As will be officially proclaimed at City Hall Tuesday afternoon (2 p.m., a group ride leaves UW at 12:45), May is Bike Everywhere Month in Seattle! However, judging by the record-breaking numbers on the Fremont Bridge in April, folks have gotten an early start this year.
The month of bike activities spawned from what was originally a single day of celebration: Bike to Work Day, since expanded to Bike Everywhere Day. Still the single biggest day of the Bike Month calendar, dozens of people and organizations will host celebration stations around the region Wednesday to cheer on an support people on bikes.
I recommend getting an early start so you can stop by and grab coffee, snacks, swag or just some good old fashioned good vibes from any stations along your route. Or you can arrive late because you spent the morning riding to as many stations as you could. Tell your boss I said it was OK.
In the before times (pre-COVID), Bike to Work Day/Bike Everywhere Day was the biggest biking day of the year. When so many jobs held strict 9–5 schedules, an effort to get a bunch of workers to all bike together was really powerful. Folks could get help from coworkers or meet at a celebration station to find a group to ride with, and the number of people biking would clearly balloon for one day. The pandemic scrambled commute patterns, taking a big bite out of Bike Everywhere Day. Now with many employers requiring at least some days in-office, this could be the biggest Bike Everywhere Day since 2019 (weather depending).