Rider Profile #2

Meet Gene!

Age: 40-50

Occupation: Test Lab Manager

Years of Bike Commuting: 1.5 yrs on the Oly to Dupont commute plus I commuted by bike to class when I was in college, 1976-1980, a few miles round trip most days

Current Average Commute Trip: 23 or 36 miles round trip. My commute frequently combines bike and vanpool.

Q. What got you started bike commuting? I have ridden for years, racing bikes in college then continuing to ride for fun and fitness. Leaving the car at home was the right thing to do. I was already hauling my bike to work a few days a week to ride at noon so it made sense to get more out of the time I spent riding each day. My wife and best friend, Karin, strongly encouraged me to ride to work. Once Pacific Hwy construction over the railroad was completed I had no excuse not to ride.

Q.What keeps you pedaling? I always enjoy riding. It never feels like a chore. There are few things more fun than the bike, but cycling is something I can do almost every day. It keeps me healthy and satisfies my “need for speed”.

Q. Is the route you chose the safest, fastest, most fun, or the only route available? Safest and fastest. Some days after work I hang the bike on an Intercity Transit Van in Dupont. I take the van to Sleater-Kinney where I get on the bike for a quick 5 mile ride to the house via the Chehalis-Western Trail.

Q. What style of bike do you ride on your commutes? 1992 GT Karakoram MTB frame with an outrageous paint job for visibility and theft deterrence, high pressure road tires for speed, full fenders with extensions and mudflaps for a dry ride on wet days, clipless pedals, cyclocross shoes for easy walking, a rear rack and pannier for cargo, an HID headlight, flashing tail lights, a bell and a compass.

Q. How long have you been a BCC participant? First time was last year. I won the “most miles for a first time participant” award.

Rider Profile #1

Meet Elaine! (see bike in background!)

Age: 25-35

Occupation: Webmaster, TwinStar Credit Union

Years of Bike Commuting: 3


Current Average Commute Trip: 11 miles

Q. What got you started bike commuting? I started bike commuting for the exercise and to be able to enjoy the nice weather (I've never been much of a driver.)

Q.What keeps you pedaling? I keep at it because it's the easiest way for me to get exercise; it's a quicker commute than the bus; I get time to think and enjoy the weather on nice days; and it's a huge boost to my overall mental health. Once I get into the rhythm of it, then it's just part of my routine. Plus, it's fun to ride the really short distances to go out to lunch.

Q. Is the route you chose the safest, fastest, most fun, or the only route available?
I picked my current route for a combination of reasons--it's reasonably safe, because the Boulevard stretch is all bike lane and the rest is low-traffic; I find Yelm Highway, which is more direct, too intimidating with the heavy traffic and really dirty bike lane; it's one of the less hilly routes so I'm not totally exhausted when I'm done, and that stretch through the side streets is a lot of fun to ride. Once the Woodland Trail is further along, though, I'll probably switch to that and the Chehalis-Western trail, because the Chehalis-Western is one of my very favorite places to ride.

Q. What style of bike do you ride on your commutes? The unusual part of my bike commuting story is that I only learned how to ride a bicycle at all 3 years ago, at the age of 29. I had some childhood experiences that led to my never learning how to ride, and then once you're an adult, it's tricky to get started. My husband, who is an avid mountain biker, found an unusual bike that is designed for putting your feet down easily. I bought my Electra Townie three years ago next month, and quickly discovered that I love riding, just the feel of it, the speed, and so on.

Q. How long have you been a BCC participant, and what are the benifits of participating? This is my second year. I like participating in the BCC as a challenge to myself, and this year as a way to encourage other people at work to bike. This year I persuaded 5 other people to take part as a work team, which makes me feel pretty good. My small part for the environment. And my current employer is paying the registration fees as part of their commitment to employee health.

Ride of Silence, May 16th

Unfortunately included in the realm of bicycle commuting, as in all of life's circumstances, are accidents. The Capitol Bicycling Club organized Olympia's local Ride of Silence to honor those who have been killed or injured on their bikes to conjoin with the National Ride of Silence on May 16th. The turnout was great with about 30 people attending. Mayor Foutch came to speak about rising environmental issues and the city's plans for more bike lanes, and thanked us for pedaling.

The more bikers we have out on the roads, the more awareness there will be which will hopefully lead to less accidents. So share the roads and keep on pedaling!

A NEW RECORD!

