Participate in the Bike Challenge and Win Prizes!

LTR-Facebook-Memes_7The City of Decatur has formed a team for the Atlanta Bike Challenge which runs from September 28 to October 19 and we invite citizens and employees alike to join our team. So far the Decatur team is Tracie, Cheryl, Jeff, and Trish. Recruit your Decatur friends and neighbors, everybody bike!

The 3rd-annual Atlanta Bike Challenge will be going strong ALL OVER the metro area including Decatur. You just have to ride your bike 10 minutes a day, or 10 minutes ever to participate! Log when you bike to yoga, bike to work, bike around the park, bike to the pool…you get the idea, just bike!

Log your rides (a few or all of them) at ATLBikeChallenge.com or through the Love to Ride mobile app to qualify for great prizes.Be sure to sign up for the City of Decatur team its not just employees, its meant to be citizens too!

What’s the goal? It’s all about participation – which workplaces (or in our case communities) can get the most people to ride a bike? Metro Atlanta business will compete against each other to see who can get the most staff to ride a bike during the challenge. It’s not about who can cycle the most miles, but who can encourage the most people to give bicycling a try.

Throughout the Atlanta Bike Challenge, participants will qualify for awesome prizes. However, to be eligible for the grand prize, you must log cycling trips to and from work. And by participating, you’ll get bragging rights when you reach goals and recruit coworkers to join in on the fun. Logging is easy, click # of miles, click date, done!

To find out more and to register, visit ATLBikeChallenge.com. And connect through the Facebook event.

Cooking, Walking, Biking, & Garden Herbal Tea Party on the calendar

The October air is invigorating isn’t it? Everyone in Decatur feels it too and they are out and about being active, which we love and applaud. If you need ideas to focus your outings, here are a few active options (and ALL are free) going on at the Rec Center in the next 7 days. Cooking class, Walk With a Doc, Bike Commuters breakfast, Garden tea party.
Simply Delicious

Simply Delicious

Simply Delicious: Healthy Food to Celebrate the Season. Wednesday morning join the fun and funky Wylde Center Chefs and learn scrumptious recipes, tips, and tricks to enjoy fall foods in this special free Living Greenclass at the Decatur Library. Wednesday October 16, 10:30-11:30am, Free.

Walk With A Doc

Walk With A Doc

Walk With a Doc features Dr. Khurram Khan this week, an Assistant Professor Of Medicine, Division of General Medicine and Geriatrics from the Emory University School Of Medicine and the Wesley Woods Outpatient Center. See you every Wednesday for a walk at 11am including this week October 16 @11am, Free.

BTWBike to Work Commuter Breakfast is held in May and October, two delightful months to commute to work by bike. The challenge is issued by the Clean Air Campaign, Georgia Commute Options and local organizations interested in clean air, active transportation, and alternate travel modes., We’ll be out front on Sycamore Street at a table full of coffee, juice, and baked goodies from Java Monkey to encourage, reward, and support all those who choose to bike to work that day and stop by. Local partners in the Decatur bike community will be on hand to answer questions about gear, clothing, bikes, routes, bike buddies, tall tales and such. Here’s the facebook event for more info and if you will, RSVP so we’ll have just the right amount of refreshments. See you October 17 @7am-9am on your way to work, Free.
botanist
Scott Garden Herbal Tea Party is one week from today and YOU are invited! First our gardeners will meet on Saturday October 19 for a work day and get the garden all spiffed up. Then on Monday, we’ll entertain the public with herbal teas made from the garden bounty and host Amy Stewart, author of the Drunken Botanist, for a quick meet & greet prior to her book talk next door at the library which is presented by Georgia Center for the Book. Be sure to grab a free copy of our list of botanical cocktails available in downtown Decatur to guide you on your exploration. Here’s the facebook event for more info and please ‘like’ their page to follow them. Tea Party is at October 21 @6pm and book talk is at 715pm; both are Free. 

Local Team of 5 Citizens Tries Bike Commuting

BTWhttp://thechampionnewspaper.com/bike-to-work-decatur-residents-take-challenge/

Our city is friendly for bike commuting, or at least has growing infrastructure to support the effort: bike lanes, bike racks, sharrows (that symbol of an arrow over a bike that indicates share the route), off road paths, bike shops, traffic calming, and bike boxes. More will come if we use it, and that’s the way things always work right? If you build it they WILL come. So, here WE are: a team of 5 Decaturites who are trying bike commuting for the month of October, and 3 of us for the first time. It’s all part of a fun metro area Bike to Work challenge led by Clean Air Campaign, full story at the link below.

Team photo will come next week when we all meet face to face for the first time. That’s right, we don’t even all know each other, but we are all interested in trying this new transportation alternative in a supportive friendly environment so we formed a team, as have many across the metro area. Check out the fun team names at http://www.atlbiketowork.org/ and keep an eye on us ‘Decatur Active Living Wheels’ and note that although the challenge just started, we are in 2nd place!

So, stay tuned to meet Laura the teacher, Zach the planner, Cheryl the community leader, Paul the bike shop guru, and me Tracie the active living champion. We’ll let you know how it goes and you let us know if you are out there bike commuting too!

http://www.atlantaintownpaper.com/2013/10/bike-work-challenge-october-long/

Active Living Includes Teens Too!

October Bike to Work/School Challenge, and Momentum Magazine Calls for Stories from High School Cyclists

high school cyclists - bike to grad

BTW

In a bicycle friendly city like Decatur we love to see students biking all the time and this Fall there are two opportunities for TEENS to have a voice. 1) Share your story as Momentum Magazine offers and 2) be sure to enter the October Bike Challenge open to teens aged 13-18.  Just click School Challenge athttp://www.atlbiketowork.org/  and while you are at it, invite mom & dad to bike to work and participate in the challenge too championed by the Clean Air Campaign.

Bike to Prom (pictured). If you’re a teenager who regularly bikes to school, it’s time to tell your story. There are lots of planners and engineers working to get more cyclists on our streets, but we really need to hear from some teenagers! What’s your story? Momentum Magazine has four categories that they’re curious about, pick one and share your story:  http://www.urbanthinkers.ca/high-school-cyclists/

  1. Do you love biking to high school? What’s your story?

  2. Are you pretty much the only student who bikes to your high school? What’s your story?

  3. Are there lots of students who bike to your high school? What’s your story?

  4. Were there some real barriers you had to deal with before regularly biking to high school? What’s your story?

Register for the Bike to Work Challenge

The Clean Air Campaign is Challenging YOU to Bike to Work in October!

The challenge is for everyone – from avid bike riders to people who haven’t ridden a bike in years. It’s all about trying a cleaner and healthier way to get around. Some people ride into work, others ride to the bus stop or train station. Did you know you can take a bike on buses and trains?

Compete for Individual and Team Prizes
See how many miles you have biked
Find Bicycling Classes, safety tips and other resources

Challenge a friend. Challenge yourself. Have fun!

Register today at atlbiketowork.com.

The first 100 to register get a free water bottle and wristband!! So what are you waiting for?