We take commuting seriously. While we're all pretty die-hard cyclists, due to long distances, family, and some dodgy routes, commuting by bike every day is a tall order for some of our crew. That said, there's one week a summer that we are all-in on riding in to up.bike.
Our local urban trail organization, Traverse Area Recreational Trails, hosts Smart Commute Week to kick of June each year. The effort is to encourage local businesses of all sizes, families of all ages, and individuals of all kinds to park the car and adopt better commuting practices. Carpooling and buses are certainly options, but for most, smart commuting in Traverse City means going by bike, and you know we have to agree.
And there are bragging rights on the line, too. Businesses or groups registered for the week compete for the most smart commuters, as well as collecting punches at the myriad free breakfasts offered all over town throughout the week. The teams' numbers are tallied up and winners are declared at the end of the week at a massive breakfast hosted by Oryana Food Co-Op.
Two of our guys, Dan and Rob, are committed not only to riding in every day, but also racking up the most miles in the process. They kicked the week off with 24 miles into work, and a tidy 25 to get home afterwards! For Tuesday, they've opted to keep things a bit shorter, parking and riding for a 10 mile start to the day, and another 10 miles just to get to the local weekly group ride, which is about 40 miles!
With all that riding, we wanted to make sure they had a nice place to shower up, change, store their stuff, and get ready for a full day of work. Luckily, we have a few things on hand to make the perfect changing room.
We really love the message behind Smart Commute Week, and we hope our community embraces alternative commuting options beyond this special week.
For more on Smart Commute Week, and when you can swing by the Friday breakfast Oryana, you better head over here to learn more.