May is (still) Bike Month

When more people ride bikes, life is better for everyone. It’s one of the League’s guiding principles, one we seek to achieve through our advocacy, our programs, and our campaigns. It’s why we’re responding to the current crisis with resources for advocates and local businesses while also forging ahead on our core work around federal advocacy and building a more Bicycle Friendly America for everyone.  

It’s why this May, the League is still celebrating National Bike Month, because bicycling is more essential to our lives than ever—and because we could all use some bike joy to look forward to. We hope that the hundreds of thousands of you who participate in Bike Month events in typical years continue to do so through virtual, solo, or safely distanced events in May 2020, and beyond. 

Learn more about the National Bike Challenge from our partners at Love to Ride.

Further, given the extraordinary and constantly evolving impact of the pandemic on everyday life, the League is postponing our promotion of Bike to Work Week until September 21-27, 2020, with Bike to Work Day coinciding with Car Free Day on September 22, 2020. As the National Bike Challenge, a self-motivated pursuit of biking for transportation and recreation, kicks off in May and concludes in September, the League looks forward to continuing to encourage and educate people about the joys and benefits of biking throughout the Challenge timeframe. 

For the League and our member organizations, it may sound cliché, but every month really is Bike Month. In some states, communities and advocates normally host National Bike Month and associated Bike to Work Week events in March or June, based on local weather and biking trends. It’s this kind of ingenuity and flexibility that assured us the right decision would be continuing to celebrate biking in May while (hopefully) reconnecting in small gatherings in September. We will continue to monitor CDC guidelines and best public health practices and adjust the dates if required. 

This National Bike Month will necessarily be different. With less focus on biking to work, we’re going to focus on riding “there” whether “there” is to the grocer for essentials or to the creek and back with the kids. Part of making progress on the League’s vision is encouraging everyone to think beyond biking to work and move towards a holistic approach to integrating bicycling into as many aspects of our daily lives as possible. 

Already, we are seeing so many people rediscovering the joy of getting outside on a bike. Our way of life is changing, and some of those changes are thankfully temporary, but let’s hold onto this embrace of biking and enjoying the outdoors. Let’s use National Bike Month to celebrate what joy we have, the physical and mental health biking brings us, and the humble bicycle that unites us all, even as we must stay apart and at home.

FAQs

• Will the League be providing resources for organizations that want to promote “Bike There” for National Bike Month?
• Yes, the League will be updating our National Bike Month and Bike to Work Week resources to reflect the new dates, as well as offering a toolkit with images, graphics, fun ideas, and other ways to promote biking in May and beyond. We will also provide resources for the later in the year Bike to Work Week events.
• Can organizations host Bike Month or Bike to Work events at other times?
• The League has always supported local organizations’ decision-making on when to host their events based on what makes sense in the local context. The League will be promoting National Bike Month in May and Bike to Work Week in September, and we understand that localities may decide to cancel or host events on different dates and timelines.
• I have a question that’s not addressed here. 
• Email us at [email protected] and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.