Carson City to celebrate Bike Month

There are a lot of reasons to ride a bike to work.

Those who do it every day can list the benefits, one after another. Exercise, the environment, efficiency, stress reduction and more.

But for Jeff Potter, who commutes daily to his post office job, it's more simple than all of that.

"I do it just because it's fun," he said.

Potter, along with other organizers from Muscle Powered and BikeCarson

.com, are hoping to get other residents just as excited about cycling during May's Bike Month.

"It's kind of a celebration," said fellow organizer Jeff Moser. "It's not just about commuting to work, but recreational riding and movies about riding. It's all of it."

Bike Month activities will kick off May 2 with a ride around the perimeter of Carson City.

The 26-mile ride begins

9 a.m. at the Bike Habitat off Topsy Lane, and is open to everyone of all abilities.

"You've got guys up front that like to zoom around, then you've got people who ride at a casual pace," Moser said. "It sounds far, but the 26 miles actually goes by pretty quickly."

It's a good way, he said, to get a different perspective on the town.

"When you ride a bicycle, you see the city in a whole new way," Moser said. "It's like being a tourist in your own town."

The ride will conclude with lunch at the bike shop.

The highlight of the month will be Bike to Work Week during May 17-21 where residents are encouraged to pedal to work.

Muscle Powered is challenging the residents of Carson City to reduce their driving by 10 percent during that week, calling it the 10 percent challenge.

Businesses can enter the corporate challenge to compete in categories of most miles biked, most participants, number of trips, among others.

Two-time corporate challenge winner Redrock Dental wants to challenge other businesses to participate in the Bike to Work Week Corporate Challenge by offering to cook breakfast for the business that beats them in the competition.

Clinics will be offered throughout the month, including a commuter clinic at 5:30 p.m. May 12 at Comma Coffee and a flat tire repair clinic 6 p.m. May 18 at the Bike Smith.

A movie night is planned for 6 p.m. May 15 at Capitol Auto and a downtown cruiser night on May 19 starting

6 p.m. at Telegraph Square.

The month's activities will wrap up May 21 with a party and raffle at The Firkin & Fox.