Thousands leave cars at home

If you drove to work Friday you missed out on a chance to be part of history as part of Winnipeg's first annual Bike-To-Work day.

The riding fest, organized by cycling advocacy groups including the Manitoba Cycling Association, Climate Change Connection, and the Winnipeg Trails Association, was in full swing Friday, with more than 2,200 cyclists counted at 10 stations around the city.

"We thought today's impact was about a 70-per-cent increase," said organizer Ron Brown Friday, thrilled by the jump based on estimates taken last year of the number of commuters who cycle.

One of the aims of Bike-To-Work day is to promote cycling as a viable transportation alternative to cars.

About one in seven of the roughly 2,000 registrants were new commuters who had never taken their bike to work, Brown said.

The bike-promoting groups also lobby for a "connected route system" -- trails or road -- and support from workplaces such as providing secure bike-locking areas and change rooms, Brown said.

At The Forks market, cyclists parked their bikes with a valet and enjoyed a breakfast of pancakes and fruit to the sounds of the Garfield Street Strings cello quintet.

Cellist Eleanor Thompson arrived at The Forks on her bike with her fullsized cello strapped to her back. She gets around the city on two wheels this way except in the winter. Thompson's idea for promoting city cycling is one gleaned from Europe.

"In Vienna, they have these big sidewalks just like we do down Portage Avenue," Thompson said. "And they've divide it into two. And half of it is pedestrian, and the other half is bicycle."

Across the city, volunteers greeted cyclists at 12 "energy stations", distributing T-shirts and counting the number of cyclists coming through.

"It was a great morning, actually," said MLA Jennifer Howard, who admitted biking was a bit beyond her abilities but said she'd wanted to help out at the Osborne St. station.

Volunteers counted a total of 276 bicycles passing the pit-stop, with their tallying cut off at 8:30 a.m.

"Everyone was very appreciative," said Vico Fabbri, offering free water from Culligan at the pit-stop.

The event cost around $30,000, Brown said, with corporate sponsorship from about 40 different companies, and involved about 75 volunteers.

"It'll take people out of their cars and make them see how easy it is to bike to work," said Wilderness Supply employee Katrina Rosen. The company's entire workforce is registered for the event, Rosen said.

A police spokesperson said they recorded only one bicycle accident yesterday -- a bike-car crash, apparently after which the cyclist refused treatment, and no one remained on the scene to report to police.

Police could not comment on whether they were doing extra monitoring of traffic due to Bike-To-Work day.

Some bike-to-work cyclists are in for long commutes. A colleague of Rosen rides in from outside the Perimeter highway, she said. And Mike Caslor, 31, pedals infrom Portage La Prairie about twice a week, a trek of 86 km each way. Caslor, vice-president of the Manitoba Cycling Association, has done the bike commute for about the last three years.

"I think people underestimate what they're capable of," Caslor said of people's ability to bike to work. "Start small and then build modestly."

With files from Lindsey Wiebe

will.tremain@freepress.mb.ca