if you’re stuck at home, bike to exercise in your local park.
- Contribute to a national movement. Log your miles and challenge yourself to go further and faster. Be a part of the movement for safer streets and a bike-connected community. Encourage others to join in on this challenge, too.
- Share your enthusiasm for bikes and biking with others and encourage them to join you on your bike rides. You can even connect with biking groups, clubs, local bike shops, and organizations that support biking and join a community if bikers.
5 FACTS ABOUT BIKING
- After driving just, a kilometer, a car releases 271 g of CO2 and a bus releases 101 g, but a bicycle release just 16 g of CO2, which is calculated on the fuel of the rider their food.
- “Bicycling” magazine says more than half of all Americans live only around 5–10 miles from work, making bicycling fun and an efficient way to get around.
- There are approximately 38,000 miles of bike paths and trails across America.
- Cars cost about $30,000 on average, but the average cost of a new bike is only $385.
- A study showed that replacing one car trip per day with a bike trip can reduce carbon emissions by 67%.
WHY PEOPLE LOVE BIKE TO WORK WEEK
- Biking not only makes your heart work harder and beat faster but biking also ensures you work up a good sweat. You are more active, energized, and healthier when biking.
- Bikes rarely, if ever, cause fatal accidents, unlike automobiles. Choosing to bike to places entices others to adopt this habit, too. You would be a local biking ambassador, showing others how bikes make life safer and healthier.
- Whether you are alone with the wind in your hair or you are pedaling down the streets with your bike group, getting on the bike is loads of fun, especially when biking takes you back to your childhood days.
Thank you,
Glenda. Charlie and David Cates
