Last week, the Active Transportation Alliance started its 2025 Bike Commuter Challenge, presented by Keating Law Offices. (The firm is also a Streetsblog Chicago sponsor.) The first celebration station was put up on Wednesday, May 28, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the entrance to the Bloomingdale Trail, aka The 606, at Churchill Park, 1825 N. Damen Ave. in Bucktown.
In this month-long biking competition, Chicago organizations compete to see who can earn the most points by riding their bike for work-related trips. This format is a step up from the challenge's early days. According to Vanjo Cortes, ATA's volunteer coordinator, the challenge started about 10 years ago, was just a bike-to-work challenge, and only lasted a week.
"It's very simple," said Cortes, "So basically, if they bike to work with our system, they just log in their miles. So, say, if one person biked from Bronzeville all the way down to downtown, I think it's about five miles. So then they would log five miles, and any ride that counts to and from work counts towards your points. And that is, it's calculated with your team points as well. So it's summed up from your company points so you can participate in the team with your company as well. Not just individually."
What happens once you get all of your points? According to Cortes, they typically award the top ten companies with the commuter challenge poster. Besides that, there are also twice weekly drawings that will award prizes at random throughout the competition. Said prizes include a snack bag, a hip pouch, and tote bags. Revolution Brewing also gave ATA pins and lights to hand out at the celebration stations.
The celebration stations are ATA's way of meeting the participants doing the challenge. For the participants, they also provide them an opportunity to meet the participants. It's also an opportunity for participants to earn some more free treats. "Rev Brew has provided some pins and sunglasses," Cortes said. "We have BFF Bikes, providing just some basic maintenance and free consultations to cyclists and pedestrians who come by. We have The Wicker Park Bucktown Chamber of Commerce, providing rear lights, front lights, and bicycles, straps for the ankles, and overall, general community resources for anyone who stops by."
We at Streetsblog Chicago stopped by the station, where we met participant Paul Reise. Since the Bike Commuter Challenge had started the previous day, May 27, he hadn't logged in too many miles at that point. At least this year. Reise has been participating in the challenge for three or four years.
"I guess, I hope it'll move the needle a little bit for people's decision-making on how they get to and from work," said Reise. "If you don't ride your bike instead of driving even one day a week, that's a big movement for a lot of people. So, if we can just get the word out there that it's a viable way to commute, and there's issues that come with it, but there's ways around all."
Another participant was Kay Spreiter, who's been a member of ATA on and off for 15-plus years. However, this was her first year doing the Bike Commuter Challenge. Spreiter said that, although she bikes most days, she wanted to push herself a little.
"I mean, this is my way of getting around," said Spreiter. "I walk, I bike, I use CTA. But sometimes I'll be like, 'Oh, you know, it looks like it might rain,' and I'll take the CTA. But [the Commuter Challenge] might just push me to [ride a bike], like, even when it looks like it might rain, and then leave my bike at work and then take another mode of transportation home."
When asked what ATA hoped to accomplish with the Bike Commuter Challenge, Cortes said, "I think it would be better to say what Active Trans is in the first place, which, from what I'm understanding, is making transit, walking, and biking better for the Chicagoland area. So, with that said, if we can cultivate and catalyze people to start biking to work, for example, they may start to do that throughout the whole year, and because we're challenging companies to do it, we're hoping that that kind of culture of biking to work spreads within those companies and even in those sectors."
If any of the above sounds fun, you're in luck because it's not too late to join. Cortes wanted to say that the challenge closes June 23, while the last day to put in your miles is June 30. You can find out more information at biketoworkchallenge.org, including how to register.
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