FAQ

Most of the country celebrates Bike to Work Day in May, but due to Colorado’s mountain communities and unpredictable weather, the state legislature declared June as Colorado Bike Month, with the fourth Wednesday of the month being Bike to Work Day.

While we applaud commuters who don’t drive alone to work, the primary goal of the campaign is promoting bicycle commuting, even if it’s one leg of the commute (i.e., bike and bus). Only register if you will be biking for at least a portion of your commute.

To win great prizes! And, because Bike to Work Day is a federally funded event, registrations enable us to correctly report the impact of taking 25,000 or more vehicles off the road that day, which helps ensure future funding for the event and support from regional leaders for biking infrastructure projects which make it easier to encourage biking all the time.

There are many reasons, including:

• Staying fit
• Reducing your carbon footprint
• Saving money
• Avoiding traffic delays
• Starting your day energized, de-stressed and refreshed

Here is a complete list: League of American Bicyclists.

The Denver Regional Council of Governments’ Way to Go program brings together city and county governments and other interested groups in the metro area each year to plan Bike to Work Day as a way of raising awareness of bicycle commuting.

Bike to Work Day represents a grassroots effort by cities, counties, transportation planners, community organizations and others across the state to educate commuters about the benefits of using two wheels to get to work.

While we encourage all Coloradans to bike on Bike to Work Day, we are only accepting registrations for commuters in our region. Because we don’t have authority over other parts of the state, we don’t include other areas. It’s a funding and authority issue. To see a list of counties and municipalities in our area, click here. 

If you’re not located in our region, contact your community to see if they are organizing their own efforts to promote Colorado Bike to Work Day. Colorado Bike to Work Day information can be found on CDOT’s website

Our area has hundreds of miles of paved recreational trails available to offer a comfortable ride. Here are some resources to map out your ride:

• MyWayToGo.org  Our MyWaytoGo tool helps plan all your trips, including biking–just enter a start and end point to see all your options side by side
• See our Resources page

We are primarily promoting bicycle commuting and not recreational cycling. If you “work” for a volunteer organization, we encourage you to register!  Recreational cyclists are welcome to attend the breakfast and bike home stations.

Absolutely! Participants can bike any day of that week to be eligible for the prizes.  We understand Wednesday doesn’t work for everyone.

Sorry, they do not count (nor do hybrid vehicles that are more fuel efficient than regular vehicles). While we recognize that motorcycles and scooters get better gas mileage than cars, person-powered bicycles produce no emissions and take a vehicle off the road.

Stations can sign up until the last minute so check back frequently for additions.

Businesses sign up to host stations as a way to interface with potential customers in their area while supporting bicycling commuting. They organize, fund and staff their stations. Many have been participating for years, but we welcome new stations from all areas.  We work with a planning group comprised of members from cities and counties, bicycle advocacy organizations and companies around the region.  The group members try to encourage new stations in their areas and some are more active than others. 

Businesses in your area are welcome to host a station.  Registration is easy and free.  If you know of any businesses that might be interested, please refer them to us! Participants are often a good source of new stations. Please refer anyone who is interested in hosting a station to our Station Organizer Toolkit.

Some stations offer showers, but it is up to the individual stations if they are able to do so.  If you want to find a shower, read what each station is offering on the website before showing up.

Promotional materials are available here.

Traffic congestion and air pollution are the worst during peak commute times, so this is where we focus our efforts to make the greatest impact. Additionally, we have limited time and resources and can’t fit every work schedule.

Here are a few ideas:

• Store bicycles in an empty office
• Contact a nearby school to see if you can use their bike rack because most schools are out for the summer
• Place a two-by-four on two saw horses (you may need someone to watch the bikes though.  A temporary employee?)
• Rent parade barricades from a rental company. They can be used as bike racks.

We suggest contacting stations in your area to see if they are looking for volunteers.

We’d love to have you help make our Bike to Work Day event successful.  If you’re interested in sponsoring the event please visit the sponsorship information page.  If you’d like to download materials including posters and other promotional pieces visit the materials page.  Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and share with your friends and co-workers.

Bike to Work Day is a strategic annual event designed to get people to try their bikes for transportation, serving as a catalyst for them to use this alternative on a consistent basis to reduce congestion and improve air quality.