News
Woodinville Bicycle Mileage Challenge 2012
January 19, 2012
By Gracie Cohen
Woodinville residents should keep their eyes open for an increase in the volume of riders hitting the roads over the next year. In its inaugural season, the “Woodinville Bicycle Mileage Challenge” encourages people to log as many miles and vertical feet as possible from January 1, 2012, through December 31, 2012.
The challenge was sparked by an idea from the shop’s staff. When a number of their regular customers extended their recreational rides to become regular biking commuters, they decided to reward them and provide an additional motivation on those, “Should I ride or drive to work?” mornings.
The incentives? Woodinville Bicycle will reward the top cyclists with a biker’s dream prize: a Garmin Edge 500 Bundle with heart rate monitor and cadence sensor going to the person covering the most miles, and a Vertical Garmin Edge 500 for the most vertical feet ridden. These riders will also receive a sweatshirt from Specialized, while the second place finisher based on mileage will receive a Grand Tour Oversized (GTO) handlebar and stem from HED Cycling.
Forget paying for a gym membership, the new toll on SR 520, or wasting expensive gas. With the Burke Gilman trail improvement, cyclists can get some fresh air and a healthy workout for free. Darren Manci, the Woodinville Bicycle shop manager, explains the lucrative deal: “If you calculate the basic expense, you could buy a bicycle and commuter gear to ride to work five days a week, and depending on parking tolls, could save $2,000 a year.”
Open to King and Snohomish County residents, challenge participants can use a gamut of online GPS options to log their rides to and from work, during group rides, trail rides, or wherever else their tires may take them. Neither indoor training nor spinning classes count towards the yearlong mileage quest. Although these rigorous cardio activities are a healthy alternative to vegging out at home, the challenge aims to promote commuting and getting outdoors.
Riders can create a personal login at connect.garmin.com, sign up with www.mapmyride.com, or check out www.ridewithgps.com to track their mileage. For those who opt out of using these sites, they can keep their daily record in an Excel spreadsheet. When referring to the competition’s “honesty factor,” with regards to accurate distance tracking, Manci comments, “There is always a bit of honor to something like this, and we are hoping to see the better nature of those that compete.”
Woodinville Bicycle Shop established a minimum of 150 riders, and currently 50 members have signed up. There are no official status update requirements, but some people have already begun to post their mileage on the “Woodinville Bicycle Mileage Challenge 2012” Facebook group page. For those choosing to post, they can also see their competitors’ mileage.
Relying on locals and fellow bike-swappers to spread the word, the shop plans to promote the challenge from their booth during the Seattle Bicycle Swap, which will be presented at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall on February 12, 2012.
Join the online group to get the latest status updates and information, email MC2012@woodinvillebicycle.com for any questions, or stop by the shop to receive an official invitation.
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