17th Annual Bike to Work Day
Thursday, May 12, 2011

The Cupertino Bicycle Pedestrian Commission (BPC) in conjunction with the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) and many other community BPCs are encouraging commuters and students to leave their cars at home and join tens of thousands of their fellow Bay Area residents in biking to work or school.

Again this year, the Cupertino BPC will set up an Energizer Station, in front of the Quinlan Community Center at 10185 North Stelling Road, operating from 6:30-9:30 am and serving both hot coffee and coffee cake while dispensing information and encouragement to all passing cyclists.

Bike to Work Day (BTWD) is a community event that encourages residents to try bicycling as their mode of transportation to get healthy exercise while relieving traffic congestion, improving air quality, reducing petroleum consumption, and saving money.

SVBC coordinates BTWD for Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties. Bay Area-wide BTWD contests challenge groups of cyclists to form teams and submit records of their bike commuting during Bike Month, which is the month of May. Information can be found at http://bikesiliconvalley.org/btwd/, the SVBC website. Check the 511 website at http://bicycling.511.org/ for information to help map bike routes to work.

Cupertino had a very successful BTWD last year with a count of 140 cyclists pedaling north and 96 pedaling south on Stelling Road past the Energizer Station for a total of 236, of which 92 stopped for coffee, cake, and a chat about their commute. A small sample of bicyclists crossing the Mary Avenue Bicycle Footbridge suggests that upwards of 353 bicyclists participated in BTWD which would be a 9 percent increase over the 2009 participation.