By Donna Hemmila
| Winners of Bike to Work Day Raffle |
| Jon Bertsch, IR & C Brian Ross, Budget Office Kathleen Quenneville, General Counsel Office |
For veteran bicycle commuters like Chris Orr, Bike to Work Day is a time to spread the fun around.
"It's not the only day I ride a bike, but it's the only day I get to hang out and eat pancakes at city hall," said Orr, one of 16 UCOP Franklin Street employees who rode their bikes to work on May 14 for the 15th annual Bay Area Bike to Work Day. Nine of those bikers were first-timers.
Franklin Street bikers logged a total of 70 miles of pedaling. The longest ride was 7 miles, the shortest 2 miles and the average ride was 4.375 miles.
There were some longer hauls: Paul Weiss, executive director of Information Resources & Communications, rode 43 miles round trip from Walnut Creek to his 20th Street office. An estimated 40 UCOP people biked to work in Oakland that day, according to sustainability specialist Andy Coghlan.
The Office of Sustainability, with support from Executive Vice President Katie Lapp and Associate Vice President Michael Reese in the budget office, sponsored free bike tune-ups in the Franklin Street garage plus a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Missing Link Bicycle Cooperative in Berkeley.
"I think it's the only way I've ever commuted where people say 'I wish it were longer,'" said Orr, who rides a 10-mile, round trip from Berkeley to downtown Oakland every day.
Before coming to work at UCOP, Orr rode her bike from home to Jack London Square, where she boarded a ferry to a job in San Francisco. The exercise and camaraderie make the extra travel time worth it, she says.
Orr suggests novices who are interested in biking to work should find a buddy to ride with.
The 511.org Web site offers trip planning and other resources to aid in bike commuting. Those who work in the Franklin Street building can contact BuildingServices@ucop.edu and request access to the secure bike parking cage.
Coghlan has purchased spare bike tubes and tire spoons for flat tire emergencies. They are available near the bike cage. Anyone willing to donate a tire pump to the communal emergency flat tire kit should contact Coghlan at Andrew.Coghlan@ucop.edu.
Donna Hemmila is editor of Our University.