Congratulations, Maria Piper!
Maria crushed it, saving 143 of CO2 in just one month!
Thank you to all who joined in on the fun and made substantial impacts, too — we hope to continue to see you around town getting life’s business done by bike!
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September 30 Update
Wow, the month just flew by, and it’s time to wrap up our competition! Be sure to email a screencap of your Love to Ride dashboard to us at bwa-contests@googlegroups.com by October 3 if you want a chance to win bragging rights and the prize! It should look something like this:
You can find your own dashboard through the mobile app on your phone or from a computer, but the computer option is a bit easier. Log in, and click on your user profile (your name, on the upper right side of the web page). Once there, you’ll see your personal dashboard, and to see Cycle September stats, you’ll need to select it from the “Stats” drop down on the right hand side of the dashboard:
Note that the trips that count for this competition are “Transport Trips,” not indoor cycling or trips made exclusively for fun or recreation. If you made Transport Trips, but they’re not showing here, worry not! You can edit the purpose of your trips further down the page, in the “Activity” section. Click the trips that need editing, and reset the purpose to the correct category (one of the Transport options). You’ll see your dashboard update accordingly.
If you want to edit trip purpose through the mobile app, select “Rides” section at the bottom (bike icon) — select the ride, click the blue hamburger menu, choose “Change Trip Purpose”, and choose the closest option. To view your dashboard, select “More” from the bottom menu, choose “My Profile,” “Visit your profile,” and from that page, choose “Cycle September 2023” from the Stats drop-down menu.
Thanks again to everyone for participating!
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Join fellow Alamedans in a city-wide competition to see how many of your everyday trips can be made by bike during the month of September.
How to participate
- Sign up: Visit Love to Ride to register for the challenge and get the app that will allow you to track your miles and carbon savings. Enter as an individual.
- Start tracking your ‘transport trips.’ These are utilitarian trips, like commuting and errands around town. We’ll have to trust that you’ll exclude the purely recreational bike riding you do — the trips tracked for this challenge should be only those that are replacing trips you might normally take by car.
- At the end of September, and no later than October 3, send a screencap of your Cycle September dashboard to info@bikewalkalameda.org so we can determine Alameda’s winner.
Most miles (and pounds of carbon saved) wins the prize!
Prize, you say?
Yes! Beyond bragging rights, the winner will get a gift box of Alameda goodies, and Ice Cream with the Mayor!
Make it easy on yourself!
While carrying small things in backpacks is very doable, baskets and panniers make carrying larger items much easier and a lot more comfortable. Consider adding them to your bike. Visit a local bike shop to see what works for you. Riding at night? Be sure your bike has lights and reflectors. Find more tips here.
Don’t forget that Bike Walk Alameda members get discounts at select shops.
Why replace car trips?
Why not?! According to Alameda’s Active Transportation Plan:
- 70% of Alameda’s climate-warming greenhouse gases are generated from vehicles;
- 70% of all trips in Alameda are made by car;
- 63% of all trips in Alameda are 3 miles or less, an easy bike ride; 31% are less than 1 mile!
It’s a great way to do something about the climate emergency, every day. And the more of us that do it, the greater our collective impact will be. Instead of driving to the post office, grocery store, gym, school, etc., consider biking there. Making a habit of swapping out these small trips can make a big difference!
In addition to the climate benefits, biking regularly is:
- great for physical health, and if done daily for everyday trips around town, is an easy way to meet minimum standards of activity (150 minutes a week);
- great for mental health;
- good for your pocket book — not only saving you gas money, but wear and tear on cars, tires, etc.;
- great for our city — reducing the danger of serious or fatal collisions, noise, and pollution.
Please join us!
Just trying makes you a winner — we hope to see you out there!
