Get Your Gears Turning at Bike Week

By Bill Maxfield

On May 4, Santa Cruz County’s Annual Bike Week kicks off its 25th year of encouraging Santa Cruz residents to ride their bike instead of driving. Biking is an affordable, fun and healthy form of transportation, especially with Bike Week activities that provide businesses, commuters and public agencies the incentive to engage in pollution-reducing transportation alternatives. Bike Week runs from May 4-12, beginning with a First Friday event, May 4, from 5-9pm, at the Museum of Art & History, 705 Front Stt., Santa Cruz. 

Held during National Bike Month, Santa Cruz County’s premiere biking event features fun activities all week to inspire bike commuters to not only ride to work, but also to school, to shop, to eat or to the beach. Highlights this year include:
- May 4: First Friday bicycle-inspired art exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art
- May 6: Bike to Worship
- May 10: Bike to Work and School Day
- Variety of free giveaways all week long at local businesses

For Bike to Work and School Day, May 10, there will be 16 public breakfast sites from Watsonville to Santa Cruz, as well as locations in Felton and Scotts Valley, where bike commuters can receive free breakfast, basic bike maintenance, acupuncture and massages. Over 45 schools will celebrate Bike to School Day. In 2011, over 2,000 commuters and 5,000 students participated, the largest turnout since the inception of Bike Week in 1987.
 
“Community support for Bike Week has grown dramatically over the past 25 years,” said Piet Canin, Vice President of the Sustainable Transportation Group at Ecology Action. “The event is a key element of what makes Santa Cruz County a bike-friendly place to live. Thanks to an increased focus on conservation, climate change, health and wellness, and strong partnerships with businesses, schools and churches, we’re expecting record-breaking turnout this year.”

Bike to School on May 10th and receive free breakfast at these participating campuses:

• Ann Soldo Elementary School
• Aptos High School
• Bayview Elementary School
• Branciforte Middle School
• Cypress Charter High School
• De LaVeaga Elementary School
• Del Mar Elementary School
• E.A. Hall Middle School
• Gateway School
• Gault Elementary School
• Green Acres Elementary School
• H.A. Hyde Elementary School
• Harbor High School
• Kirby Preparatory Middle School and High School
• Landmark Elementary School
• Live Oak Elementary School
• MacQuiddy Elementary School
• Main Street Elementary School
• Mar Vista Elementary School
• Mintie White Elementary School
• Mission Hill Middle School
• Monarch Elementary School
• New Brighton Middle School
• Orchard Elementary School
• Pacific Collegiate Charter School
• Pajaro Valley High School
• Radcliff Elementary School
• Rio Del Mar Elementary School
• Rolling Hills Middle School
• Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary School
• Santa Cruz High School
• Scotts Valley Middle School
• Shoreline Middle School
• Soquel Elementary School
• Soquel High School
• Spring Hill Elementary School
• St. Francis High School
• Starlight Elementary School
• Tierra Pacifica (K-8)
• Watsonville High School
• Westlake Elementary School

Bike Week is coordinated by Ecology Action and is funded by numerous local businesses, public agencies, and community groups. Major funding is provided by the Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission, City of Santa Cruz, Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District, The Bicycle Trip, City of Watsonville, Fox Racing Shox, Odwalla, Whole Foods, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Jamba Juice and UCSC TAPS.