May 20 is National Bike to Work Day and Sarah Kiewitz, English professor and Pete Willis, criminal justice coordinator, hope students, faculty and staff at Sinclair joins them in biking to RiverScape to enjoy the annual Bike to Work Day Pancake Breakfast.
“Five Rivers is a huge component of biking. That’s a gem. That’s one of the gems in the gem city is our Five Rivers MetroParks,” Willis said.
Bike to Work Day Pancake Breakfast is a part of the Drive Less Live More Campaign, which connects the greater Dayton area to cleaner and more affordable transportation options.
“Dayton is promoting itself as a bike friendly city,” Willis said.
This will be Kiewitz third year participating in Bike to Work Day, and she hopes to see more people from Sinclair taking part in the event.
“We are trying to get more students, faculty and staff to participate,” Kiewitz said. “It’s a fun event.”
Last year, according to Kiewitz, Lexus Nexus won with 55 riders and University of Dayton had 50 riders and Sinclair had 33 riders.
“I hope that we can get our 33 registered bikers from last year to all bring a friend,” Kiewitz said. “It’s not related to how many miles rode, its just logged by how many bikers are there [from each organization].”
Willis and Kiewitz agree that ideally people should be biking to work on the national day, but in order to win you have to bike to the MetroPark and register as Sinclair.
“There’s a vibrant biking community here,” Kiewitz said. “The special thing about Bike to Work Day is that there are so many vendors and bike enthusiasts and a lot of freebies.”
Besides the “freebies,” Willis said that biking is environmentally friendly. Kiewitz added that biking is a very grounding experience, and allows you to be mindful about yourself and the environment.
“You release a lot of endorphins and its good for the environment and you get a connection that you don’t get inside a car,” Willis said.
One of the goals Kiewitz hopes to see is the increase in bike riders, but also the usage of the Link bikes.
“This year we are trying to encourage people who have biked in the past to bring a friend using the link bikes,” Kiewitz said. “We are set so perfectly right here, just grab a link bike and it’ll take you nine minutes to ride from campus to RiverScape,” Willis added.
He said there are many rewards to biking, and with the newly marked bike lanes and trails, Daytonians should utilize it.
“There’s financial reward; every mile you put on your bike, you’re saving the wear and tear of your car. There are health rewards because you’re less prone to illness because you’re active,” Willis said. “There is community; I see people on a regular basis who bike.”
In order to prepare for Bike to Work Day, Lucy Sanchez from the MetroParks, will be speaking in the Library Loggia on Wednesday, April 27 at noon to talk about bike safety.
Kiewitz said she sees lots of students biking to campus, and hopes to encourage more to commute via bicycle.
“It’s such a joy to bike to commute,” Kiewtiz said. “You don’t need to be a bicycle nerd to get out and enjoy biking.”
Join Kiewitz and Willis at RiverScape from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. to enjoy a free pancake breakfast and live music, along with a chance to win prizes and to talk to other bike enthusiasts and vendors.
For more information, visit www.metroparks.org or contact Kiewitz at 937-512-2591.
Gabrielle Sharp
Executive Editor