BCC 2011 Preliminary Results

Yay, the data is in, and 2011 was a great year for the Bicycle Commuter Contest!!

• 1452 people registered
• 1101 or (76%) returned mileage logs, our highest return ever, in actual numbers or percentage.
• Those of us who recorded our miles collectively logged 103,046 miles on 13,770 rider-days.
• Average miles per month, per rider: 93.5
• Average days ridden, per rider: 12.5
• 512 participants were new to the BCC this year.
• 646 participants rode their bikes 10 days or more during May

We'll have more numbers soon, and we'll be holding our random drawings for four new bikes and other goodies in the next coupole of days. Wednesday is coupon-envelope-stuffing day, so participants who returned their mileage logs will start seeing their coupons in the mail by late this week.

Urban Cycling Class: this Saturday!

Want to learn how to confidently ride in traffic?

Take the Capitol Bicycling Club’s Urban Cycling class

on Saturday, June 11^th from 9AM – 3PM and learn:

• How to outfit yourself and your bike
• How to navigate intersections and ride comfortably with traffic
• Minor bike up-keeping and flat tire repair

Classes end with an on-bike lesson and group ride through urban downtown practicing all that is learned. Instructors are League of American Bicyclist Certified Instructors. Bike in good working order and helmet required. $35, includes materials. To register or for more information visit www.decidetoride.org 

Questions? Contact: 

Kerry Tarullo Associate Planner

Public Works Transportation
City of Olympia
360.753.8575

You can still return your mileage log- PLEASE DO!!

Many thanks to those of you who have already returned your mileage logs. We'll mail out your reward coupons next week.

The "official" deadline for returning your mileage log was yesterday, but we still want your mileage log! Here's the deal: we'll be holding random drawings for the FOUR new bikes we have to give away- early next week. We are madly entering data from the hundreds of mileage logs already returned, but if you get your mileage log in to us this week, there is still a pretty good chance your name will make it into the "hat" for the bike drawings.

Even if you don't need or want a new bike, there are other random prizes, and lots of great coupons for discounts and free stuff- PLUS:
Returning your mileage log is a very important part of participating in the BCC! 

You may think that just signing up is a good enough way to support the BCC, and it is true that the number of registrants is valuable. But even more valuable is the information you send in with your mileage log, and the verification that you are actually out there riding your bike for transportation. The number of people who participate in the BCC is an indicator of how many practical cyclists are out there on our streets, which is important to know for future infrastructure development. We also want to show our community and the world that practical cycling works! The level of follow-through is also an indicator of whether the BCC is working the way it should be.

 Thanks for taking a little time out of your day to return your BCC Mileage Log!

BCC Mini-Contest # 3: Where is This?

Where is this?

We have a winner! Congratualtions, John has won a super-bright CatEye blinky light!

Can you identify this location? The first registered BCC participant to email me with the correct location of this photo will win a prize!
email dgreen"at"intercitytransit.com

BCC 2011 - Last Day!!

Today is the last day of BCC 2011- where did May go?? We did get some nice May weather in between the showers, but overall it was a cold, wet spring. April was the second coldest on record, and May had double the average rainfall and a mean temperature 7 degrees below avereage. Yet in spite of all that, we've seen great participation in the Bicycle Commuter Contest and lots of practical cyclists out in the streets.

NOW is the time to return your mileage logs!

HOW:

• Drop your mileage log off at the Olympia Transit Center, 222 State Ave NE in downtown Olympia - OR
• mail it to: BCC c/o Intercity Transit PO Box 659 Olympia, WA 98507-0659

WHY:

1. You will receive a lot of valuable coupons form our sponsors for discounts and FREE STUFF!
2. You could win one of FOUR BICYCLES in a drawing (details below) from our sponsors
3. You could win a random prize drawing for a super-bright CatEye blinky light
4. You could win prizes in one of our many prize categories for days and miles
5. You will help us demonstrate the practical cycling is alive and well in Thurston County!

Bicycle prizes for 2011: This year we have the New Belgium Cruiser bike from New Belgium Brewing (on display at Ralph's Thriftway) PLUS a Raliegh commuter bike from the Bike Stand (on display in their window), a Trek commuter bike from Bike Tech (on display in their window) and $300 toward the bike of your choice at Joy Ride Bikes in Lacey. We will hold four electronic random-number-generator drawings on Monday, June 13 from among all BCC participants whose mileage logs we have in our hands at that time.

Don't miss the BCC Award Ceremony on Saturday, June 25, 9:30 am, Oly Farmers Market. Bike drawing and prize category winners announced (need not be present to win), prizes awarded, MORE random prize drawings for those present- tons of fun for the whole family!

Washington State is # 1 Bike Friendly State again!

Check out this  link to read about it.
http://streetsblog.net/2011/05/24/washington-tops-list-of-bike-friendly-states/

New Random Prize Winner!

Congratulations Evan! Evan has won a super-bright, long run-time CatEye rear safety light in one of our random prize drawings among all registered participants in the Bicycle Commuter Contest. Follow our blog to stay informed about random prize drawings and "mini-contests", in which you can win prizes for guessing the location of a photo.

Bicycle Alliance of Washington offers special rate for May

Bicycle Alliance is offering a $5.00 membership this month only – for Bike to Work Month. Go to: http://www.bicyclealliance.org/membership/membershipform.php, and enter the Coupon Code BTW0511.  Instead of being charged $35.00 the system will charge $5.

Bike To Work and School Day a Big Success!

