Press Release on the Lincoln Commuter Challenge

Lincoln Set to Celebrate 3^rd Place in National Bike Challenge

(Lincoln, NE)—The City of Lincoln, currently sitting in 3^rd place out of more than 677 communities from across the country, is making plans to celebrate its national ranking on Friday, September 7 at Brewsky’s Haymarket location beginning at 6 p.m.

BicycLincoln; Lincoln’s bicycle advocacy organization, Waste Cap Nebraska, several local bicycle shops, the Transportation and Land Use Committee of the Mayor’s Environmental Task Force, and the Lincoln bicycle community will host the gathering to close out what has been a four month long national bicycle challenge focused on encouraging people to choose a bicycle for their everyday travels in place of a motor vehicle.

A social hour is planned to begin at 6 p.m. at the Brewsky’s Haymarket location at 201 North 8^th Street, followed by a 7 p.m. awards ceremony recognizing Lincoln’s riders, teams, and workplaces that participated in the Challenge.  TMCO of Lincoln is donating hand-wrought awards for each of the winners.

The “Get Up & Ride” national bike challenge began on May 1^st and will end on August 31^st.  Sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists, Kimberly Clark Corporation, Trek Bicycle Company, and Bikes Belong, the Challenge had a goal of 50,000 people recording over 10 million miles of bicycling this summer.  To date, more than 30,000 people have logged over 10.8 million miles.

BicycLincoln, WasteCap Nebraska, and other local organizations have encouraged Lincoln residents to take the “Lincoln Commuter Challenge” and participate in the national bike challenge, which many residents did.  With more than 880 riders, 99 teams, and 273 workplaces logging over 361,000 miles, Lincoln will end the Challenge ahead of nationally recognized bicycle communities such as Madison, WI; Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, Portland, OR, and Boulder, CO.  Lincoln currently trails only Burlington, VT in first place and Appleton, WI in second place. The state of Nebraska is currently in 3^rd place out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the Challenge.

For more information about the celebration contact Julie Diegel [email protected], 402-434-7376 or Damon Hershey [email protected].

– As well as awards, prizes will be given, randomly chosen, from ALL that have participated in the Lincoln Commuter Challenge. Prizes include a Giant commuter bike!