What's New

Bicycle Commuter Club News:

• Bike Bucks
• Road One Cycling Safety Instruction
• NIH Take a Hike Day: coverage and photo
• Sign up for the bike club listserv

Donate used bikes to Bikes for the World

Ellen Condon of NIMH and the NIH Bicycle Commuter Club gives a ride in a Bakfiet—a Dutch cargo bike—to Christina Hernandez, daughter of Carolyn Harrison, NINDS program specialist at NIH’s MRI Research Facility. Read the NIH Record story on the 2008 Earth Day event here

In honor of NIH Earth Day and National Bike Month (May) the NIH Bicycle Commuter Club again collected used bikes for the non-profit Bikes for the World in a symbolic attempt to contribute to the recycling and re-use of old bicycles, and to emphasize ways in which bicycles truly make the world a better place.

However, if you couldn’t make it to Earth Day, you can donate your bike to Bikes for the World all year long!

Donated bikes will go on to assist the poor by providing personal transport to work, school and health services, to build international bike communities and to supply clean, efficient and healthy transportation means around the globe. A $10.00 donation per bike is needed to help defray the costs of overseas shipment. Donation receipts for tax purposes will be available. If you have an old bike you are no longer using, come on by. Bikes for the World also accepts old cell phones and sewing machines.

If you have questions about how to donate your bike to Bikes for the World, contact Ellen Condon (ellencondon@mail.nih.gov) directly.

Bike Bucks

Announcing the official implementation of a pilot NIHBCC program to reward bicyclists for the miles we travel on our bikes, instead of in motorized vehicles.

We have initiated the NIH Bike Bucks project that rewards bike commuters for providing the pollution-reducing, traffic congestion-reducing, fossil-fuel conserving, health-care cost reducing service we provide. We ultimately hope our NIH effort can serve as a local and national model for other such programs.

You are already aware that other NIH commuters who sacrifice driving to participate in the Federal Transhare program also provide some of the same environmental benefits asserted above, but these lucky commuters get federally funded metro-checks to cover (partially to fully) the costs of commuting by bus, metro and/or train. Bike commuters currently get no such federal fiscal reward.

The basic idea of our Bike Bucks program is that you, NIH Bicycle Commuters, log your bike-commuting miles and for every one hundred (100) bike-miles logged, five (5) Bike Bucks will be rewarded. These Bike Bucks are actual, physical "monies" that have real fiscal value with select participating vendors. Participation in the Bike Bucks program does not affect your rights to claim Federal Transhare benefits.

There are currently FOUR places you can spend your Bike Bucks.

1. You can use Bike Bucks to cover up to 15% of the cost of a three-month NIH Fitness Center membership,
2. Bike Bucks can be used to cover up to 50% of the purchase of goods (not labor) at Proteus Bicycles in College Park, MD...
3. ...and can be similarly spent (50% of goods, not labor) at The Bicycle Place in Silver Spring, MD.
4. You can also use your Bike Bucks towards the price of your NIHBCC jersey.

If you have questions or comments about the program, if you have an idea about a vendor you would like to see honor our NIH Bike Bucks, or if you are yourself a vendor interested in more details about the club or the Bike Bucks program, contact NIHBCC president Angela Atwood-Moore (atwood@box-a.nih.gov) directly.

Road One Cycling Safety Instruction

Interested in taking a bike safety/maintenance class later this spring?

If we have enough interest, Richard Hoye, a League of American Bicyclists (LAB) certified instructor will teach LAB's Road One Basic Cycling Safety course here at NIH. This is an intense, structured course with lecture, multi-media and on-road segments designed to teach cyclists safe and sanctioned bicycle riding behaviors. It is a dense 12-hour class, to take place over a Thursday evening AND a day-long Sunday session, dates TBD. The class is being offered to NIH employees for the reduced price of only $45.00 per student. Registration slots will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis, and will only be guaranteed upon receipt of the $45.00 registration fee.

The lesson plan includes modules on proper bike fit, basic bike maintenance, safety and legal considerations for various bike facilities, local laws for cyclists, how to ride in traffic, and practical bike handling skills. Coursework will conclude with a written and practical examination resulting in a nationally recognized certification from the League of American Bicyclists.

We’re in the process of selecting course dates in late May or early June, 2008. A message will be sent out via the club list when we’re ready to accept registrations.

NIHBCC Jerseys

NIH Bicycle Commuter Club Jersey orders are available to purchase. Jerseys are short-sleeved, hidden zipper, and are made out of "technical micro-poly fabric." Jerseys will be ordered from Custom Sublimation. You may order women's or men's specific sizing and the company suggests the jerseys tend to run small.

The jerseys are bright yellow for visibility. Thanks to Holly Gannoe for the final design and to Maggie Beddall, Al Yergey, and Steve Friedman for design contributions and for researching production companies.

Jerseys will cost approximately $70.00 each, and funds must be received before orders are placed. We will be placing periodic orders as we meet minimum order thresholds, with the first order expected to be placed on March 30, and hopefully delivered in time for Bike to Work Day 2008. More images of the design.

Contact Angela Atwood-Moore (atwood@box-a.nih.gov) with questions or to place an order.

Sign up for the bike club listserv:

Either

• Send e-mail to listserv@list.nih.gov with the following text in the message body:
• subscribe r-w_bicycle-l your name
• LISTSERV will get your e-mail address from the "From:" address of your e-mail message.

Or

• Go to the NIH listserv home page, at http://list.nih.gov/
• click on browse icon.
• Go to the R section, and click on R-W_BICYCLE-L.
• Follow the prompts to subscribe.

To post to the list:

1. You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
2. Compose and send your message to R-W_BICYCLE-L@LIST.NIH.GOV
3. When the list moderator approves your message, it will automatically be sent to everyone on the R&W Bicycle Commuter Club list.