Today, May 4th, was the kick-off breakfast for Bike to Work Ottawa, a program run under EnviroCentre. If you want to get in on the action of logging your trips and possibly winning a prize, you can sign up at http://biketoworkottawa.ca/
Bike Ottawa was invited to say a few words, and we were proud to have our Events Co-ordinator Felicity Borgal there to speak about how biking can be for anyone, for any kind of trip. Events like this are a lot of fun, and it sure is nice to get a free bagel and coffee, but what will really get people riding for everyday trips is safe infrastructure.
To make that happen, we need community support, and especially the support of businesses, which have a lot of influence over how space is allocated on main streets. We need to show business owners that a surprising number of their customers travel by bike, particularly when the infrastructure is there to make it a safe and pleasant trip. Felicity therefore encouraged the crowd to be sure to let business owners know when they arrive by bike. We’ll have more on this in the weeks to come. In the meantime, enjoy this gallery of photos from the kick-off breakfast, taken by Felicity.