The BCC continues to grow! We have set a new record this year for participation in the BCC, as of right now we have 1002 participants!

• 2006: 889 participants
• 2005: Over 600 participants
• 2004: Previous record of 928 participants

What a way to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the contest. Thank you everybody for signing up and pedaling, both veterans and first timers. You are making a difference!

Thanks to all for their help with the 2007 Wrencher's Ball!

Thanks to local bike shop mechanics, community volunteers, and their wrenching abilities, we were able to tune-up 80 bikes at our annual Wrencher’s Ball! The Wrencher’s Ball is an all day, annual event that takes place the last Friday in April, right before the contest starts. It is a last chance effort to offer free bike service to those who wish to commute by bike and have signed up for the contest.

Thank you to Larry, Sam and Adam at OlyBikes for their professional mechanical work and all of their help and support with the BCC!




Thank you to Evergreen Bike Shop for their involvement and support with the Wrencher's Ball and the BCC!

Thank you to Min Lee from Joy Ride in Lacey for your help and wrenching!

Thank you to Neil Siviy from Bike Guy, a bike repair service on Lybarger St NE, for your help wrenching!

And thank you to all of the community members who offered their help and/or wrenching abilities at the Wrencher's Ball!

The day ran very smoothly, thank you to everyone for your help! Great job!

If you missed this year's Wrencher's Ball, be sure to make next year's! Tune-up and safety check is free to all who sign up for the Bicycle Commuter Contest!

If you are missing a frame pack or lock, please email ktarullo@intercitytransit.com or call 705-5839.

Wrencher's Ball: Friday, April 27!

All registered participants can come get a free bicycle safety check and mini tune-up this Friday at our annual Wrencher's Ball event.

• Where: Olympia Transit Center (222 State Ave NE, downtown)
  


• When: Friday, April 27 from 7am-5pm



• Who: Anyone who is registered for the event, you may register here if you have not already
  

We still have a small amount of CatEye tail lights we are giving away with registration! So come early and sign up! It is first-come first-serve for bike maintenance, so be prepared to leave your bike with us for a while.

The Wrencher's Ball has been the BCC's most famous event, happening annually for the past several years! A couple of Intercity Transit employees started this event years ago to aid those who thought they could not participate in the contest because their bike was not in good enough shape. They took on the roll of tuning up their bikes for them, so they could participate and log their miles! So no excuses, come and get your bike fixed up to ride during May, and in the warm months to come!

Earth Day Market Ride a Hit!

Thanks to everyone who led rides and attended this past Saturday's Earth Day Market Ride! Despite the rain we had a great turnout of 44 riders!After meeting at the fountain we all pedaled to the Farmer's Market to sign everybody up for the contest and give away free CatEye tail lights with registration! We still have more lights which we will have at the Wrencher's Ball this coming Friday...stay tuned for more details!


















This is the group heading down Capitol. This ride counts as the first commute trip for the contest! So log those miles on your mileage log if you haven't already!



If anyone has any other pictures from
Saturday, send them to ktarullo@intercitytransit.com

Earth Day Market Ride: Saturday, April 21

This coming Saturday is the BCC's 2nd annual Earth Day Neighborhood Market Ride! A great way to kick off the contest and gain extra miles on your mileage log! We have ride leaders designated to seven different neighborhoods around Olympia this year. Check out our map and find the nearest meeting point to you and join in the ride! The ride leaders will take each ride downtown to Heritage Park and from there the rides will proceed together to the Olympia Farmer's Market. There will be an extra box on the mileage logs to log this trip.

At the Farmer's Market:

• Register for the contest at the Intercity Transit table
• FREE CatEye tail lights with registration! While supplies last
• Flat fix and basic bike maintenance demos
• Bike commute and bus route information available

This ride is a great place to gain experience riding with traffic if you are new to bike commuting, but anybody is welcome to come...we encourage it!

Check out our ride map (click on map for more details).

2006 Nieghborhood Market Ride

See you Saturday!

Welcome to Our New BCC Blog!

Welcome Bicycle Commuter Enthusiasts! Here you will be able to find out more detailed information about our events that are coming up and info on bike commute related topics. And if you have comments you would like to list about the related topics, please feel free! We are hoping this blog will enable us to be more interactive with our Bicycle Commuter Contest participants! Please remember all comments will be monitored before posting and if you leave contact information it will be viewed by all other visitors to this site.