'Bike To Work Day' Adds Pit Stops For Herndon Telecommuters

HERNDON, VA — Registration for the Washington, D.C. area’s 20th Annual Bike to Work Day event is now open, with the first 15,000 people to register and participate receiving a free t-shirt.

The Bike to Work Day event, which will take place on Friday, May 21, has a new feature to make sure people working from home in Herndon and other Northern Virginia areas can participate. The event is sponsored by Commuter Connections and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

The organizers are encouraging telecommuting registrants to bike to a local pit stop early in the day for a free t-shirt and then cycle back home to start the workday.

All pit stop locations will be following safety measures in compliance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines to ensure participants and sponsors remain safe on the day of the event. Among the safety measures at the pit stops are mask-wearing and social distancing.

Participants will select a check-in time at a pit stop to avoid over-crowding. The time slots will be staggered to allow for no more than 25-30 bicyclists per half an hour.

Bicyclists should visit the Find Your Pit Stop map to plan their route on May 21, the day of the event.

The pit stops in the Herndon area will be:

• Herndon Town Hall Green (morning and afternoon)
• Reston Station

"We're very grateful to our continuing and new sponsors who help make these events stronger every year – and especially this year," Nicholas Ramfos, director of Commuter Connections, said Monday in a statement. "We hope this year's Bike to Work Day event will provide the region with an opportunity for all residents — including essential workers and telecommuters — to reconnect with bicycling as a form of commuting, exercise, and as a way to encourage mental well-being."

Among the sponsors of the 2021 Bike to Work Day Event are ICF, Go Alex, Urban Stems, Marriott International, Bike Arlington, Bicycle Space, and Verra, goDCgo, Virginia Department of Transportation, Giant, American College of Cardiology, Fair Lakes, Potomac Pedalers and American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials.

Commuter Connections is a program of the National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. The program promotes bicycling to work, ride-sharing and other alternatives to drive-alone commuting.