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by Jean Marie Linhart and Lara Zuehlke
photo by Shawn Hokanson: Bicycle parking
and the Brazos Valley Cyclists booth behind Freebirds World Burrito at the
Bike to Work Day Celebration
Bike to Work day in the Bryan/College Station area was well attended April 30. Although it was a quieter affair than in the past, as the band scheduled for the lunch hour decided their Bike To Work Day gig started at 11 pm instead of 11 am.
For the past five years members of the Brazos Valley Cyclists have teamed up with Freebirds World Burrito to promote cycling with a celebration near the Texas A&M campus featuring free burritos and live music over the lunch hour. Festivities were unabated even without live music this year. Freebirds reports giving away coupons for more than 640 free burritos, of which 540 burritos were actually given away to bicycle commuters and volunteers in the 11 am to 2 pm time slot. Daylong activities included free Shipley Donuts and giveaways including blinking lights from the Brazos Valley Cyclists Club and water bottles from Texas A&M University's Transportation Services. Robert Rose of the Cycles Etc. bicycle store in College Station organized the event.
The event encouraged community members, including Texas A&M University's 40,000+ students, to commute to work, school or ride just for fun.
This year the club presented a Trek 800 commuting bike, complete with lights, rear rack and kick stand, to Project Unity of Bryan. A central mission of Project Unity is to help families eliminate barriers preventing them from reaching their goals and improving their lives. Because transportation to and from work is often a major hurdle, Project Unity helped the club identify a recipient for the bike.
Bike Giveaway Coordinator Billy Cox donated the bike and helmet, while Brazos Valley Cyclists provided lock, basic tire repair kit and club membership including a T-shirt. According to Billy, he and the club hope to expand this program in the future, partnering with Project Unity to match bicycles with more local residents with transportation needs.
For more information on Bike to Work Day in the Brazos Valley,
visit www.brazoscyclists.org/btwd.html.
And for more information on Brazos Valley Cyclists' scheduled rides
and activities in the Bryan/College Station area, visit
www.brazoscyclists.org.
photo by Billy Cox: Bicycle parking and
the Brazos Valley Cyclists booth behind Freebirds World Burrito at
the Bike to Work Day Celebration
photo by Billy Cox: The line of bicycle
commuters waiting for burritos
photo by Billy Cox: Brazos Valley
Cyclists members surround representatives from Project Unity and
Jessie Kubiak, the bicycle recipient
photo by Billy Cox: Jessie Kubiak receives
her bicycle. She will be commuting to and from her job at Texas A&M
University on the bicycle.
