Press Release for Lincoln Bike Challenge

Lincoln Set to Celebrate 1st Place in National Bike Challenge

(Lincoln, NE)—The city of Lincoln achieved first place among class one cities from across the country (cities with a population over 200,000) and is making plans to celebrate its national ranking on Monday, October 14, at the Brewsky’s Haymarket location beginning at 4 p.m.

The hosts of the gathering are: BicycLincoln, Lincoln’s bicycle advocacy organization, Waste Cap Nebraska, a member-based, non-profit, Lincoln Lancaster County Health Department, several local bicycle shops, the Great Plains Trails Network, the Transportation and Land Use Committee of the Mayor’s Environmental Task Force, and the Lincoln bicycle community will host the gathering. The National Bike Challenge is a five month long national bicycle challenge focused on promoting recreation and encouraging people to choose a bicycle for their everyday travels in place of a motor vehicle .

A social hour is planned to begin at 4 p.m. at the Brewsky’s Haymarket location at 201 North 8th 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, and other prizes from local bike clubs and local and national businesses are being awarded to those that logged miles in the challenge.

The Nation Bike Challenge began on May 1st and ended September 30th. It was sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists, Kimberly Clark Corporation, Trek Bicycle Company, and Bikes Belong. The Challenge united almost 35,000 Americans to bike more than 18 million miles this summer. In just its second year, the friendly competition increased the distance traveled for transportation, recreation, and fitness in communities nationwide by 50 percent. 

BicycLincoln, Lincoln Lancaster County Health Department, and other local organizations have encouraged Lincoln residents to take on the “Lincoln Bike Challenge” and participate in the National Bike Challenge, which many residents did.  With more than 1,100 riders, 75 teams, and 293 workplaces logging over 634,300 miles, Lincoln ended the Challenge ahead of nationally recognized bicycle communities such as Madison, WI, Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN, Portland, OR, and Boulder, CO. The state of Nebraska got 2nd place out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in the Challenge.

More information on the celebration contact Michael G. Heyl” <[email protected] or Damon Hershey [email protected].