Wine Country Times

In collaboration with the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition, Sonoma County is launching a biking challenge for those that are intent on lowering their impact on climate change and their own carbon footprint. 

The Bike2It Challenge tasks participants with using a bike for any destination that they are going to that is under two miles from them. This is an effort to make the community more active, increase the bike-friendly policy of the county, and lower the carbon footprint and make the county more eco-friendly. 

To entice people to participate, there are additional incentives on an individual level. Anyone that signs up for the challenge in the month of February will be entered into a drawing. In that drawing, they will be eligible to win a bike rack, bike basket, or lock for their bike, making it all the easier to own and use a bike on a regular basis.

It's no secret that transportation and private car use is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gases and climate change. This initiative by the county is an effort to make the county more appealing and lessen the impact that vehicles have on the local air quality and transportation. It has been estimated that 30% of trips within Sonoma County for residents are two miles long or less. This distance is minimal when traveling by bike and considered a distance that most people will be able to conquer easily. 

To make things even easier for participants, Bike Sonoma has plenty of easy-to-use tools and calculations to figure out your radius and determine which destinations you should be biking to. For those that are just starting out, the club recommends considering lowering your radius and perhaps starting with a mile radius and seeing how things go. 

The challenge is all about working together to make Sonoma County a better and more eco-friendly place to live. Learn more about the challenge here.