Bike Month Wrap-up: Rolling out the Red Carpet

Last week, we wrapped up National Bike Month 2012, closing the book on 31 days of incredible energy and creativity from advocates and officials across the country to boost bicycling in their communities.

Here in Washington, D.C., the brilliant folks at Bicycle Space rolled out the red carpet for bike commuters — and, in our mind, everyone across the nation who organized or participated deserves that VIP treatment. THANK YOU for making Bike Month 2012 the best yet!

Unfortunately, we can’t tell you precisely how many (millions?) of people participated in Bike Month festivities, but we can share a few other impressive numbers:

$4,600,000,000: On Bike to Work Day, the League released a new fact sheet, in partnership with the Sierra Club and the National Council of La Raza, that showed Americans save $4.6 billion per year by riding their bikes instead of driving.

3,000,000: The National Bike Challenge kicked off on May 1st, and during Bike Month alone, riders logged more than 3 million miles!

1,006: On May 22, the League released our 2012 Bicycle Friendly States Ranking and the blog post alone was shared more than 1,000 times on Facebook.

700: This year, the Center for Safe Routes to School, in partnership with the League, launched the first-ever National Bike to School Day and more than 700 events took place in 49 states.

318: The Ride of Silence, which honors fallen cyclists, marked it’s 10 anniversary with 318 events in all 50 states and 19 countries. Highlighted as the 2012 Champion, 16-year-old Angelique Martinez in Oxnard, Calif., organized a ride in memory of her 6-year-old brother, Anthony, who was killed on Thanksgiving, riding in front of his house.

214: The League also announced our latest round of Bicycle Friendly Community designations and, with the additional of 24 new awards, the total numbers of BFCs nationwide rose to 214 in 47 states.

163: Sarai Snyder of Girl Bike Love designated May 13 as Cyclofemme — a day dedicated to women’s riding — and female cyclists organized 163 rides in 14 countries.

83: On May 9, America Bikes released a new survey showing 83 percent of Americans — in all regions and from all demographics — want Congress to maintain or increase federal funding for biking and walking.

31: In honor of the “One Ride, Many Reasons” theme for this year’s Bike Month, we shared the inspiring personal stories of 31 cyclists from across the nation in our Why I Ride blog series.

But, perhaps the most important number of all:

361: Number of days until Bike Month 2013!