Event generates biking buzz

Organizers of Chico Velo’s “Bike Chico! Week” wanted to show locals that this is a great place to bike, and based on the success of the event they’re going to do it again next year.

“The idea is just to try to encourage [bike] commuting in Chico,” said Peter Hollingsworth, who, along with a few others, helped organize the event.

Hollingsworth sits on the board of directors of Chico Velo, Chico’s largest nonprofit bicycle-advocacy group, which sponsored last month’s event in conjunction with the League of American Bicyclists’ national bike month.

In Chico, volunteers set up energizer stations at City Plaza during the week of May 14, offering free coffee, treats and cycling information to between 100 to 200 bike commuters each morning.

While his wife, Karen Goodwin, concentrated on the program for the city, Hollingsworth, who teaches third grade at Parkview Elementary School, took the program to area schools. His efforts resulted in 3,600 bicycle trips by children in 10 Chico schools over the course of the week.

The students received raffle tickets for five bicycles in return for commuting. The program generated a lot of excitement at the participating campuses, Hollingsworth said: “There was just a really fun buzz in the schools that week.”