2013 BCC Rider Profile# 2 Jonathan H.

We're interviewing a few intrepid practical cyclists who commute by bike year-round, to find out how they do it!
 What is your age, roughly speaking? 
2013 will be my last year in my 20s!

•What is your occupation or area of study?
I manage the Customer Care department for The Spa Depot. We are an online retailer of hot tubs and spa supplies based here in Olympia.

•What is your most frequent destination on your bike?
Work, the grocery store, laundromat, Eastside tavern, Ralph's - I bike pretty much everywhere. The majority of my miles, however, are commuting to work.

•How did you hear about the BCC?
I believe a friend of mine encouraged me to sign up when I first moved to Olympia about 4 years ago.

•How many times have you participated in the Bicycle Commuter Contest?
Every year since 2009. In that first year, I had just moved to Olympia from
Centralia, but I was still employed down in Lewis County. I commuted 5-6 days a
week from Olympia to Centralia by bike and ended up winning the overall
mileage category with 1,763 miles!

Winter: a good time for bike maintenance

The cold, dark, rainy season of winter may not be your favorite time to ride your bike (though many of us do it anyway!), but it is a great time to get your bike tuned up.If you don't have your own back-yard bike shop, Thurston County has eight professional bike shops to choose from, all scattered around the urbanized area of the county. All of these shops are equipped to tackle your bike maintenance needs, and they are not swamped with work right now! Bike shops get really busy in the spring- even as early as March. You could wait a week for your bike to get a tuneup in the busy season. Right now though, bike shops are hungry for work and want your business, and you shouldn't have to wait so long for your bike.  Remember to shop local for your bike accessories and clothing. Support the local bike shops that offer professional service to keep us rolling!

BCC 2013 Rider Profile #1: Beth R.

We're interviewing a few intrepid practical cyclists who commute by bike year-round, to find out how they do it!

BCC: What is your age, roughly speaking?

Beth: Roughly speaking?!?  Is that question worded like that for those who fear growing old?  I’m 47!

BCC: What is your occupation or area of study?
Beth:I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor.  I own my own business near downtown, Olympia.  I work with individuals who are suicidal and who self harm.  I love my work and I love the people I work with (both clients and other therapists). 

BCC: What is your most frequent destination on your bike?
Beth:Sadly, work.  I’d say 90 % of my bike riding is to get me to work or home from work.  I want to do the CUPPA rides with Capital Bike Club, but errands and family commitments rarely make it possible for me to take that much time to ride on a Sat. 

BCC: How did you hear about the BCC?
Beth:Originally, I’m not absolutely sure, but I think it was one of those street banners across State Ave by the bus station.  I remember the first year I did it (I think maybe 2010) running into Duncan right after I had registered.  I was commuting that day and I stopped at the bus station to sign up.  After signing up, I went to Olympia Hardware to pick something up on my way to work.  When I was coming out of the store, he asked me,  “Hey, do you ride much?  Have you heard about the Bicycle Commuter Contest?” (or something similar to that).  And, I said, “Well, as a matter of fact, I just signed up.”  It was really cool to meet the “Director” of the BCC within minutes of signing up!

Early Season Events of Interest

Transportation-Advocacy-Day-2013 February 12 in Olympia- a chance to let our legislature know about our transportation needs and preferences.  
Seattle-Bike-Swap Hosted by Cascade Bicycle Club- hundreds of booths with vendors from individuals to large area bike shops. February 10, 9am - 2pm Seattle Center Exhibition Hall.
Seattle Bicycle Expo  The largest consumer bicycle show in the United States. Exhibitors from the United States and Canada fill over 250 booths with exhibits of bikes, gear, travel, health and fitness.  Every top event producer in the region is represented as are most bicycle tour companies, local bike shops and top national manufacturers. Saturday, March 9, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m. & Sunday, March 10, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at Smith Cove Cruise Terminal in Seattle.
Capitol Bicycling Club Newsletter and Website Check out your local bicycling club (and even join)! Our local club hosts great rides year-round and offers classes and instructional rides for the novice cyclist.

BCC office opens for 2013- Theme ideas?

Preparations for the 26th Thurston County Bicycle Commuter Contest begin today! We'll post updates on our progress here periodically, so stay tuned. Also check out our Facebook page for updates and to offer your input. Speaking of input, we're looking for inspiration for this year's theme and graphics- want to help out? Submit your ideas to dgreen"at"intercitytransit.com. If we use your idea or incorporate it into our theme, we'll give you a prize!

BCC closing up for 2012- take our survey!

The 25th Annual BCC has come to a close, with a very successful spring season behind us.


