The case for Bike-to-Work day

Wenatchee Valley’s Bike-to-Work Day is coming up on Friday May 16, an event in which all members of the community within reasonable distance of their destination are encouraged to use a bicycle as a form of transportation.

This event is hosted by Wenatchee Valley Transportation Council with the idea in mind to promote people to try another way of getting to work or school. The way they are hoping to accomplish this is to attempt to get those willing to get in the habit of taking a bicycle because of the vast amounts of benefits that come from being active and staying out of a car.

One of the biggest reasons for Bike-to-Work Day are the healthy outcomes that follow being active for that short amount of time per day. According to the David Suzuki Foundation, the average student would become much healthier from biking as daily exercise. That same student would lose weight and keep the weight off.

“Riding your bike for 30 minutes a few times a week for a year could reduce obesity as much as 50 percent,” said the foundation’s website.

Even with all the positive outcomes of bicycle riding, few students at Wenatchee High School actually use bikes as regular transportation to school, according to The Apple Leaf‘s survey. Senior Noe Flores drives to school each day even though he lives close enough to ride his bike because he says it’s faster for getting to school. “And during lunch if I leave school I can get back in time for my next class,” Flores said.

According to Wenatchee Transportation Council’s Transportation Manager Patrick Walker, if more students rode their bikes and encouraged friends to do the same, barriers would be removed, and biking and its safety would be more of a focus in the Wenatchee Valley. “Already biking is becoming a more common thing, but as the popularity increases, more bike safety oriented improvements will be put into play,” Walker said.

Graham Stansbery, a science teacher at WHS, occasionally rides his bike to work more for the positive physical aspects. “It’s a good start to my morning,” Stansbery said. “It kind of gets me ready for the day.”

According to Walker, the environmental benefits are also significant when more people ride bikes. (did he say this? if so we need quotation marks. if not, it needs to say according instead) According to the University of North Carolina, motor vehicles that run on gas or diesel contribute to about 55 percent of nitrogen oxide pollution in the air.

In conjunction with Bike-to-Work Day, the Wenatchee Valley Transportation Council is hosting a bike commuter challenge called the “Car Free Challenge” in which community members are encouraged to switch one car trip per week for a bike commute to whatever short distance needs to be reached. Participants can track their progress online at the WVTC website.

Throughout the Valley, several businesses have supported improving the accessibility of bike transportation, such as Link Transit. Link has placed bike racks on some of their buses, which are called BikeLink buses. If commuters need to go longer distances they don’t have to use a car but can still save on gas money.

Businesses and members of the Regional Bike Advisory Board will help celebrate bicycle commuting in the Valley at two separate “Bike Commuter Appreciation Station” locations which will all be located throughout downtown Wenatchee on Bike-to-Work day…when is this happening??? … where are the locations???. Along with some refreshments, commuters can spend some time checking out the proposed bike network for the Bicycle Master Plan, get a free bike safety check or quick bike fit, and be entered into a raffle to win some bicycle commuter gear from Arlberg Sports.

Arlberg Sports is also creating a station on the plaza on Wenatchee Avenue, near the entrance to Riverfront Park, where there will be covered bike parking and a bike fix station. Also, a bicycle vending machine that will provide supplies to fix your bike. At the plaza, renovations will include taking out the current seating and trees and eventually replacing the seating, creating a new seating area around the side of Owl Soda Fountain. The construction will begin next year.

Intentionally carless: WHS teacher bikes to school every day

Jim Kovach, the band director at Wenatchee High School, is one of the few people who rides his bike to school instead of driving himself.

Kovach says he actually gets to school faster when he rides his bike instead of drives. “I don’t have to warm up my car, I don’t have to find parking,” Kovach said. “It only takes me about five minutes.”

He started riding his bike a couple years ago when he realized gas prices were costing him. “I just got tired of paying,” Kovach said.

To Kovach it seems riding a bike to anywhere in Wenatchee is simply more efficient and less costly. “To me there isn’t a place in Wenatchee that is so far you have to drive to it,” Kovach said. “I think everyone has become too dependent on cars and just expects it as a way of doing things.”

Environmentally, Kovach thinks there was certainly be an impact if more people rode bikes or walked. “I actually think that the effect would be huge,” Kovach said.

Kovach doesn’t just ride his bike for transportation but he recreationally rides also. “You can ride anywhere and everywhere.”