May is National Bike Month, and Friday, May 20, marks Chaffee County’s second annual Bike to Work Day. It celebrates bicycling as a healthy, fun and viable form of everyday transportation.
“Whether you want to save money, improve your health or protect the environment, biking to work is a great way to do it,” said Lisa Malde, director of LiveWell Chaffee County. “Almost everyone can bike to work at least some of the time, and Bike to Work Day is the perfect time to get started.”
On Friday, May 20, from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m., volunteers at four stations throughout Chaffee County will provide Bike to Work Day participants with complimentary bagels, fruit and coffee. Salida stations include Absolute Bikes and the Salida Hot Springs Aquatic Center. Buena Vista residents can stop by stations at The Trailhead and BV Roastery.
Biking to work is an ideal opportunity to get the recommended 30 to 60 minutes of daily physical activity we all need to stay healthy. According to a 2009 report in the Archives of Internal Medicine, men who got to work by active commuting, such as biking or walking, cut their risk of obesity in half. They also significantly reduced triglyceride levels, blood pressure and insulin levels compared with driving to work.
Employers also benefit by encouraging their employees to bike to work. Biking to work is fun, builds morale, keeps employees healthier, reduces health-insurance costs and prevents unproductive sick days. Physically active employees are more alert, healthy and productive.
Bikes Belong, based in Boulder, reports that adolescents who bicycle are 48 percent less likely to be overweight as adults. Since both Salida School District and Buena Vista School District will still be in session on May 20, parents are encouraged to ride to school with their kids to encourage physical activity and a healthy lifestyle.
Chaffee County residents are fortunate to live in an area where biking rather than driving can be an easy choice. According to Bikes Belong, most trips Americans make are short, with 49 percent of trips being less than 3 miles. Even if you live outside the city limits, keeping a bike at work for running errands can give you the physical activity you need to meet your fitness goals.
“We hope that we can encourage some people who wouldn’t normally ride to work to do it just one day,” said Malde. “That one day might just turn into a habit. It’s those small changes that can have the biggest impact on someone’s health.”
Lisa Malde is the director of LiveWell Chaffee County, a healthy eating and active living organization whose primary goal is reducing the overweight and obese rates in Chaffee County.
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