WASHINGTON — Bike commuting isn’t just for spring. Or summer. You can do it all year long, even on the coldest day of the year. Really.
That’s the message from the organizers of International Winter Bike to Work Day, an online effort to “normalize” winter bike commuting.
Participants are encouraged to document their Friday-morning commutes online. There’s even an app that commuters can download to count others along their route.
Last year, Oulu, Finland, had the most participants.
In D.C., the bike shop Bicycle Space is promoting the event and urging riders to get out there and be counted. The shop is hoping to put the District on the map by winning what it calls the “Winter Olympics” of bike commuting.
Andrea Adleman, communications director for Bicycle Space, says participants are urged to choose the most-traveled bike path on their route and count the cyclists.
“You upload your count to the global map, and the city with the most cyclists is the winner!”
Adleman says more and more people are seeing year-round bike commuting as a workable solution to gridlock.
The store, which is expanding along with the number of cyclists in the District and the suburbs, sees a regular stream of business year-round.
“It’s remarkable to watch a mainstream popular movement really rise before your eyes. There are more people out there!”
The count for Feb. 13’s International Winter Bike to Work Day will be done from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., and Bicycle Space will be on 15th Street NW, just south of Massachusetts Avenue, calculating the number of cyclists rolling by.
Find out more and check the results on the International Winter Bike to Work Day website.
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
