Bicycle Austin forum

tomwald

Moderator

From: 78722

Registered: 2008-05-27

Posts: 290

"Family makes biking a daily cycle"

http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/fami … aily_cycle

Family makes biking a daily cycle
Austin Commuter Challenge becomes a family affair

Updated: Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 4:52 PM CDT
Published : Tuesday, 26 May 2009, 8:54 AM CDT

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Every morning in South Austin, Wes Robinson bikes with his two daughters to Kiker Elementary School in Circle C.

Biking has become a family affair ever since Robinson decided to ditch the car and start biking 25 miles each way to work.

"I thought it would be kind of nice to ditch the car, save some money, don't have the gas expenses, and just try and stay in shape a little better," said Robinson.

This year, he decided to make that commute a little easier by taking the bus half way, cutting his riding miles down to 12. However, in the beginning of May he decided to up the ante by joining Austin's Commuter Challenge .

"You ride your bike," said Chris Carter, marketing director for Bicycle Sports Shop . "When you do so, you log your miles on your trips, and points are scored based on those trips."

Bicycle Sports Shop worked with the City of Austin to put this together, and the winner gets bragging rights. Right now, 300 people are taking the challenge. And even if someone hasn't signed up, they can still take part by going to www.greenlightride.com .

"So maybe if they have a group of riders at work, they could split them into teams and then they could compete against one another," said Carter. "The company can use some type of incentive if they wanted to."

And the challenge is more than just riding to work.

"We go to the bank, we go to restaurants, we go to the grocery store," said Robinson. "We ride everywhere now."

The Robinson's are winning the challenge, and they hope to show others you don't have to look like a biker to be a biker.

"You don't have to wear spandex and shave your legs to ride a bike," said Robinson.

Organizers are also asking participants to log their bike route on www.mapmyride.com . Officials with the City of Austin said they plan to see what streets bikers are using in the hope of improving the streets.