COLORADO SPRINGS — June is Bike Month in Colorado and Bike to Biz (or #BikeToBizCOS) Week is underway in Colorado Springs.
The event which kicked off Monday encourages people to ride their bikes to local businesses instead of driving. News5 is one of the sponsors of Bike to Biz Week.
Wednesday of this week would have been Bike to Work Day, but the pandemic has caused the day to evolve into a week-long event in order to avoid any crowds.
"This year, in light of the struggles the pandemic has caused, let’s practice safe social distancing on our bikes to help our business community stay strong," the City of Colorado Springs stated on its website.
If you don't own a bike, you can rent a "Pike Ride" e-bike downtown using the Pike Ride app. The first thirty minutes of your ride are free with the code JUNE30, and the ride will cost 15 cents a minute after that.
Colorado Springs Mayor John Suthers showed us how easy it is to get around on e-bike by riding it himself. And Suthers says even though the annual event looks different this year, he hopes people will come out and support local shops.
"Our businesses need our help," he explained. "A lot of them have really struggled in the past couple of months. They're trying to re-open, getting people back to work, but they really need our support."
"Ride to your favorite business," he added. "Whether it's picking up food, whether it's going to the doctor, whatever it is, if you can bike, do it."
In honor of BikeToBizCos Week, Garden of the Gods will open early on Wednesday from 5 a.m. to 8 a.m. just to cyclists and pedestrians. Afterwards, it will open to regular traffic.
Even though this event wraps up on Sunday, you're (of course) always welcome to grab your bike (or rent one) and check out the local shops and restaurants Colorado Springs has to offer.
To participate in the event, you can ride to your favorite local business and share a photo with #BikeToBizCOS on Twitter or Instagram. You can also join the Facebook group by clicking here.
News5 will be sharing stories about this event throughout the week. For more information, click here.
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