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‘Bike to It’ pushes pedal power

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By Ken McCall, Staff Writer 9:05 PM Tuesday, May 4, 2010

The Drive Less Live More campaign wants to kick into a higher gear in its fourth year, and they’ve got just the guy to make it happen.

“We’re trying to encourage people to bike to everything,” said Andy Williamson, the high-energy assistant manager of outdoor recreation at Five Rivers MetroParks who is serving as this year’s campaign spokesman. “We felt that this year, with all the momentum around cycling — with the city of Dayton getting its Bicycle Friendly City status, with the bike lanes going in, with the RiverScape bike hub opening — biking seems to be a natural fit.”

The annual warm-weather drive to get residents to try something other than driving kicked off Saturday, May 1, with its usual blend of contests, bike rides and public transit promotions. But this year it’s adding an emphasis on bicycling, including a “Bike to It” series of events to three Dayton Dragons games and to the three city-sponsored music festivals downtown in Dave Hall Plaza. The Bike-to-It series will offer free, secure valet bike parking next to the venues. Some of the events, Williamson said, will include contests and incentives.

The concept has drawn enough interest that the park district has created a bike parking starter kit to rent to organizations.

They’ve also created a Bike to Work Day starter kit to help organizations and businesses launch or expand events during the national week to encourage bike commuting.

Drive Less Live More — sponsored by the park district, the Miami Conservancy District, the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission and the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority — will stage its own Bike to Work Day pancake breakfast on Friday, May 21, at the Second Street Public Market. Last year’s event drew more than 400 participants, Williamson said, but they’re looking to export the event to employment centers around the region.

“My personal goal is to have 2,000 people bike to work that week throughout the entire region,” said Williamson, who was the driving force behind last year’s Miami Valley Cycling Summit.

He could make it.

Lexis-Nexis already sponsors a Bike to Work Week, and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base has put on its own event for more than a decade. The city of Troy will sponsor its second event, Williamson said, the Centerville-Washington Park District and the Miami Valley Research Park are launching new events, and the campaign has been talking to Miami Valley Hospital.

The campaign will also sponsor bike rides around downtown before Urban Nights activities on May 14 and Sept. 10. A similar ride last September drew more than 90 riders, including Dayton City Commissioner Nan Whaley, and Police Chief Richard Biehl.

As usual, the campaign will stage river rides and its One Less Trip Contest, in which participants can gain chances to win monthly prizes and a $1,000 Visa gift card grand prize by logging their use of alternative transportation.

That term, however, bugs Williamson.

“I hate the term ‘alternative transportation,’” he said, “because our primary mode of transportation as human beings is walking. We want people to think of the car as being the alternative.”

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2393 or kmccall@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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