BOULDER, Colo. (BRAIN) — The National Bike Challenge, an online ride tracking competition sponsored by PeopleForBikes and Kimberly-Clark, reached its 35 million mile goal this week, 10 days ahead of the five-month competition's end. Since the Challenge began May 1, 92,057 riders have recorded 35,081,343 miles. That's a 50 percent increase from the 2014 Challenge, which ended with 23 million miles ridden.
Riders burned approximately 1,181,036,278 calories, saved 4,587,939 million dollars in reduced driving costs, and reduced CO2 emissions by 7,551,829 million pounds.
"We set a high bar for this year's National Bike Challenge," said PeopleForBikes' president, Tim Blumenthal. "People responded coast to coast, got their friends and co-workers involved, and had lots of fun along the way."
Launched in 2009 as a bike riding campaign for Kimberly-Clark's 42,500 employees, the Challenge went national in 2012. In 2014, more than 47,000 riders participated.
PeopleForBikes partnered with Kimberly-Clark Corporation this year to recruit more major companies to participate in this free program, which boosts employee health and wellness and reduces road congestion and air pollution by encouraging clean, healthy bicycle trips. Some of the corporations that participated in the Challenge this year include: 3M, Amway, AT&T, Best Buy, Eli Lilly and Company, Google, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Lockheed Martin, Northwest Mutual and Texas Instruments.
In addition to Kimberly-Clark, 2015 National Bike Challenge sponsors include: 3M, Strava, Thrivent Financial, Volkswagen and Wells Fargo.
More information at nationalbikechallenge.org.
