Mayor Sam Katz predicts the first day of summer will be a nice day to get on a bicycle.

The mayor has proclaimed Friday, June 20 "Bike To Work Day" in an effort to persuade more Winnipeggers to leave their carbon dioxide-spewing cars at home.

"You may wish to know that spandex is not required," the mayor joked Friday as he encouraged all 16 members of city council, 9,000 city employees and all 660,000 Winnipeg residents to commute on two wheels instead of four.

So far, Couns. Justin Swandel (St. Norbert), Gord Steeves (St. Vital), Scott Fielding (St. James), Jenny Gerbasi (Fort Rouge), Russ Wyatt (Transcona) and Mike Pagtakhan (Point Douglas) have pledged to ride to work on June 20.

Bike To Work Day is entirely separate from the weeklong Commuter Challenge issued every June by Resource Conservation Manitoba, a non-governmental lobby group. This year's challenge, which implores Winnipeggers to commute by any means other than single-occupancy cars, takes place June 1-7.

The non-profit organization supports the mayor's efforts and is not concerned people will confuse Bike To Work Day with the Commuter Challenge.

"We look at it as another thing to do after the challenge," said Sara Perlmutter, who co-ordinates the seven-day event for RCM. "The challenge is great, but it's only one week."

Other non-profit organizations supporting the civic event include the Manitoba Cycling Association, Climate Change Connection, the Winnipeg Trails Association and Bike To The Future.

bartley.kives@freepress.mb.ca