You may remember a survey that we sent out towards the end of last year with questions like, “would you be more likely to ride to a business that offered ‘perks’ to riders?” and, “where do you ride your bike?”. Our goal for the survey was to learn more about the riding habits of people in Winston-Salem to help us be more effective in getting businesses to sign up to be a Bicycle Benefits business and we also learned a few other cool bits of information. I was surprised to find out that 32% of the people who responded rode their bike to work — that’s awesome!
We also found out the three most preferred destinations to ride to after work were coffee shops, restaurants, and grocery stores. Which, for us, was an indicator of what types of businesses we should target first to make sure our Bicycle Benefits campaign would be a success.
Six of us met one Saturday morning for coffee and good vibes, and then set out into downtown Winston Salem to tell as many businesses as possible about being a Bicycle Benefits business. After a few follow ups, we were able to get five businesses to sign up for the program. But what is does all that mean?
It means that if you have purchased a Bicycle Benefits sticker for $5 for your bicycle helmet and present it whenever you ride to (in no particular order) Camino, a/perture, Black Mountain Chocolate, or Twin City Hive, you’ll get a discount or perk just for riding your bike.
Bicycle Benefits is an organization who wants to reward individuals and businesses for their commitment to cleaner air, personal health, and the use of pedaling energy in order to create a more sustainable community. They operate nationwide and depend on people like you and me to help spread the word about the program.
So if you or someone you know owns a business, send them to bicyclebenefits.org to sign up to be a business member. And if you would like to know more about the program or the businesses that are already signed up, come ride with us on July 16th. We will be visiting the businesses that have already signed up and talking more about what Bicycle Benefits is.
We will meet at Marketplace Mall at 8:45 and roll out at 9:00AM. The ride is only about 6 miles, is no drop, and everyone is welcome.
Come spend a Saturday morning with us drinking coffee, riding bikes, eating chocolate and other goodies, and supporting our local businesses that have committed to make Winston-Salem a more bike-friendly place. And by all means tell more local businesses to sign up for the Bicycle Benefits program!!