Bike to Work Day is Thursday — Are You Participating?

Thursday is Bike to Work Day, and this year is Sonoma County's 11th year in celebrating the two-wheeled effort aimed at getting people out of their cars and on bikes.

Bike advocates say cycling to and from work is good for your health, good for the environment and for the economy.

"But the biggest thing is it's fun," said Gary Helfrich, executive director of the Sonoma County Bicycle Coalition. "I mean you have way more fun biking to work than you do sitting in a car, couped up not getting to interact with anybody, not having a lot of fun."

For Bike to Work Day, the group is setting up energizer stations all over the county, including one in Sonoma. These are places where anyone on a bike can get coffee, snacks and schmooze with other cyclists.  Send in your photos to Patch!

The Sonoma locations are:

Trailhead on Hwy 12 at Lomita Ave., across from Maxwell Farms Regional Park

It will be staffed 6am to 9pm.

Also, two shops will offer a bike home happy hour for cyclists who want to ditch work a bit early.

From 3-5 p.m. the Epicurean Connection will be dishing out cheesy bites and and Gordon Biersch Beers.

The happy hour at Macarthur Place Inn & Spa will feature an array of food and drink; it also runs from 3-5 p.m.