National Bike To Work and School Day 2011 was a great day for practical cycling in Thurston County as area schools and the City of Olympia/BCC Bike Stations reported record participation and the Inter-Agency Bike Ride turned out a great crowd as well. An estimated 900 school kids rode their bikes, boards or scooters to school today in Thurston County, and approximately 275 practical cyclists were counted stopping by or passing the Bike Stations.  The Inter-Agency Ride estimates 90-100 participants representing 10 State Agencies plus Intercity Transit and City of Olympia. Pioneer School led the way among area schools with a record breaking 200  students (50%) biking or scootering to school today. Countless students walked or rode the school bus. Only a dozen or so cars entered the driveway. Go Pioneer!

The weather couldn't have been better, the cyclists turned out in droves, the crews volunteering for the events really pitched in, and event sponsors went the extra mile- thanks everyone!

Bike Station sponsors included: City of Olympia, Intercity Transit, Alpine Experience, The Bike Stand, Bike Tech, REI, Ralph's Thriftway, Batdorf & Bronson Coffee and Olympia Coffee Roasters.
 

Inter-Agency Bike Riders on National Bike-to-Work Day 2011

 Inter-Agency Ride sponsors included: Old Town Bicycles, The Bicycle Alliance of Washington,  Capitol Bicycling Club, The Bicycle Commuter Contest (Intercity Transit) and possibly others that I don't know about!

Find photos by WSDOT photographer here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wsdot/

National Bike to Work (and School) Day TOMORROW!

Ride your bike to work, school or on errands tomorrow and double your miles for the day on your BCC mileage log. Don't miss our Bike Stations from 7 am - 9:30 am at Heritage Park on 5th Ave, Ralph's Thriftway and the Eastside St. trailhead of the Woodland Trail. Details on the Bike Station page (click the link at right). See you there!

Local Schools Participate in National Bike to School Day

News from Intercity Transit: 

Bicycles of every color, and too many to contain, will be spilling out of bike racks at Olympia area schools this week.  Parking lots are likely to be calmer with less vehicle traffic, and students will arrive to South Sound schools with a little more exercise under their belts. 

Correction- Inter-Agency Ride Destination is...

Tumwater HISTORICAL Park, not Tumwater Falls Park, as stated in my latest email blast. See the Inter-Agency Bike Ride Page (right side bar at top of blog) for more details. Sorry!

2011 BCC Rider Profile #5: Alison Fuller

What Alison doesn't mention in her "e-interview" is that she is a highly motivated and inspirational BCC Team Captain at her workplace, recruiting riders, holding in-house drawings, organizing bike rides and demos and rewarding riders. Thanks Alison!

• What is your age?  31
• What is your occupation?  I work for Information Services at L&I
• How many years have you been commuting by bike?  4
• How many times have you participated in the Bicycle Commuter Contest? This year will be the 3^rd time
• How did you hear about the BCC? A friend at work
•  What is it that keeps you going, especially when the going is tough (weather, darkness, inertia, etc)?
  What keeps me going is that I never regret riding in to work. It could be a melee of elements thrown at me in the morning, wind, rain, cold and still when I get to work I feel great. Ok maybe I’m still waking up when I get there, BUT I feel good about myself that’s for sure. So the fact that knowing I feel great by riding is what keeps me going, that and the fact that I already have all the gear for all different seasons, have the bike, I really have no excuse.

Happy Sunny Friday!

First Random Drawing will be held on Monday, May 16- stay tuned!

NEW MINI CONTEST! Can you beat this??

Does your bike reflect even more years of participation in the BCC than this one? The owner of this bike received a spontaneous prize for having so many BCC stickers- can you top that? If you send me a photo of your bike with this year's sticker and at least four other past years' BCC stickers, you could win a prize too!

BCC Mini-Contest #2: Where is this?

Bike of the Week(!?)

Can you guess where this is? The first person to email dgreen"at"intercitytransit.com with the correct answer will win a prize!!! (you will have to pick up your prize at the Olympia Transit Center) The prize could be a bike light or a grocery bag pannier... good luck!
We have a winner! Congrats Irina!
The location is the new Olympia City Hall.
BUT, who knows the story of the tiny yellow bikes around town?

FOUND ITEMS (left at Wrenchers Ball)

After the Wrenchers Ball dust had settled, we found that two items had been left behind: a coily combination lock and a clip-on type rear fender. If one or both of these items belong to you, please email me at dgreen"at"intercitytransit.com and describe your item and I will get it back to you pronto!

2011 BCC Commuter Profile #4: Tyler Greathouse

Tyler rides for the "Wheels of Industry" team, with Captain Extraordinaire, Alison Fuller!

·         What is your age?

I’m 34.

·         What is your occupation?

State Worker.

·         How many years have you been commuting by bike?

I’ve been commuting, on and off, for roughly 4 years.  My bike usually hibernates during the winter.

·         How many times have you participated in the Bicycle Commuter Contest?

This will be my 2nd year, and I’m really excited!  The contest is a great motivator! Thank you Intercity Transit for organizing this event.

IMPORTANT Regarding mailed-in registrations

The 2011 BCC is off to a great start! We have well over 1000 registrations in our files already, with several large teams still to submit their lists. Now it's time to ride and record your miles!

IF YOU MAILED IN YOUR REGISTRATION and have not received your Mileage Log, coupons and sticker in the mail, please e-mail dgreen"at"intercitytransit.com and let us know you need your materials.

You can download a PDF version of the Mileage Log, but I would like to know if you did not receive yours, and I will need to send you your coupons and sticker.

Thanks so much for participating in the Bicycle Commuter Contest!

First Mini Contest! Guess this place!

We Have a winner! The location is Sherman St NW and Garfield Ave. Congrats Paul! Next mini-contest coming soon...
The first currently registered BCC 2011 participant to email me at dgreen"at"intercitytransit.com with the correct location of this photo (street/cross-street) will win their choice of a front or rear LED bike light!
Good luck!