Thursday was official Bike to Work day in much of Southern California, as well as other parts of the country. No surprise that many companies in the industry took the opportunity to entice employees to do good on the planet and leave their cars at home for the day. Shimano employees who rode in were rewarded with free breakfast and lunch, while the commuter fiends over at QBP certainly didn't let the opportunity pass by to spread the word about the benefits of biking to work.
"We had many ride leaders guide group ride from various locations around the city, served breakfast to all that rode in and riders received double commuter credits," said QBP marketing maven Jo Wright.
Specialized had quite a to-do also with 260 employees at its offices around the world logging a whopping 2,443.34 miles in the saddle for that company's annual ride in and big breakfast.
"New this year, we hosted the third grade students of Mr. Adam Repicky’s class at Greenbrook Elementary School in Danville, California at our HQ for a tour with fun-filled activities and lessons about bike and helmet safety," said Michelle Diaz-Ordell, who works in advocacy at Specialized.
Over at the Hawley Company, Steve Hawley completed his 50th ride in a year on Bike to Work day, with 52 employees pedaling by his side.
"The challenge I gave my staff last year was that if I rode 50 times, they would need to get 50 Hawley employees to ride with me on my 50th ride," Steve said.
Hawley's outside sales reps also got in on the action. Morgan Fluhrer rode 62 miles and visited four shops, John Eighmey rode 55 miles and visited four shops and Bruce McCarthy rode 48 miles and visited six shops, all with laptops and product samples in rear panniers. Click on the link to see pictures from Hawley's big 50th ride: http://thehawleyblog.blogspot.com/.
BRAIN also gave Bike to Work day a shot. See below for pictures from our ride and others in the industry:
A fellow morning rider pauses to peer at the Pacific at Doheny State Beach between San Clemente and Dana Point
Blurg! The San Juan Creek Trail, which leads from Dana Point inland about four miles to San Juan Capistrano, is closed until early 2010 so crews can install steel sheet piles along the trail. We're not exactly sure what that means, but it sure takes a long time to finish.
A double-double sounds pretty good right now, at mile 13 of my commute. I wonder if they allow cyclists in the drive-thru?
BRAIN publisher Marc Sani snapped a nice picture of a family of ducks as he rode through a park in Laguna Niguel. Don't be fooled by the serenity of the scene. Sani was actually thinking,'Mmm, Dinner!' as he clicked his camera.
While still thinking about duck paté, Sani ran into a whole crew of Shimano employees riding together to the office in Irvine. Here, Matt Chirpka, who's in the fishing division, and Dave Lawrence from the biking division, pose for a picture
Ah, the sweet reward! BRAIN staffers and special guest Mark Graff, of SmartEtailing, enjoy a pizza lunch for participating in Bike to Work day. From left, BRAIN editor Megan Tompkins, Graff, publisher Marc Sani, pizza gopher Ron Bertola and sales guy Robert Roman chow down.
John Rosie, Specialized University demo fleet coordinator, commuted in on his Penny Farthing
Bikes lined up outside QBP. Looks like it was a beautiful day in Bloomington!
SmartEtailing's Aaron Morris and Mark Graff pose in front of a well-known mural in San Clemente.
Third-grade students picked up their custom Bike to School day water bottles straight off the printing machine
