Portland is crazy about bikes. Portland State, seated in the heart of the city, is a natural destination for cyclists. Over the last decade, the university has raised the profile of cycling as both a pastime and a commuting option through initiatives like the Bike Hub and by building and expanding bicycle parking on campus.
Portland is crazy about bikes. Portland State, seated in the heart of the city, is a natural destination for cyclists. Over the last decade, the university has raised the profile of cycling as both a pastime and a commuting option through initiatives like the Bike Hub and by building and expanding bicycle parking on campus.
The people at the Bike Hub and Transportation and Parking Services aren’t resting on their laurels, however. They’ve revamped the presentation and prizes for this year’s Bike to PSU Challenge, which kicked off Monday, in the hopes it will be more popular then ever.
“The goal is to get people excited about commuting by bike,” Bike Hub lead mechanic Dan Penner said. “The more people we have commuting by bike, the less parking we have to create, the less pollution we make. It’s healthier for the university. It’s healthier for the people that commute.”
The Bike to PSU Challenge is an event that invites new and experienced cyclists to log their commutes to campus on a website, biketopsu.com. Students can enter alone or as part of a team, and participants who continue to log their trips are entered into raffles for prizes that include new bikes, bicycle lights and messenger bags.
“Prizes are the big thing we want to use to sort of get people hooked on the idea of participating in the challenge, but of course the ultimate reward is for people to actually ride,” Transportation Options Manager Ian Stude said. “We really feel it’s important that people—if they’re able and willing—try bicycling to campus.”
Stude was there when the challenge was first conceived five years ago. The challenge is inspired by a similar promotion run by the Bicycle Transportation Alliance, who donated the template for the website to PSU.
The Bike to PSU Challenge has been around for half a decade, but Stude said he expected this year to be the biggest yet in terms of participation. The Bike Hub partnered this year with Linus Bikes, a company based in the Los Angeles area, to provide bikes for prizes this year, meaning the challenge will be giving away a free bike every week in the month of May.
“All of those things together combine into a culture of support for bicycling,” Stude said. “And a culture that really normalizes bicycling and says, ‘Hey, this is just an everyday, normal thing, and we’re happy that you do it.’”
Last year, around 800 students registered for the Bike to PSU Challenge and logged commuting hours. This year, Stude said, they’re aiming for 1,000.
“A lot of studies have shown that there is value in the whole process of journaling your activities, particularly if it’s a wellness kind of activity,” he said. “We know that it works for transportation. We call it trip-journaling. We know that that really helps change behavior, and the same is true for all sorts of healthy behaviors.”
The Bike to PSU website tracks teams, miles logged and estimates for the amount of carbon dioxide saved and calories burned by students commuting to school by bike. Students can sign up for the challenge on biketopsu.com or by visiting the Bike Hub on Southwest Sixth Avenue.
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