Bike to Work Week is here, and MPC is participating in Active Transportation Alliance's Bike Commuter Challenge. You don't have to be a master cyclist to participate in the challenge. In fact, you just have to ride part of the way to work, at least once during the week. Here's how some MPCers are getting in on the action:
- Joanna is going to dig her bike out of the basement, and check its ABCs (Air, Brakes, and Chain) because it's been down there for years. Once it's good to go, she'll head east down 47th to the lake, then north up the lakefront path, passing the new 31st Street Harbor on the way!
- Tim is going to bike from his home to the Itasca Metra station, park his bike there, and train it in.
- Peter will do the same to the Addison CTA Brown Line station.
- Abby has a pretty short ride from Old Town, and plans on biking every day!
- Kara will come south from Edgewater on the lakefront path, then head inland at Grand and come down Clark Street.
- Our part-time Research Assistants are making themselves count, too! Jenny will make the short ride in from Streeterville. Meredith will ride all the way in from Ukranian Village. Ariel will bike to her north suburban Metra station and ride the train from there. Emma will ride in, too, once she gets her bike in working order! Even though he's only a few blocks from the office, JP will borrow a bike and come in on two wheels, which will surely earn him the title of Shortest Commute.
- Mandy will ride to her South Shore station, then lock her bike there, assuming she can find a suitable place. (If not, she'll ride back home and then walk back to the station, having given it the old college try.)
- Marisa is planning on making everyone else look like a slacker: She has to get her kids to school, so she'll drive them to there, then park her car by her usual CTA Blue Line stop. Instead of getting on the train, though, she'll retrieve her "trusty bike Lois" from the trunk and head in on the Jackson Street bike lane. Once her kids got wind of this plan, they decided they wanted to ride to school, too! We'll have film at 11, if that happens.
- Dom has the only legitimate excuse (aside from broken limbs) for not participating: He's gone on vacation this week.
So there you have it! See how easy it is to be a part of Bike to Work Week? Check out the Bike Commuter Challenege site and see if your company is registered. Get riding!