Eleventh Annual Bike Commute Week scheduled for May 15 - 23

Date: 5/10/2010

GREATER SPRINGFIELD Pioneer Valley citizens can leave the car keys at home and bike to work, school or the grocery store during the Pioneer Valley's Eleventh Annual Bike Commute Week, May 15 through 23. This collaborative effort of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC), MassBike Pioneer Valley, MassHighway, WRSI, community volunteers and business and civic organizations encourages Pioneer Valley residents to commute by bicycle to work, to school and for short trips in their communities.

Sixteen communities will host events this year: Agawam, Amherst, Chicopee, East Longmeadow, Easthampton, Gill, Greenfield, Hadley, Holyoke, Millers Falls, Northampton, South Deerfield, Springfield, Westfield, West Springfield and Williamsburg, with many sponsoring free breakfasts or lunches for bicycle commuters. Other activities and events during the week include bike tours of the region's landscape, community bike rides, music, lectures, a bicycle rodeo and prizes. Bike-themed film festivals will take place in Westfield and Northampton. This year will also feature a drawing for a KHS commuter bike donated by New Horizons Sports of Westfield.

For details about community breakfast sites, sponsors, scheduled activities and events, and information about bike commuting, visit the Pioneer Valley Bike Week Web site at www.pvBikeWeek.com, or visit www.BayStateBikeWeek.com, or contact Brian Markey, Bike Commute Week Regional Coordinator, at 781-6045 or bmarkey@pvpc.org.