Whether it was commuting 5 miles to a local coffee shop or 10 miles to the state Capitol building, hundreds of Coloradans wearing variations of suits, skirts or the occasional spandex riding shorts flooded Civic Center park on Wednesday to celebrate Bike to Work Day in the Denver area.
The nationwide event, part of “Bike Month” celebrated throughout Colorado during June, is meant to encourage work commuters to seek out healthier, more environmentally friendly travel options by leaving the cars keys at home and reaching for a bicycle helmet instead.
“We get healthier doing it, and instead of sitting in a car driving, and maybe getting agitated from getting stuck in traffic, cyclists are flying by while cars are just sitting there,” Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne said. “Look … here’s evidence. My helmet is still sweaty from the ride in.”
Lynne spoke at Wednesday’s event in Civic Center park, where two-wheeled commuters could also enjoy free food from local vendors and meet with organizations specializing in bicycling and sustainable living.
Kayla Warrens, who commuted 2.5 miles to work, said unless the weather doesn’t permit, biking is her primary mode of transportation. She hopes the Bike to Work Day event will push people outside and on the pavement more than just one day a year.
“I wish more people did this throughout the year because traffic and commuting here in Denver can be mayhem,” Warrens said. “We live in this clean and beautiful city. Why not take advantage of it? There’s a lot of great paths and trails to use.”
Warrens’ sentiments reflect recent city-wide efforts to increase and improve biking infrastructure in metro areas, as well as efforts to identify city buildings that lack proper bike racks and changing areas for employees who wish to commute by bike, something Lynne said will be a primary focus in the future.
Steve Erickson, with the Denver Regional Council of Governments, which oversees the Way to Go program thatap responsible for organizing the event, said improving accessibility for cyclists will help spark interest for folks to bike to work on a day-to-day basis, which will take cars off the road and help with traffic congestion in the area.
Christine Hollander, who often shied away from biking to work because of the potential inconvenience, said she was pleasantly surprised by her first 5-mile Bike to Work Day commute.
“I made way too big of a deal out of it. I took my work clothes with me to work yesterday so that I had them for today, but now I’m seeing people riding in their suits and work clothes, which I easily could have done,” Hollander said. “Itap been great. Itap really a lot of fun.”
According to the Way to Go program, a preliminary participation count, based on those who registered for the event and for those who were counted at local bike stations, fell somewhere between 33,000 and 34,000 people within participating counties, already surpassing last year’s total of 32,805 tallied participants.
During last year’s Denver Bike to Work Day, participants collectively traveled 603,613 miles, and an estimated 17,219 vehicles were swapped out for bicycles, according Way to Go.
