Bicycle Poster Contest Deadline is March 1

Winning poster from 2011.

Our days are growing longer and the telltale signs of spring are visible.  It’s the perfect time to encourage kids to bike to school, neighborhood parks, libraries and many other places.

The 2012 Fifth Grade National Poster Contest is designed to get kids thinking about where they can travel by bicycle with its them, Bicycling Takes Me Places.  The contest is sponsored by Saris Cycling Group, Schwinn, Planet Bike and Lazer.  Entries are due March 1.

Contest rules and information can be found here.

Winners: Saris Bicycle Poster Contest

Saris Cycling Group sponsored a national bicycle poster contest for fifth graders earlier this year and the Bicycle Alliance coordinated the contest effort for Washington State.  Here's a link to an earlier blog post about the contest.

More than 5000 students from 17 states submitted posters centered on the theme, "Bicycling is fun...and healthy too!"  The winning poster for Washington, pictured here, was created by a student at Orca K-8 in Seattle.  The student winner will receive a bike, bike light and helmet and the school will receive a Saris bike rack.

The winning national poster came from a student in Oklahoma.  You can view the winning poster here.

Poster Contest for Fifth Graders: Bicycling is fun...and healthy too!

Calling all 5th graders!

The Bicycle Alliance is serving as the Washington State lead for a national poster contest for fifth graders. The objective is to ask the students to create a poster that reveals his or her understanding of the significant purpose bicycling can play in their community. We want the posters to show the students’ enthusiasm for why bicycling is fun, healthy and green!

Each state’s first place winner receives a Schwinn bike, Planet Bike light, and Lazer helmet and the school will receive a Saris Bicycle Parking System. Each state submits its winning poster to the national contest, and the national winner receives an all expenses paid trip for two to the 2012 National Bike Summit in Washington, DC.

The deadline for submitting posters to the Bicycle Alliance is April 22, 2011. State and national winners will be contacted by National Bike to Work Day on May 20.

Interested? You can find contest details on our website.

You can also contact me at davej@bicyclealliance.org or 206.224.9252 Ext. 302.

And please help spread the word!

The Tour de Fat Experience

Decorate your bike and don your alter ego…Tour de Fat is returning to Seattle’s Gasworks Park on July 31!

Tour de Fat is not a bike ride or race. It’s a celebration of all things bicycle organized by our bike-loving friends at New Belgium Brewing Company. This rolling carnival travels to select communities around the West and features a costumed bike parade for the young and young-at-heart, music and other live performances, a car-for-bike swap, beer garden, and food vendors. All this wacky fun and goodness benefits the work of the Bicycle Alliance of Washington and Bike Works – woo-hoo!

The event kicks off in the morning with the bike parade ($5 suggested donation for this event benefits Bike Works). Costumed participants will meander from Gasworks Park through Fremont, the self-proclaimed center of the universe, then roll back to the park for the festivities.

Kick back and listen to the bands, be entertained by performances, and sip some tasty New Belgium beers (these proceeds benefit the Bicycle Alliance). Test ride one of the many bike contraptions in the bike pit (the bike with sneaker wheels is a popular one). Sign up for the Slow Ride contest—slowest rider wins! And be sure to bring an old bike tube to contribute to Alchemy Goods recycling bin. You’ll be eligible for a drawing for some of their cool products made from recycled bike tubes and other recycled materials.

Celebrate the bicycle as a sustainable and worthy form of transportation with the announcement of the car-for-bike swap winner in the afternoon. (This could be you if you enter the contest now!) The lucky winner is transformed before all from a car driver to a full-time bike commuter when he/she hands over their car, title and keys in exchange for a tricked out custom commuter bike.

Admission to Tour de Fat is free, but bring cash in your wallet. Proceeds from the parade, Tour de Fat merchandise, and beer sales benefit bicycle advocacy. After all, it is all about the bicycle!

Tour de Fat poster image courtesy of New Belgium.  Bike parade and contraption images courtesy of Carla Gramlich.