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Press Release: May 24, 2013

NEWS RELEASE

CONTACTS:
Tracey Bradnan, 440-781-7690 or tracey@centurycycles.com
Karen Derby-Lovell, 440-617-7307 or Karen.Derby-Lovell@bayschoolsohio.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: MAY 24, 2013
Photos available upon request.

Bay students pedaled 28,257 miles for record 2013
Bike to School Challenge

Program concluded May 24 with awards and prizes for students,
schools and city

BAY VILLAGE, Ohio – The 6th annual Bay Bike To School Challenge (www.centurycycles.com/to/BTS) concluded at Bay Middle and High Schools on May 24 with celebrations of the students’ record-setting bicycling accomplishments, the inspiration they’re providing in the community and around the world, and all the fun they had on two wheels for three weeks.

From May 6 through May 24, Bay middle and high school students:

  • Biked 28,257 miles – the equivalent of biking around the circumference of the Earth and then some;
  • Took 9,783 round-trip bicycle rides to school;
  • Burned 480,369 calories – or 3,431 cans of Coke;
  • Prevented 31,083 pounds of heat-trapping carbon dioxide emissions from entering the environment;
  • Saved their parents $4,964.78 on gasoline, based on the current Ohio average gas price of $3.76/gallon.

Since Bay Bike to School Challenge began in 2008, Bay students have biked 157,733 miles and saved an estimated 173,506 pounds of CO2 emissions.

It was a record-setting year at Bay Middle School for the award-winning program, with all-new high marks set in every category tracked:

  • 538 students biked each day of the challenge on average, a whopping 66% of the school’s enrollment of 820 students and up 13% over last year’s average of 474.
  • 27% (225 students) biked all 15 school days of the challenge – rain or shine (or sub-freezing temperatures).
  • 634 students biked on May 8 (77% of the school), the highest ride day in the history of the challenge.

At Bay High School, an average of 114 students per day biked, or 14% of the school. National surveys show that only about 10% of children bike or walk to school, down dramatically since the 1960s.

Besides amassing impressive numbers, their bicycling also won prizes for the students, the schools and even the city of Bay Village. Main sponsors Century Cycles bicycle store in Rocky River (www.centurycycles.com) and bicycle manufacturer Raleigh Bicycles (www.raleighamerica.com) teamed up to give away six grand prize Raleigh bicycles.

Winners of the bicycles at Bay High School were sophomore Mandy Hoskins and freshman Marin Kirk. Senior Elyse Sopa was awarded the $1,000 Raleigh Bicycles Bike to School Challenge Scholarship.

The t-shirt design contest was won by senior Cameron Meakins, whose winning artwork is featured on the front of the shirt given by Century Cycles to every student who biked to school four days during the challenge. A special prize was given to senior Joey Strunk, whose runner-up artwork in the t-shirt design contest was used by Century Cycles for this year’s commemorative sticker.

At Bay Middle School, seventh-graders Emma Keane and Jessica Rychel won bicycles in the random grand prize drawing. Two additional Raleigh bicycles were awarded in the inaugural Bike to School Challenge Prose and Photography Contest for middle school students. After a careful evaluation of the 122 entries submitted, contest judges selected seventh-grader Chloe Roberts’ prose composition and eighth-grader Bridget Murphy’s photograph as the contest winners. Both students won a Raleigh bicycle and will have their work published in the July issue of Great Lakes Courier (www.greatlakescourier.com).

“Bay Village is a model of what we should be doing across the country,” said Chris Speyer, Chief Operating Officer of Accell North America (the parent company of Raleigh Bicycles) in Seattle, Washington. “At Raleigh Bicycles, we believe in investing in schools and communities that show a commitment to youth bicycling.”

Toward that end, Raleigh Bicycles awarded $500 to Bay High School, $1,000 to Bay Middle School, and $2,000 to the City of Bay Village for bicycling improvements.

“I have never seen a bike-to-school program that generates the level of participation and excitement that this one does. It is a credit to the tremendous amount of commitment and work by the schools, your local bike shop Century Cycles and the entire community to engage and inspire the students. Raleigh Bicycles is extraordinarily proud to be part of Bike to School Challenge and will be back next year as a sponsor,” said Speyer.

“The entire community is really proud of you,” Mayor Deborah Sutherland told Bay students at their school-wide celebrations. “Your efforts are making Bay Village a hub for the bicycling community.”

It is also attracting national and international attention. Bicycling magazine (www.bicycling.com) sent executive editor to Bay Village to check out Bike to School Challenge, and he wrote an online feature story titled, “The Land Where Kids Ride: In suburban Cleveland, an astonishing number of children ride to school. Here’s what we can learn from them” (http://bit.ly/ZUztVW). The Atlantic Cities transportation blog dubbed Bay Village “a bike-to-school mecca” in an online story (http://bit.ly/12m9qFD), which was read by the principal of a school in Australia that contacted Bay Middle School for ideas on how to replicate the program there.

Other sponsors who contributed prizes and support to make the program possible were Honey Hut Ice Cream, Subway of Bay Village, Bay Village Kiwanis, Bay PTA, Project Earth Environmental Club, Bike Cleveland, Ray’s Indoor Mountain Bike Park, People for Bikes, and the Bay Skate and Bike Park Foundation.

Century Cycles’ Bike to School Challenge is an award-winning, three-week program that seeks to inspire over 4,000 students in Bay Village, Rocky River and Medina to bike to school as much as possible to improve their health, help the environment and have fun. The program is organized by Century Cycles bicycle store in conjunction with the schools. During it, students carry cards that are stamped for each bike-ride to school and can be redeemed for prizes. For more information about Bike to School Challenge and to see photos and videos, go to www.centurycycles.com/to/BTS or follow the program at www.facebook.com/BikeToSchoolChallenge.