On the Friday night of Father’s Day weekend-- a warm, sunny evening that is typical of Vermont summers-- walkers and bikers of all ages and experience levels congregated outside of Onion River Sports in Montpelier. The group had formed through the collaborative efforts of Local Motion and Montpelier Bicycle Advisory committee to do two things: bike to the ballgame, and lead by example to make Montpelier better by bike.

Before the bikers set off, they were given the option of entering into Local Motion’s raffle by filling out a survey on bike habits and bike-related issues. The grand prizes included a $50 gift card to Onion River Sports, a Local Motion T-shirt, a Local Motion water bottle, and a Local Motion membership… Not a bad selection of goods! At around 6:05 p.m., the kids were eager to get going to cheer on their local baseball team. Adam and Emily from Local Motion, along with Laura from the Montpelier Planning Department, helped the crowd to form a bike train before heading off down Elm Street towards the Montpelier Recreation Field.

By the time the baseball game had started, thirty-three bikes of all shapes and sizes were neatly parked on the valet bike parking racks. Numerous bystanders came over to voice their enthusiasm for valet bike parking and to compliment the idea. It was great to see so much interest in Local Motion’s valet bike parking program! The french fries were greasy, the ice cream was cold, and the kids were still smiling despite a fairly significant lead by the visiting team.

After the end of the ninth, the bikers began trickling back to collect their bikes. Glow sticks were handed out as a safety measure to protect the bikers in the dark, which may have excited the kids more than the game itself. The kids were eager to declare to all of their friends that they had a glow stick because they had biked to the game, helping to spread the word that biking is, in fact, cool. Finally, the last biker rode off into the night and left Local Motion, MBAC, and volunteers with a sense of satisfaction over a successful evening of cycling. Stay tuned for future collaborative events from Local Motion and MBAC!