May is Bike Everywhere Month!

It's that time again! Time to dust off those bikes and get back on the road. Whether you're new to biking, or a seasoned bike commuter, Bike Everywhere Month is a great time to get on your bike and enjoy the spring weather. Bike to work, bike to school, bike to errands, or bike to explore your city. It's easy, helps the environment, and feels great!

This year, we are proud to partner with Cascade Bicycle Club to bring 2016 Bike Everywhere Month festivities to Snohomish County City of Bothell with the Bike Everywhere Challenge and Bike Everywhere Day.

• Washington Bikes Bike Everywhere Challenge runs May 1 - May 31. Register your team, join a team or sign up solo 
• F5 Bike Everywhere Day takes place on Friday, May 20. Find a celebration station near you.

For more information on Bike Everywhere Day and the Bike Everywhere Month Challenge, please visit: https://www.cascade.org/connect/bike-everywhere-month.

Team VeloCeeTee

Did you know Community Transit has its own bike team? Team VeloCee Tee loves the freedom and flexibility of biking so much, that many of its members bike year round. One team member and year-round bike commuter who is passionate about the benefits of biking is Roland Behee, our Strategic Planning Unit Manager. Roland bikes or combines biking with Swift for easy commutes to and from work. "I like keeping our air clean, I save a lot of money, and it's fun! I always look forward to my commute. How many people can say that?"

For Roland, who has been biking for thirty years, working in our Planning and Development Department presents a unique opportunity where his personal life as a cyclist and his professional life as a planner intersect. Between 20,000 - 22,000 bikes are loaded on and off bus bike racks each month. Half of those are on Swift (6-7% of overall riders, or 400 people per day) where easy bike loading and the ability to carry more cargo add convenience. Roland often wears his planning hat while in bike shorts. "I observe how customers react to and move around with bikes. Sometimes I'll ask questions and get a great open dialogue with passengers."

There has been a lot of progress in recent years by communities in downtown Seattle and Everett to make bicycles feel just like any other vehicle. From sharrow bike lanes (where bikes share the space with automobiles) to dedicated bike lanes to signalized intersections, it's getting easier and easier to get around on your bike. Community Transit is mindful of its impact in this landscape. As someone who both plans bus routes and is an avid cyclist, Roland represents the balance Community Transit seeks when designing routes, "We're aware that as a bus company that we are operating in bike space all the time. We strive to design our routes effectively to create positive experiences for both busing and biking. We try to come up with the best possible solutions for both modes of transportation."

Do you plan to get on your bike for Bike Everywhere Month? Do you utilize transit as part of your bicycling plan? Let us know in the comments!

Team VeloCeeTee Redefines Commuting with Heart

By Laurel McJannet

The wheels on the bus go round and round, but employees on Team VeloCeeTee get all over town (and to work) with the velocity of two wheels and lots of heart.

The team represents a cross section of employees that make up Community Transit: Transportation, Strategic Planning, Transportation Demand Management/Marketing, and Transportation Service Planning.

Pictured (left to right): Rocky Cazares, Rita Fox, Roland Behee, Alex Mehn, Sara Hayden and Dana Osborn.

Biking goes beyond Bike to Work Day and Month for members of Team VeloCeeTee. Some bike year-round. Many dust off their bikes as soon as the weather warms up. Given all this experience (and because I'm a hesitant wanna-be bike commuter myself), I posed this question to the team:

What advice do you have for the beginning bike rider who is contemplating biking to work?

"Get out there and try it! Don't get hung up on having all the right equipment or clothing. Get a functional bike, Find a place to park it (rack, stairwell, office). Look for ways to make it easy-- combining bus and bike can get you over hills, distance or high traffic areas." - Roland

"Plan your route in advance and give it a trial run on the weekend. That'll give you an idea of the time it'll take-- and you don't even have to factor in rush hour since that really doesn't apply to bikes!" Also, bring a few changes of clothes and some shower stuff and leave it at your office for those days you get rained on or are a little too sweaty for business as usual." - Alex

"Try it, even if you only do it once a week. You don’t have to have all the latest gear or an expensive bike, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the exercise you get, and how you contribute to making your carbon foot print just a wee bit smaller.  It counts." - Rita

"It can be really easy to become discouraged in the early stages.  If a person does not overdo it or give up early on, the little steps of the beginning and early stages will eventually become an accomplishment that will bring a great deal of satisfaction.  (Take that from a 62-year-old!)" - Dana

Do you bike to work? What advice do you have for biking to work? To school? Let us know in the comments.