The City of Greenbelt hosted their sixth pit stop event as part of Bike to Work Day on Friday, May 19. One hundred one riders participated. The annual event is sponsored to promote bicycling as a sustainable, fun and healthy way to get to work. Bicycling positively impacts the environment because it produces less than one-tenth of the climate-warming carbon emissions of traditional passenger car commutes. Biking also reduces local air pollution that cars and buses create, such as nitrogen oxides and particulate matter.
Greenbelt’s pit stop event included swag bags and T-shirts given to registered riders, water and snack giveaways, a yoga stretch with bikes, raffle prizes given to approximately two dozen riders throughout the event, free bicycle check-ups, information from the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) and convoys of riders to downtown D.C. An interactive map allowed riders to trace routes from home to the pit stop and from the pit stop to work. A zero-waste station provided by Public Works helped to sort recycling from landfill waste and collected 10 pounds of compostables. Donations were provided by Anacostia Trails Heritage Area, Greenbelt Co-op Supermarket and Pharmacy, DrinkMore water, Prince George’s County Department of Public Works and Transportation, Bee Yoga Fusion, Proteus Bicycles, BicycleSPACE and Arrow Bicycle. Bee Yoga Fusion led the stretching session and Paul Lemieux from Proteus Bicycles offered mechanic services to riders during the event. WABA provided registration support and Commuter Connections contributed T-shirts. Since the inception of the Greenbelt pit stop, over 350 riders have registered for Bike to Work. Greenbelt’s recreation supervisor, Di Quynn-Reno, coordinated the event.
