Activate Omaha in collaboration with Bikeable Communities! and WELCOM is inviting the Omaha workforce to bike to work during the summer months. The medical center will be one of the companies participating in this friendly competition to promote bicycling as a means of traveling to and from work.
Cyclists will get exercise while helping identify Omaha’s specific community needs for safe and accessible sidewalks, bike lanes and pedways. At the conclusion of the bicycle commuter challenge, cyclists will be asked to fill out a survey from the Bikeable Community Coalition to provide information about their commuter cycling experience.
The four-month challenge will be kicked off with National Bike to Work Week and a Mayor’s Bicycle Ride on Monday, May 15 at 8:30 a.m. The challenge will end Aug. 20, the date of the Corporate Cycling Challenge bicycle tour.
Registration for the Mayor’s Bicycle Ride begins at 8 a.m. at 20th and Charles streets. The ride with Mayor Fahey will be to the Civic Center Plaza, where he works, and then back to 20th and Charles streets along Florence Blvd. Bicycle helmets are required. For more information, contact: Tammie Dodge at tammie@activateomaha.org at 934-5923.
Riders can get involved in the Bicycle Commuter Challenge at any time from May 15 to Aug. 20 and ride as many or as few days as they choose. Team Captains will report weekly the number of miles and days ridden for the employees on their corporate team. Campus cycling commuters can report their weekly days and miles of bicycle commuting to Peter Pellerito at ppellerito@unmc.edu or 559-5253 or campus ZIP 5530.
The UNMC Center for Healthy Living will be making its locker rooms available at no cost to participating riders during the commuting cycling challenge. There also is a bike rack outside the entrance on the south side of the Student Life Center.
For more information on the Bicycle Commuter Challenge, read the brochure and presentation.