Bike To Work week biggest ever in Central Okanagan

KELOWNA – Preliminary numbers are in and by all accounts the Central Okanagan’s 2015 Bike to Work Week was a resounding success thanks to record breaking participation.
 
Between May 25-31, 2,375 riders on 268 teams cycled 59,103 kilometres. That’s the equivalent of one and a half times around the planet. Those numbers are up from 2014, when 1,570 riders on 222 teams rode 53,534 kilometres.
 
“We couldn’t be happier with the results,” says Mike Kittmer, Active Transportation Coordinator. “Everywhere you looked around the region you saw people on bikes. A big round of applause to the citizens of the Central Okanagan for getting involved and taking to two wheels. Let’s keep it up all year.”
 
The six Celebration Stations and 16 Satellite Stations in the Central Okanagan received 2,379 visits during the week. That’s up from 1,716 visits in 2014 (a 39 per cent increase). Overall Celebration Station attendance was up 19 per cent to 1,550 and Satellite Station attendance nearly doubled to 829.
 
At the wrap-up Celebration Station at Tree Brewing Institute on Friday, May 29, cyclists raised $426 for Brian Trust Canada to buy helmets for youth in the Central Okanagan.
 
For 2015, riders burned 1,773,085 calories and kept 12,813 kilograms of greenhouse gasses out of the atmosphere.
 
Provincially, 30,455 riders on 2,096 teams cycled 940,227 kilometres over the course of the May 25-31 Bike to Work Week.
 
These are unofficial numbers. Official results will be released once reporting closes on June 9.