Campuses roll for Bike to Work Day

Raiders of the Lost Polyps, a team comprised of University of Colorado Cancer Center staff and supporters.

All across the Greater Metro Area, hundreds of people put their feet to the pedals to roll with the annual Bike to Work (and school) Day on June 22.

Teams of volunteers helped to plan and greet nearly 400 cyclists at the Anschutz Medical Campus as well as the several hundred who rode to the Denver campus with Auraria.

As an incentive to encourage participation at both locations, riders were invited to stop by for light refreshments when they arrived at their destinations. Additional activities at the Anschutz Medical Campus included a "woolly mammoth" from the Aurora Fox Theatre promoting pedal power over fossil fuels.

Exhibitors included the Fitzsimons Early Learning Center, the Public Service Credit Union, Aurora Bicycle, Hope Shines and other vendors that were set up to greet the riders. The new University Health and Wellness Center teamed with Bicycle Village personnel to offer advice for proper bicycle adjustments.

If you need any inspiration to ride, just think of Tammie Nakamura from the Geriatric Medicine Division. For this year's Bike to Work Day, she accepted a challenge from friends to see who could visit the most breakfast stations. Nakamura started out at 4:30 a.m. visiting 21 breakfast stations before she checked in on the Anschutz Medical Campus at 9 a.m. You go girl!

Other cyclists who participated acknowledged that their ride went more smoothly than they had expected, which prompted them to realize they might want to use their two-wheeled transportation a little more often, especially on days when the weather is mild – as it was that day.