By Renee Larr
May is National Bike Month, and that means Zionsville Bike Challenge is back. It’s cooperatively hosted by the Dow AgroCyclists Cycling Club, Zionsville Triathlon Team and Zionsville Park and Recreation Dept.
“In the absence of a full-time recreation staff person, we are not able to hold such programs, and in this particular case, these two program partners provide invaluable and critical assistance to the success of the Zionsville Bike Challenge,” said Matt Dickey, Zionsville parks superintendent.
The challenge will begin May 16 and end June 26. Participants will test their bicycling endurance by attempting to ride a minimum number of minutes or miles per week.
“We’ve got a really successful model. We had 25 percent more participants last year than the year before,” Dickey said. “We have a great number of people who are starting out bicycling or returning to the bike from either childhood or a long break.”
Participants can join in four different categories. The first level is the Family Fun category, which requires riders to ride 90 minutes per week for 540 minutes total bike riding time. The other three categories require participants to ride 200 total miles (33 per week), 400 total miles (67 per week) or 600 total miles (100 per week). Riders will keep track of their own mileage and report it.
“There is a log in and every week there is a live link where they login and report their miles. They tabulate it up and see where they stand for the week and their overall total,” Dickey said. “Anyone that logs in during a random week will have the chance to win a random drawing.”
Each participant will choose one of three “teams” to join:
- AgroCyclists are comprised of Dow AgroSciences employees, contractors, retirees and families.
- Zionsville community is open to all, and participants do not have to be a resident of Zionsville.
- Zionsville Triathlon Team is a like-minded group of cyclists and triathletes based in (but not limited to) Zionsville.
“There will be a weekly newsletter for participants. It’ll include bicycle safety tips, things they can do on their bike, etc.,” Dickey said. “We already have people signed up including as far away as South Carolina. Anyone who wants to try and increase their miles is welcome to join.”
For more, or to register, email [email protected].
