Bike to Work Month: Here’s what you need to know
May 11, 2015 •
May is Bike to Work month, and UCOP is participating in a couple of related events.
The Team Bike Challenge runs throughout the month, where teams of UCOP ot two to five employees have a friendly competition on bicycle trips. UCOP staff logged over 3,500 miles last May, with Edward Tolentino (ITS) taking the top spot by biking 445 miles to burn an estimated 19,000 calories. To sign up for the Team Bike Challenge with UCOP, visit http://teambikechallenge.com/companies/show/719.
Bike to Work day is on Thursday, May 14. Energizer stations all over the Bay Area will offer goodies and snacks for people cycling to work. A fair will happen right outside Oakland City Hall in Frank Ogawa Plaza from 7 to 9 a.m., offering a free pancake breakfast, valet bike parking, bike safety check, and a raffle. Information about energizer stations is here: https://bikeeastbay.org/energizer. Details about the breakfast and Oakland “Pedal Pools” biking into downtown is here: http://wobo.org/bike-to-work-day/.
UCOP employee Eric Odell has been recognized as a 2015 Bike Commuter of the Year. He bikes from Richmond to UCOP each day, a 22-mile round trip. “I used to work at UC Berkeley and bike to campus. When I got this job in Oakland I thought I might not be able to commute all the way,” Odell said. He started biking to BART, and spent most of his commute on the train. Soon he began biking the entire trip. “I pretty much sit for a living as a keyboard jockey [or systems administrator], but when I bike to work I arrive a lot happier. I work out a lot of problems in my head on my way in. I’m more productive when I show up because I’m ready to go. I’ve pieced together what I’m working on.”
UCOP supports bike commuting by offering showers and secure bike parking in the Franklin Street employee garage and at the Kaiser Building. To have Franklin bike-parking authorization added to your UCOP employee ID card, contact the Work Management Center at buildingservices@ucop.edu. Processing may take a few hours, so be sure to arrange this before biking to work. At Franklin, showers and day-use lockers are by the elevator on the 9th floor. (Bring your own toiletries and towel.)
For Kaiser building access to parking and showers, contact Kaiser Building Management at KaiserCenter@Swigco.com. There is also a shower on the fourth floor of the 20th St. building.
For more information on biking at UCOP, contact Ryan Chan.
Also visit these community resources:
- 511 SF Bay Area: Bicycling Resource Guide
- BikeLink (secure bike parking at BART)
- Bike East Bay (formerly EBBC)
- Walk Oakland Bike Oakland
- Oakland Bicycle and Pedestrian Program
- San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
- Bikes on BART
I’ll have home made rhubarb muffins for those who ride to work at UCOP Franklin on Bike to Work Day