HOW TO TAKE PART IN BIKE MONTH:

1. commute to work on a bike;
2. join a bike club or start one;
3. throw a bike festival;
4. plan a cycling vacation;
5. organize a community bike parade;
6. bike with your child to school;
7. put on a bike rodeo at your kid's school;
8. ask your employer to install bike racks at your workplace;
9. write a letter to the editor of your local paper about the virtues of bike riding;
10. find ways to help make your community "bike friendly" such as:
a) Education: help the community create programs to train children and adult cyclists;
b) Engineering: help ensure bicyclists are included in the community’s transportation plan;
c) Enforcement: ask the RCMP if they understand and enforce bicyclists’ rights and responsibilities;
d) Encouragement: help the community participate in Bike Month, offer bike rodeos, host community bike rides, or otherwise encourage cycling;

WHY GET ON YOUR BIKE:

1. Stay fit
* bicycling can help you lose weight and improve your physical fitness
* Bicycle commuting allows you to include your workout in your daily schedule
* Riding a bike instead of your car is less stressful
* Staying in better shape will decrease your chances of getting sick
* A 130lb cyclist burns 402 calories while pedaling 14 miles in an hour. A 180lb cyclist burns 540 calories while pedaling 14 miles in an hour.
2. Economy
* Bicycles cost far less than automobiles to purchase and maintain, and do not require a continual intake of increasingly expensive gasoline.
*Bicycles also cause little, if any, wear and tear on roadways.
3. Save the environment
*Instead of driving, a short, four-mile round trip by bicycle keeps about 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air we breathe
* Bicycles are solely human-powered and use no fossil fuels