Freewheelin Bike Sharing in Full Swing at DNC

The Democratic Convention officially begins this morning, but for Bikes Belong, Humana, and the bike industry, the event began at full speed Sunday morning when we publicly debuted our conventions bike sharing project.

The day went great:

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, Tom Plant of Colorado Governor Bill Ritter's office, and Bikes Belong's Tim Blumenthal spoke to about 200 people at our bike assembly warehouse in north Denver. Seven or eight TV crews and perhaps an equal number of print journalists were there to capture the moment.

Then, close to 150 people—led by Mayor Hickenlooper and Minneapolis mayor R.T. Rybak—pedaled about 3.5 miles to the Denver Performing Arts Center's Sculpture Park, where we were greeted by a large crowd of convention-goers, local residents, media, and a diverse bunch of activists who have come to Denver to publicly express their views.

Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper leads the way
Our ride rolled smoothly through the city and without incident—with maybe one flat tire—serving as a brilliant, sun-soaked debut for the Humana Freewheelin Bikes Belong project. All of the bikes, helmets, clothing, locks, and other equipment loaned by the bike industry worked perfectly.

Humana—a Fortune Top 50 company—has done an amazing job of backing this project in a variety of ways. You should see the bike stations they designed and built: in Denver, there are seven. The tents, the signage, the maps, the staff clothing, the computerized bike and registration card scanning—all elements are professional and visually appealing.

Bikes Belong is making 1,000 bikes available for free each day of the convention, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. We'll provide bikes to delegates, media, elected officials and the public. All people need to do is put down a credit card so that you're responsible for the bike if you don't return it.

Our goal is to show that bicycling is an ideal way to make short trips in big U.S. cities. We hope to total 10,000 rides and at least 25,000 miles of pedaling at both conventions. We plan to make a lasting, positive impression on everyone who attends.

The national press coverage, which has already been extensive, will expand today.

Stay tuned for more.

Photo by Matthew Staver

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