Contact: Megan Distaso (209) 571-5193
No. 08-134
May 9, 2008

Bike to Work Event Encourages Residents to Try Commuting by Bicycle!

The City of Modesto, along with a number of other organizations, will host Modesto Bike to Work Day on Thursday, May 15, between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. at Tenth Street Plaza, on 10th Street, between J & K Streets. Bike to Work Day is a part of California's Bike Commute Week 2008, in which hundreds of California residents commute to work by bicycle and leave their air-polluting vehicles at home.

Members of the Modesto Police Department Bicycle Patrol will lead escorted bicycle commuters from various pick-up spots around Modesto into downtown. Routes and more details can be found at: www.modestogov.com/pwd/ride. Those unable to join the escorted routes, but who are able to commute by bicycle, are also invited to this downtown event.

A continental breakfast will be provided to all bicycle riders who commute to work on a bicycle. The first 125 riders will receive a free T-shirt and other bicycling incentives.

The goals of California Bike Commute Week 2008 are to develop bicycling as a form of transportation to the workplace, decrease traffic congestion, improve air quality and promote safe bicycle commuting.

"With gas prices heading toward $5 a gallon, bicycling to work becomes an attractive money-saving alternative to commuting by automobile," says K.C. Butler, California Bike Commute Week 2008 Coordinator.

For more information about California Bike Commute Week 2008, visit www.californiabikecommute.com.

For more information about Modesto Bike to Work Day, contact the City of Modesto's Rideshare Coordinator Megan Distaso at (209) 571-5193, or email mdistaso@modestogov.com.

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To contact the City of Modesto Public Information Office, 
call Jessica Smart at (209) 571-5125. Email: jsmart@modestogov.com