May 1 to September 30, 2013

Before we get into the details, though, let’s do a little victory dance.  In case you didn’t hear:  Vermont WON the National Bike Challenge in 2012!  We had more points per capita than any other state.  And with your help, we’ll do it again this year!

TOP FIVE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE 2013 CHALLENGE:

1.  Since Champlain College is already registered as a participating workplace in the Challenge, you do NOT need to re-register your company.  Champlain College will automatically show up in the drop-down menu when your employees sign up for the Challenge, and all their points will automatically count for your company.

2.  HOWEVER:  your employees MUST sign up for the 2013 Challenge in order to participate — even if they did the Challenge last year.  All they have to do is go to www.nationalbikechallenge.org and click the big green “JOIN” button.  On the next screen, they should click the “I already have an Endomondo account” if they participated last year, and the “I do not have an Endomondo account” if they did not.  Note that YOU need to join as an individual too!  Being listed as the lead contact for your company and being signed up for the Challenge yourself are two separate things.

3.  The Challenge starts May 1 and runs through September 30 — one month longer than last year.  We have a lot more options for communicating with participants this year, including the ability to send targeted emails to participants in a particular workplace.  So if you encourage your employees to sign up, we’ll help you keep them motivated all through the summer!

4.  There are a few key changes to how the Challenge works this year.  The most important is that there is NO LIMIT to how many people can be on a team, so you have a lot more flexibility in how you use teams.  Consider setting up a team for each division in your company and encouraging friendly competition between them!  For a rundown of other changes and an overview of the 2013 Challenge generally, visit www.nationalbikechallenge.org, select the Toolkit menu, and click on FAQ.

5.  How far your company goes in the Challenge depends on how much you promote it to your employees.  We’ve created a whole lot of great resources to help you spread the word and get employees excited about biking.  Visit our “Resources” page to download posters and flyers for the Vermont Bike Challenge.  (Let us know if you’d like editable versions of these documents.)  Click here for sample text to use in newsletters and emails to staff.  There’s no limit to how far you can take the Challenge!

But it gets even better.  Thanks to funding from the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, Local Motion now offers FREE on-site bike commuter workshops and one-on-one bike coaching for Chittenden County businesses.  (These same services are available for a modest fee to businesses statewide.)  We will come to your worksite and lead a custom-designed “Getting into Bicycling” workshop or a “Building Street Skills” learning ride for your employees, and then provide individualized follow-up to help them start riding.  What better way to take on the Challenge than to give your employees a leg up through FREE customized support and training?  

Watch for an email from me with details about our FREE trainings and coaching in the next week or so.  In the meantime, if you just can’t wait to schedule a workshop, just email me at marycatherine@localmotion.org and we’ll get you going.

One last thing:  none of this would be possible without our amazing local sponsors, Earl’s Cyclery and Sojourn Bicycling and Active Vacations.  They are providing some fantastic prizes for participants as well as support for Local Motion.  If you have the occasion to show them some love, please do so — and tell them we sent you.