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Bicycling Commuters Extol Benefits of Riding to Work

Posted on: Wednesday, 26 April 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Christian Hill, The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.

Apr. 26--If high gasoline prices haven't persuaded you to bike to work, Intercity Transit is offering another incentive: prizes.

The transit service kicks off its monthlong Bicycle Commuter Contest on Monday as the motoring public is smarting over gasoline prices around $3 a gallon. "I do expect there to be more attention to this contest by people who might be on the edge" of embracing a transportation alternative, said Kris Fransen, Intercity Transit's marketing and communications coordinator.

After registering, participants log the number of miles they ride to work, school or on errands. Those who return their completed mileage logs are eligible for prizes, including movie passes and gift certificates.

The event can introduce first-time participants to bicycle commuting, which advocates say saves gasoline, increases fitness and reduces air pollution.

It also helps officials identify ways to improve cycling for Thurston County residents. After the contest, participants give comments that are compiled in an annual report on cycling conditions around the county.

In the 2004 report, for instance, participants noted that bike lanes were needed along Fourth Avenue and Capitol Way. Olympia will include bike lanes in its reconfiguration of Capitol Way from 14th Avenue to Carlyon Avenue.

In Lacey, they noted the need for bike lanes along Pacific Avenue. The city is in the process of transforming abandoned railroad right of way along or near the thoroughfare into a paved trail for walkers and bicyclists.

Gasoline prices aren't expected to dip anytime soon.

On Tuesday, AAA reported the average price for a gallon of unleaded gasoline in Olympia was $2.93, a penny increase from the day before. The average price is nearly 39 cents higher than last month's average and more than 44 cents above last year's average.

Linda Long Weaver, a research analyst for the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, once again will participate in the contest. She took up bicycling years ago when she decided to follow the example of a co-worker who was an avid bicyclist.

She saw bicycling as a way to lose weight and help the environment. Now, she bikes to and from work three to five times a week, rain or shine.

"I'm in the best shape I've been in probably since high school, and I'm a middle-aged person, which is a thrill," she said. "Plus, it's just fun."

Midge Price, a 44-year-old physician assistant at the Group Health clinic in Olympia, started biking to work in August and will be a first-time participant in the contest.

Her employer has been promoting bicycling and has sponsored bike races and commuting contests. Price said she enjoys bicycling and found the exercise more convenient than trying to set aside time to work out at a gym.

"It's been a good thing for me," she said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Olympian, Olympia, Wash.

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