When it comes right down to it, the BCC is about improving the quality of life in our community, and you are our community. We hope that you will share your thoughts with us and allow us to include the needs and preferences of our community by taking a brief survey. There is a link to our survey on our Facebook page. The survey has some multiple choice questions and some open-ended questions designed to help us improve the BCC for next year and the next 25 years!

BCC Office Closing for 2012:


BCC Central is closing up shop for the remainder of the year, but please feel free to stay in touch. You can reach us by contacting Kris Fransen at kfransen"at"intercitytransit.com or 705-5836. You can also "Like" us on Facebook to stay informed about practical cycling issues in our area.

HENDERSON BOULEVARD SIDEWALK PROJECT – BICYCLE LANE CLOSURE

HENDERSON BOULEVARD SIDEWALK PROJECT – BICYCLE LANE CLOSURE
For bicycle and pedestrian safety, the northbound bicycle lane on Henderson Boulevard from McCormick street to the trail head of Watershed Park will be closed during the sidewalk construction. The bicycle lane closure will start on July 3, 2012 and the lane will reopen approximately the end of August.

Contact:
• Brett Bures, Project Manager, City Of Olympia
• 360.753.8290
• bbures"at"ci.olympia.wa.us

BCC Progress Update: Coupons and Random Drawings

We had our annual "coupon stuffing party" this morning and stuffed 897 envelopes with BCC Rewards Coupons! They are waiting for the mail pick-up now and should be in particpants' mailboxes tomorrow or Saturday. Several teams will be distributing their team members' coupons "in house". Members of the Thurston County, City of Olympia, DOR, UTC or Intercity Transit teams, should see their Team Captains to get their coupons.

In Random Prize Drawing News, also in the mail are three gift cards to Joy Ride Bikes and four cards for a pound of coffee at Batdorf and Bronson. The lucky winners: Dawn, Ryan, Alan, Burke, Anna, Erika and Krista!

Awards Ceremony Draws Crowd in Spite of Rain

Photos by: Paul Mongillo of www.wideawakephoto.com

Over 100 stalwart BCC riders showed up at our Awards Ceremony last Saturday morning in spite of the wetness of the air...
Three of the four Bike Prize winners came out, plus lots of kids and families. Around 200 participants won prizes in this year's BCC, including Eddy, who won the New Belgium Cruiser (pictured), Kalina, who won a bike from Joy Ride Bikes, Paul, who won a bike from The Bike Stand, and Kim, who won a bike from Bike Tech. Now we're busy getting the rewards coupons ready to mail- hopefully the first batch will go out tomorrow!

"Official" 2012 BCC Results

Believe it or not there are still a few mileage logs trickling into BCC Central, so the real numbers are actually very slightly higher than these, but we had to quit adding and publish sooner or later so these are the "official" results of the 25th Annual BCC!

See the Team Results Page (in the tabs above) for team standings in four categories.
(Scroll down to find all the categories)

Registrants: 1545
Logs turned in: 1058
Miles traveled: 120,653 (all time record)
Trips by bike: 13,974 (all time record)
Teams Returning Mileage Logs: 72 (all time record)
Avg. Daily miles per rider: 10.75
Avg. Monthly miles per rider: 114
First Time participants: 542
Prize recipients: 200
Sponsors: 56
CO2 prevented: 60 tons
Gallons gas saved: 5500
Gas dollars saved: 23,000

BCC Prizes and Awards Shaping Up

We're on track to award many prizes at our award ceremony on Saturday (this Sat. June 23, 9:30 am at the Olympia Farmers Market): outstanding BCC participants will be receiving prizes donated by our sponsors, such as Ortlieb Panniers, Timbuk2 Messenger Bags, CatEye, NiteRider, Portland Design Works and Planet Bike Lights and light sets, Showers Pass and Novara rain gear, bike accessories from REI and Swift Industries saddle bags. We have Gift Cards from Joy Ride Bikes, Bike Tech, Alpine Experience, Old Town Bicycle, Batdorf & Bronson, Fish Tale Pub, Compass Rose Gifts, The Beauty Temple and 5th Ave Fitness.

We have winners in our random drawings for FOUR NEW BIKES, and will announce them once we've managed to contact them all. We'll be holding more random drawings for cool prizes tomorrow, so watch your email!

Mileage Count Update:

We have smashed all previous records for the number of miles traveled by bicycle in the month of May by participants in the BCC! Together, the 1044 participants who returned their Mileage Logs recorded 117,642 miles, on 13,512 practical trips by bike in May!
Way to go, BCC participants! That is almost 60 tons of CO2 that we prevented from entering our atmosphere, and that is just the tip of the iceberg of the positive effects we contributed to our community and planet, not to mention our own health and well-being. Thank you!

