Bay Area Bike Challenge 2024
30,000 Miles for 30 Years of BTWD
Celebrating the 30th anniversary of Bike to Work Day in a major way
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) partnered with Ride with GPS–an app that helps you log and navigate routes while biking–to create the Bay Area Bike Challenge with the goal of strengthening community bonds and promoting unity across the region.
We set the 30,000 mile goal for the Bay Area Bike Challenge because we knew we wanted to honor the 30th anniversary of Bike to Work Day in a big way. What we didn’t know was whether we could actually achieve that goal, but cyclists around the region exceeded all expectations–by 367% to be exact. The final total for the Bay Area Bike Challenge was a collective 110,063.8 miles!
We also created a variety of prizes so that everyone–from the first-time biker to the most experienced long-distance cyclist–had a chance to win. See below for this year’s illustrious winners:
Most Miles Overall: Michael Fretz, Alameda County - 1,498 miles
Most Trips: Diego Rojas, Santa Clara County - 104 trips
Most Creative Route (Shape): Lisa Winter, Alameda County - Beavis
Most Creative Route (Interest Points): Odin, San Mateo County - Bay Trail
Raffle Based On Miles #1: Steve Bahr, Solano County
Raffle Based On Miles #2: Eugene Bernosky, Santa Clara County
Raffle Based on Trips: G Li, Alameda County
Register and Ride: Sara Koepnick, Santa Clara County
There are so many stories in all of these rides, which you can see best by exploring the final leaderboard in a web browser. Here are some highlights of this year’s participants:
Alameda County’s Michael Fretz, our top miles winner, rode an audacious 367 miles in one day! He is a “randonneur,” or a long-distance cyclist.
Incredibly, there was less than a 10-mile difference between 1st place winner Michael Fretz with 1,498.1 miles, and the 2nd place winner Roddy Gilchrist, who rode 1,488.7 miles.
Sonoma County’s 2023 Bike Champion of the Year Bill Petty regularly rides across both Napa County and Sonoma County in a whopping 80-mile round trip commute, even leading the pack on group rides on tortuous hill climbs on his fixed gear BMX bike.
Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition's Tim Oey recently retired from working full-time for the nonprofit and spent his newly found free time taking over 100 trips all around the Bay.
Our winner for Most Creative Design went to Lisa Winter, who created an astoundingly accurate map in the shape of Beavis’ head, saying “As a child my mom and I would watch Beavis and Butthead.”
Odin, winner of the Most Creative Points of Interest route, bravely rode much of the Bay Trail in one ride, with dotted lines demarcating where he had to branch off from the trail either over water or on roads.
Congratulations to all nine counties for a fantastic Bay Area Bike to Work/Wherever Day on Thursday, May 16th and Bay Area Bike to Wherever Days all May! This 30th Anniversary of Bike to Work Day exceeded so many expectations, and here are a few choice statistics:
300+ Energizer Stations hosted throughout the region by Bay Area agencies and advocates on Bike to Work/Wherever Day
6,000+ miles logged by riders as part of the Bay Area Bike Challenge on May 16th alone
775 participants in the Bay Area Bike Challenge
110,000+ miles traversed over nine counties
9,000+ trips logged
367% of the initial Bay Area Bike Challenge goal
All of the participating riders, as well as agencies and nonprofits worked hard to make the Bay Area Bike to Wherever Days a huge success this year, and we congratulate them–the region not only reached our goal, but exceeded it three times over. The determination of the Bay Area’s bike community shines through the inspiring stories during this month. We look forward to continuing to promote unity and encourage cycling throughout the region not just in May but throughout the year.