100K Rode Bikes To Work Today Throughout Bay Area

PHOTO: Courtesy of Bike to Work Day San Francisco Bay on Facebook.

----

More than 100,000 people in the Bay Area rode their bikes to work today to celebrate Bike to Work Day, despite heavy rain in some places, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission said.

More than 51,000 riders rode by or stopped at energizer stations where they were able to get drinks, food, gifts and encouragement, MTC spokeswoman Leslie Lara-Enriquez said. The number could be higher because not all stations in Napa and Solano counties had reported in by 3:23 p.m.

“Based on the mode split in each county, we can safely assume that over 100,000 riders participated in Bike to Work Day 2015,” Lara-Enriquez said

• Also see: 6th Annual rideATAXIA NorCal Cycling Fundraiser Rolls Into Davis May 30

But event manager for Bike to Work Day 2015 Hallie Baron said the numbers were down from last year.

“Some cities really got soaked,” Baron said.

Baron said she was on the Golden Gate Bridge when she spoke with two men who had traveled from San Anselmo and Greenbrae, an unincorporated community in Marin County. The men told Baron it poured in both places.

National Weather Service forecaster Bob Benjamin said there was brief heavy rain during the commute hours in the South Bay. Baron said the count in the South Bay was down by about 3,000 riders.

Seventy-six percent of eastbound traffic on Market Street in San Francisco between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. this morning was cyclists, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition spokeswoman Marta Lindsey said. Lindsey said about 21 percent of the traffic was cars and about 3 percent was taxis and transit.

This year is the 21st annual Bay Area Bike to Work Day. All nine counties of the Bay Area participated, Lara-Enriquez said.

The MTC is one of the day’s primary sponsors, Baron said. Cyclists were able to stop at more than 400 energizer stations across the region, MTC and Bay Area Bicycle Coalition officials said. Some of the stations were to be open again for the evening commute.

After work, cyclists can join their peers at five evening celebrations in the East Bay, according to Bike East Bay, a 4,000-member organization that advocates for better biking conditions.

Sports Basement at 2727 Milvia St. in Berkeley is hosting a Bike Happy Hour party until 8:30 p.m., featuring beer, music and a raffle. Frank Jensen, mayor of Copenhagen, Denmark, will be a special guest of the evening.

BART’s new Uptown Bike Station at 19th and Broadway was celebrating its first Bike to Work Day. The station offers free, secure bike storage, equipment and services such as wheel truing and U-lock sales, according to BART.

Bike Concord is hosting an event with live music, games, free face painting for kids, bike education booths and happy hour specials at Todos Santos Plaza in Concord until 8 p.m. The plaza is about four blocks from the Concord BART station.

--Bay City News

Also on Patch:

• How To Post Your Event or Announcement on Patch
• Man Accused Of Killing 1, Injuring 8 On Port Chicago Hwy Pleads Not Guilty To DUI
• Contra Costa Co. Man Awaiting Trial On Arson, Hate Crimes In Church Fire
• Concord Music and Market Series
• BART is Hiring: Electrician, Accounting, Administrative Analysts
• Walk and Shop Walnut Creek Farmers Market, Then Cooking Class With Top Chef!