BCC STATUS UPDATE:

1006 Mileage Logs counted, out of 1547 participants. We rode well over 114,000 miles- a new record for the BCC!

Thanks for your patience while we churn through the data and prepare for the prize drawings and awards. Your rewards coupons will go in the mail before the end of the month. Random prize drawings for several new bikes and other very cool prizes will happen next week.

Our Award Ceremony is on Saturday, June 23 at 9:30am at the Olympia Farmers Market main stage. We have many categories of participants and achievements, so there will be LOTS of prizes. Prize winners need not be present, but there WILL also be random prize drawings for those who are present, so come on down! Free REI water bottles for the first 50 people to arrive!

BCC Mileage Log Update

Wow, 964 BCC Mileage Logs counted so far! Still that doesn't get us to the level of follow-through we had last year. If you, or SOMEONE YOU KNOW, hasn't turned in their BCC Mileage Log, please do! We want to count you as a practical cyclist in Thurston County! We're going to start doing some random prize drawings soon from among all participants who have returned their Mileage Logs- don't miss out!

We are on track to break a couple of records, for number of miles traveled, and number of new participants. Let's set some other new records too, but that's only possible if everyone turns in their Mileage Logs...

Mileage Log "deadline", today!

Why is "deadline" in quotes, you might ask?

Well, we really want you to turn in your Mileage Log, and the sooner the better! The sooner you return your Log, the better chance you have of winning one of our random drawings for a new bike or other great prizes. So, to maximize your chances, return your Log today (or over this weekend)!

All that being said, we will accept Mileage Logs and count them in to our participation totals right up until we submit our Final Report to the local jurisdictions at the end of June. So if you MUST dally and wait, you can still turn in your Mileage Log and it will help the BCC show how many practical cyclists are on our roads, even if it doesn't win you any prizes. Thanks!

The Fun Goes On In June

The time for recording your miles in the BCC may be over, but the fun continues in June! We'll have a few more mini-contests here on the blog and starting soon after June 8, we'll have random prize drawings from among all participants who turn in their Mileage Log, including random drawings for several new bikes! We've already taken delivery of the New Belgium Cruiser for this year, and it is an impressive set of wheels...

 We'll also have several other more practical commuting bikes to award in random drawings, so be sure to turn in your mileage log by June 8, and attend our Awards Ceremony on Saturday June 23 at 9:30 am, at the Olympia Farmers Market for even more fun and prizes!

LAST DAY to record your miles in the BCC!

It's happened again, another May has gone by and we're on the last day of the BCC. Don't let a little sprinkle stop you from riding your bike to work, school or on errands on the last day! Bike safe and remember to return your Mileage Log by June 8 to receive your rewards coupons and be entered to win a new bike and other great prizes!

2012 BCC Rider Profile # 4: Sara Eve

• What is your age, roughly speaking? I’m in my mid-40s.


• What is your occupation or area of study? I work for the Washington State Department of Health. I have my Master’s Degree in Public Health, Community Health Education.

• What is your most frequent destination on your bike? Last summer was the first time I had a bike in more than 20 years, and I rode to my office in Lacey from my home on the upper Eastside. I changed jobs to work at the Department of Health in Tumwater, so it’s a longer ride now.

• How did you hear about the BCC? I saw flyers about it for years and longingly wanted to participate, but this is the first year I’ve had a bike!

• How many times have you participated in the Bicycle Commuter Contest? This is my first year.


• What got you started riding your bike to get around (practical cycling)? I wanted to feel like a “true Olympian,” I wanted to get more exercise, and I find that I do best with regular exercise if it is “practical.” I also had an injury about a year ago that made it hard to do what I usually did for exercise – dancing and walking – and needed to find another way to be active, so now it’s biking and swimming.

Mini-Contest Winners!

We have three winners in our Tuesday Mini-Contest!
Mike S., Shanti H. and Paul B. all answered the "where is it?" question correctly, as:
West Bay Drive Southbound, near the site of the old plywood mill (who's been around long enough to remember that fire?) Thanks for participating in the BCC and our Tuesday Mini-Contest, everybody!

BCC Mini-Contest and Countdown

Less than 3 days left in the 25th Annual Bicycle Commuter Contest! Be sure you've recorded all the practical trips you made by bike in May on your Mileage Log, and be sure to return it by June 8 to the Olympia Transit Center or by mail to BCC c/o Intercity Transit, PO Box 659 Olympia, WA 98507-0659 Fabulous coupons and prizes await!

Tuesday Mini-Contest: Where is this- what street and which direction of travel? The first three people (registered in the BCC) who answer correctly by sending me an email (to dgreen"at"intercitytransit.com) will win a cool prize! Winners announced after 2pm. Good luck!