Cycling: The No-Pollute Commute

Bike-to-Work Day falls annually on the third Thursday of every May. On this day, staff and one hundred volunteers set up tables at different points throughout the city where they serve coffee and snacks to upwards of forty thousand bicycle commuters—and distribute canvas bicycle bags, which have become collectors items for many people. Winterfest, which falls in early December, is the coalition’s annual bicycle-accessory and art auction party. During campaign season, candidates hotly pursue the bicycle coalition endorsement—and once in office, politicians make sure to be seen cycling to work on Bike-to-Work Day, and bidding on tandem bikes and schmoozing with the city’s bicycle elite at Winterfest. The bicycle coalition also provides secure bicycle parking for hundreds of bicyclists at all home San Francisco Giants games and numerous other events.

But what about those young men with tattoos and piercings?

“There’s something important and beneficial about having more women involved in the bicycle coalition and being the face of bike advocacy,” says Shahum.  “We’re helping to mainstream the idea of women on bikes.”