Nearly 34 years ago, 20 million protesters joined together for the first national Earth Day celebration. Yesterday, in honor of this fight to preserve the environment, University City joined the effort by hosting its first "Bike to Work/Class Day."
"The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia holds an annual Bike to Work Day. The first one was held in 1994, and we have been holding it every year since then," John Boyle of the Bicycle Coalition said, noting that the program recently expanded to include areas around Penn.
This year the Bicycle Coalition, along with the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission, University City District and Neighborhood Bike Works have collaborated in shifting this annual event from Center City to Penn's campus.
The purpose of this event is to "encourage residents, workers and students to use alternative modes of transportation," University spokeswoman Julie McWilliams said.
In order to encourage Penn faculty and students to ride their bikes to class or to work, several different guarded bike parking locations were set up yesterday around campus.
"The three guarded locations [were] at the Freshgrocer, International House and Huntsman Hall [where] you lock your bike up as normal, but it is watched over by Neighborhood Bike Works and University City District people," NBW Executive Director Andy Dyson said.
These bike parking areas were open from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. and each had spaces for 50 bikes.
In addition, just like valet car parking lots, riders could valet park their bikes for free at the intersection of 36th and Sansom streets.
"You get a ticket like a coat check. There is a waiver to sign, but you should know that NBW has never lost a bike doing this at various events over the past three years," Dyson said.
The first 300 early morning riders were especially rewarded with a wide array of treats, from bottled water to pastries and pretzels, to wet their palates.
Food was not the only offering for Bike to Work/Class Day participants. Both the NBW and the Firehouse Bike Shop of Philadelphia joined together to host a raffle "where people [could] register for a drawing to win one of two used bikes," McWilliams said.
Moreover, to ease their biking journey, event participants received a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation bicycle drivers' manual, a Philadelphia bike map and even a "Share the Road" campaign sticker.
Participants at this event were both avid and leisure bikers, including Leland Mayne, vice president of the NBW board and part of Penn's Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics.
I'm "a long-time cyclist," Mayne said, praising the event for encouraging others to join the cycling trend. "I've always ridden my bike to work."
As part of the NBW, Mayne not only encourages alternative forms of travel like bicycles, but he also teaches "bike repair and bike safety [to youth]. After completing a series of classes, the youth get to keep a used bike they fixed up themselves."
The main repair shop for NBW is located right on Penn's campus at St. Mary's Church, and event organizers hoped that Bike to Work/Class Day would both bolster people's interest in saving the environment while developing the NBW organization.
So as the Penn Relays traffic starts piling up and road rage sets in, Dyson and others hope people will see the ease of riding bikes to work and "perhaps some new riders will get bitten by the bug and keep riding."
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