Last week on Bike to Wherever Day, May 16, the city’s Parks & Recreation department hosted an “energizer station” on the levee at Christmas Hill Park.
The PRC has been a sponsor of Bike to Wherever Day for the past three years, according to city staff. Additional energizer stations in Gilroy were set up on May 17 at the Caltrains parking lot on Monterey Road, and at Gilroy Gardens.
Staff and volunteers at the energizer stations provide cyclists with snacks, water, information, tools and assistance with any minor bike maintenance that participants might need.
Bike to Wherever Day began in 1994 as Bike to Work Day, as a celebration of cycling “as a fun and healthy way to get to work, as well as an opportunity for those who don’t usually bike commute to try it out,” says the Bay Area Bike to Work Day website.
During the pandemic, when fewer people were commuting for work, the event expanded into Bike to Wherever Day. Each year, almost every city and thousands of residents in the Bay Area participate in Bike to Wherever Day.
“More than one million Bay Area residents live within five miles of their workplaces, an ideal distance for bicycling,” says the website bayareabiketowork.com. “In these unusual times when so few people are going into their offices, we are encouraging people to bike to shop, run errands, etc.—a great way to get out of the house, get fresh air and exercise.”
