Kick off another year of Car Free Fridays with a bag of SWAG

What exactly is National Bike to Work Day you ask?  Well, we like to think of it as an invitation, a chance, for you to try out the many simple benefits of bike commuting.  This Friday, May 18th, we’ll see hundreds (if not thousands) of Pittsburghers grab the handlebars to give biking to work a shot.  And as many of them will find, the commute is just more fun, and goes faster on a bike! In fact, more than likely you’ll arrive at work with a smile!

As usual, Bike To Work Day will kick off BikePGH’s Car Free Fridays initiative – programing meant to promote alternative transit and end rush hour traffic, one car trip at a time.  To celebrate our new season of programing, and the special Bike To Work Day holiday, May 18th will have plenty of giveaways, promotions and events for people riding bikes.  So rally some friends, family, and co-workers and get ready to ride your bikes to work!

Join Mayor Ravenstahl at a news conference

At 8:30 am on the County Office Building’s Portico a press conference will be held to give a chance for some of the city’s most influential bike advocates to speak a little about the future and importance of improving the climate of bicycling in Pittsburgh.  We’ll hear inspiring words from Mayor Ravenstahl and BikePGH’s Executive Director Scott Bricker.

What to Expect

• Hydration Stations

For Bike To Work Day, from 7:30-9:30am, BikePGH has collaborated with lots different businesses to bring you THIRTEEN hydration stations where they’ll have food, coffee and other treats to keep the ride to work filling and fun.  Each Hydration Station will be located on major bike commuting routes, so you should have no problem finding one on your ride to work.  See the map below of all the Hydration Station Locations.  Hydration Station visitors will also get a free SWAG BAG!

View 2012 Bike to Work Day: Hydration Station Locations in a larger map

• The Mysterious SWAG Bag!

Besides the joys of youthfulness and freedom that participating in Bike To Work Day will bring you, the free SWAG Bag is sure to be one of the day’s other joys.  Everyone who rides can get a bag at the hydration station. This year we have a number of  awesome sponsors who have donated some useful goodies to fill these beautiful Car Free Fridays canvas bags.  You’ll be even more happy you made the trip by bike!

• Bike To Work Day Passports

Also inside the SWAG Bags will be a Bike To Work Day Passport with discounts for a number of local businesses good until May 24th – one week after bike to work day.  We’re going to keep details a secret for now, but you can expect to see promotions from some the best places in Pittsburgh to eat, drink, and be merry.

• Bike to Work Day Evening Happy Hours

Just as important as the bike ride into work is the bike ride home!  To take care of your after-work thirst, Penn Brewery is hosting a special Bike From Work Day Happy Hour with $3 pints and half price appetizers from 5-7.

Over the Bar Bicycle Café will also launch their Car Free Fridays happy hour on Bike To Work Day, where they will donate 10% of all Happy Hour sales from now through October to BikePGH!

Take the Bike To Work Day Pledge!

Are you ready for a fun Bike To Work Day on Friday, May 18th! If you’re a first time bike commuter, give it a try!  If you’re a regular rider, get someone new to try it too!  Who knows, it could be the beginning of a beautiful relationship between a bike and its rider.

Take the pledge to ride Bike To Work Day 2012 today!

Getting out on a bike

The strength of Bike To Work Day is in the fact that it’s a fun activity that brings us together as a community of people on bikes.  It is our sincere hope that you can join.  If it has been a while since you’ve ridden a bike, we’ve published a Bike Commuting 101 Guide to share some tricks and tips about urban riding meant to help you get back in the saddle. If you have any specific questions about biking that you’d like to be answered, we also host an on-line messageboard where hundreds of avid Pittsburgh bicyclists of all types are glad to share their experience and wisdom with you.

If you would like some company when you bike to work BikePGH will be more than happy to help you find a bike buddy too. Just send us an email at bikepool@bike-pgh.org, include your contact information, the intersection where you would like someone to meet you, and the time you want to arrive to work. We’ll do our best to make a match.

Bike to Work Day is a signature event of Great Outdoors Week.

Photo credit: Rob de la Cretaz

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Represent Pittsburgh!  Invite your friends, form your teams, and help pedal PGH to the top of the national leaderboards!  Show people that the hills just make us stronger!