URBANA — September is Bike Month in Champaign County, and many cyclists are participating in events meant to raise bike awareness. Bike to Work day is one of many opportunities for cyclists to learn more about bike safety, and encourages people to ditch their car and commute by bike instead. Cyclists were offered food & drinks, a free shirt to commemorate the event, and important bike safety information.
One cyclist, Nick Olsen is a daily bike commuter already, but says he understands the importance of events like Bike to Work Day.
“I think it’s a good push for people who maybe don’t do it as regularly to see, you know, maybe it’s not that difficult… In general I think we have pretty good biking infrastructure too, it’s not that hard to get around most of the C-U area on a bike,” Olsen said.
Eighteen different Bike to Work Day stations were set up around Champaign County, including two new ones in Mahomet and Rantoul. The expansion comes as the prevalence of biking in the county continues to grow.
Jeff Yockey, the executive director of Champaign County Bikes, has been volunteering his time at Bike Month events for over a decade now. He says he’s seen the event expand since he first started.
“On average, we’ll have over one thousand people involved visiting today, and twenty five percent of those will be first time riders. So this will be the first time that they’ve ever gotten their bike out and rode to work,” said Yockey, “One of the cool things is that it’s easy to spot other bicycle riders in the weeks after bike to work day, because you see the shirts and know that’s where they came from.”
Yockey and other cyclists say they’ve also seen bike accessibility grow in recent years through infrastructure improvements like road diets, which convert an already existing four-lane road into three lanes with room for bike lanes and wider sidewalks on the outside. Another accessibility improvement has been the introduction of e-bikes around town. Companies like Veo offer bike transportation for students and community members without ever having to purchase their own bike.
Olsen says he thinks the bike sharing service is helpful to those who need it, and to the environment.
“I think it’s a good thing just in terms of overall being a greener transportation option for people to adopt, and it also makes biking more accessible,” said Olsen, “We’re in the Midwest so we don’t have a ton of hills but you know, on like hot days you can let the battery take over and give your legs a rest.”
Other events put on during Bike Month include group bike rides at Meadowbrook Park & Light the Night on Sept. 22, which offers free bike lights for those who need them for riding at night. There will be five locations on campus to pick the lights up, free of charge. Cyclists will also be able to receive information about bike safety at night,