[ Celebrate Bike Month and Get on Two Wheels ]

Portland is one of the nation’s best bike cities, and May is National Bike Month so get out your bicycles and do the earth and your body some good! Bicycling has so many benefits not only for your health, but also for your budget and the environment. If you live within cycling distance to your job consider biking to work. You can save $10 a day by commuting by 10 miles round trip by bicycle instead of car. Plus, you’ll be reducing your carbon footprint AND getting into shape. By biking to work, you can cut up to 1 pound of Carbon Dioxide pollution for every mile pedaled. PLUS 3 hours of riding per week reduces your risk of heart disease and stroke by 50%!

Portland is a leader in bike lanes to their roads, making it safer and easier for people to get around heavily trafficked areas. The Bikes Belong Foundation has been partnering with other cities across the nation to make bicycling safer by building a mutual respect among motorists and cyclists. Some of the organization’s projects include bicycle safety projects and children’s bicycle programs.

The Bikes Belong Foundation is the parent of many projects including the Green Lane Project, the Safe Routes to School project, and People for Bikes, an online petition launched in 2010 to promote bicycle safety to policy-makers and the public. In Portland, the Bikes Belong Foundation has awarded several grants, including to the New Columbia Bicycle Skills Park and Community Hub through the Community Cycling Center. To learn more about the Bikes Belong Foundation and its projects visit their website or sign the petition to bring awareness of bike safety to a city near you!