Snohomish County, Wash. - Converting car trips to bike trips is an easy way to get healthy while getting somewhere at the same time. Burn calories instead of fuel as Snohomish County celebrates National Bike to Work Day on Friday, May 21.

Bike to Work Day "celebration stations" in Snohomish County and Bothell will be located at: Boeing Everett, Edmonds Train Station, Everett Station, Lynnwood Transit Center, Marysville's Comeford Park, McCollum Park in Mill Creek and University of Washington Bothell.
Each station will have scones donated by Great Harvest, free bike safety checks, Community Transits new "Snohomish County Area Bicycling & Trail Map" and special keychains. Most stations are open from 6 to 9 a.m.
Join community and business leaders in a short, 2-mile group ride to one of the Snohomish County Celebration Stations. Meet at 7:30 a.m. at one of the following locations:
Everett: Plaza of the Snohomish County Campus, corner of Wall & Oakes in Everett. Join Snohomish  County Executive Aaron Reardon, Everett Mayor Ray Stephanson, Community Transit CEO Joyce Eleanor and Everett Transit Director Tom Hingson.
Marysville: Library, 6120 Grove Street, Marysville. Join Marysville Mayor Dennis Kendall and City Councilmembers Lee Philips, Carmen Rasmussen and John Soriano.
Edmonds: PCC market parking lot, 9803 Edmonds Way, Edmonds. Join Edmonds City Council members and citizens.
Local Bike to Work events are coordinated by Community Transit with support from Everett Transit, B.I.K.E.S. Club of Snohomish County,  Boeing, Clif Bar 2-Mile Challenge, Harvy's Bike Shop, Seattle Children's Hospital and many other community sponsors.

Several communities have adopted official proclamations in support of the event. "Bicycle commuting promotes sustainable, healthy communities and healthy community members," said Snohomish County's proclamation.

To learn more about Community Transit Bike to Work events, visit www.communitytransit.org/biketowork. You can also read the Bike to Work blog at communitytransit.blogspot.com.

Take the Bike Commute Challenge
Bike to Work Day is the kickoff for the Bike Commute Challenge in Snohomish County, May 17-June 18. The challenge is to continue biking to work at least once a week and get in the healthy commuting habit. The event is about fun and improved fitness, not racking up miles. You can take the bus part way, bike to your carpool or drive one way and bike the other.

The theme is echoed in Bike Commute Challenge team names such as the Everett Boeing employee "Team 227" named after a bus route,  the "Food and Drug Peddlers" at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in Bothell and "HealthBikes" lead by Snohomish Health District Officer Dr. Gary Goldbaum. Schools are among the workplaces that get involved in the Challenge, with teachers, staff and students joining teams such as the Edmonds Cyclopaths at Lynndale Elementary and more than a dozen teams at Everett Public Schools.

Organize a team of four to 10 co-workers or friends and participants can earn bike socks, win dinner at Buca di Beppo or pedal their way to the "biking-est new commuters" prize. Visit www.communitytransit.org/biketowork.

Community Transit is committed to providing transportation options in Snohomish County. Encouraging people to bike and use transit is part of that effort. Call Community Transit at (425) 353-RIDE or (800) 562-1375 for bike maps or bus information, or go to www.communitytransit.org.