Best of the League 2012: Biggest Bike Month Ever!

Amy Schiebel, of Denver, Colo., logged the 10 millionth mile in the National Bike Challenge

Here at the League, we love the holiday season. But for us the most wonderful time of the year is the month of May.

And in 2012, National Bike Month was bigger and better than ever before.

In May, we officially launched the National Bike Challenge — a new, nationwide initiative to inspire and empower millions of Americans to ride their bikes for transportation, recreation and better health. The friendly, online competition far exceeded its 10 million mile goal and transformed the lives of countless Americans.

Like the many innovative advocates who put on thousands of Bike Month events nationwide, the League came up with new ways to celebrate, too.

In line with the 2012 theme of One Ride, Many Reasons, we curated the personal reflections and inspirations of a diverse collection of bicyclists from coast to coast for our daily 31 Days, 31 Reasons blog feature. We also partnered with Sierra Club and the National Council of La Raza to release a new fact sheet on Bike to Work Day that showed U.S. bicyclists save a staggering $4.6 billion by biking instead of driving.

Elizabeth Williams of Cali Bike Tours shared her story in the 31 Days, 31 Reasons series

This year was also a first for two other major events. On Mother’s Day, thousands of women (and men) united for Cyclofemme — a global initiative to empower more women to ride and build the community of female bicyclists. And the inaugural Bike to School Day was a tremendous success, too, with more than 700 events across the nation.

Bike to School Day in Savannah, Ga.

We’re already getting excited for Bike Month 2013. Click here for the dates and our Bike Month Guide!