Source

The best part? You get to rub elbows with fellow bicycle commuters before work.

Most of the “pit stops” around the region, including 14 in Baltimore City, are open from 7-9 a.m.

The full listing of area events, which include pit stops in Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Howard and Harford County, can be found here. Online registration is free and recommended, but not required.

On its website, the Baltimore Metropolitan Council lists a bunch of reasons to ride rather drive to work. To avoid traffic jams and parking problems, for example—and to save money, too. Not only does the Baltimore City Parking Authority offer free, secure bike parking downtown near City Hall, AAA estimates that it costs an average of more than $9,000 annually to own and operate a car. The Baltimore Metropolitan Council also notes the personal health benefits—the average bicycle commuter loses 13 pounds their first year—and the public health benefits. (Single-occupancy vehicles contribute to ground level ozone, notably in Baltimore City, where smog levels reach hazardous levels each summer.)

The best reason, though? Bicycling is just more fun than driving. At least that’s the reason we love it.

Of course we bike to places besides work, too, like WTMD’s First Thursday concerts at the Canton Waterfront Park. (Maybe we need some more bike parking there?)

Source

Two weeks ago, heavy rains and potential flooding forced the postponement of Bike-to-Work Day, but 28 destinations in the Baltimore region will host re-scheduled events Friday.

Sponsored locally by the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, area “pit stops” generally offer coffee, bagels, and often a little bike schwag to boot from about 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Even better, you get to rub elbows with fellow bicycle commuters before work.

More good news: There’s also a Bike to Work Day “after-work” party, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. at World of Beer on Whetstone Way in Locust Point. So pedal over there, too.

The full listing of Baltimore area “pit stops”—including 16 around the city—can be found here. Registration is free. See you tomorrow…

Source

This Friday—National Bike to Work Day—sponsored locally by the Baltimore Metropolitan Council, will be celebrated in Baltimore City and the surrounding area at 28 destinations, offering coffee, bagels, and often a little bike schwag to boot from about 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. Even better, you get to rub elbows with fellow bicycle commuters before work.

The full listing of Baltimore area “pit stops”—including 16 around the city—can be found here. Registration is free.

City Councilman Nick Mosby can’t bike to work Friday, but is hosting an bike to work rally (8 a.m. start) this Wednesday at Nancy’s cafe at 131 W. North Ave.

On Friday, City Councilman Bill Cole will be biking to work, meeting other riders at Sharp and Henrietta streets in Otterbein/Federal Hill for a cruise over to City Hall where Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will be speaking at 9 a.m.

In League of American Bicyclists’ “bicycle-friendly” cities—meaning those places like Baltimore that have demonstrated a commitment to improving bike infrastructure and encouraging bicycle commuting—bike rider rates have increased by 80 percent. Overall, Portland ranks first in the percentage people bicycling to work at 6.1 percent, followed by Madison (5.1 percent), Minneapolis (4.1 percent), Boise (3.7 percent), Seattle (3.4 percent), San Francisco (3.4 percent), and Washington, D.C. (3.1 percent.) In Baltimore, the percentage of bicycle commuters jumped from .3 percent in the 2000 census to .8 percent in the 2012 census.

The Baltimore Metropolitan Council promotes Bike to Work Day as part of its “Clean Commute” initiative, noting on its website that “emissions from single occupancy vehicles contribute significantly to our region’s dangerous ozone levels.”

Source