by Jacquee Lukawski
National Bike to Work Day occurs annually on the third Friday in May. BikeNewark, and several of its partner organizations hosted Bike to Work Day in Newark on the morning of May 16. The event featured breakfast food, speakers representing local or state entities, random giveaways to registered attendees, and the Bicycle Friendly Community Leader Award, which was presented to Delaware State Senator Dave Sokola. I was fortunate enough to win free registration to the Amish Country Bike Tour in Dover, Del., for the second year in a row!
On Bike to Work Day, I do not ride my bicycle all the way from North Wilmington to Newark but combine biking with a SEPTA regional rail trip. Someday I hope that there will be sufficient infrastructure to enable me to ride my bike to work, but as of right now, it’s not safe to do so. To accomplish my multimodal commute, I use two bikes—one that I ride to the Claymont SEPTA Station and the other that I keep parked at the Newark Train Station. Both bikes are inexpensive and secured with u-locks. While I have taken my bike on the train before, I don’t find it to be a pleasant experience, so I try to avoid it. Maybe in the future I’ll sell a bike or two and buy a folding bike that would be much easier to transport via the train.
Each year for the past three years, I have also participated in the Commuter Challenge division of the Monkey Hill Time Trial, which is the event that kicks off the Wilmington Grand Prix, held each year on Bike to Work Day. This is a three-mile ride through Brandywine Park in Wilmington, ending on a steep climb up the cobblestones of Monkey Hill, adjacent to the Brandywine Zoo. The Commuter Challenge is a fundraising event for Urban Bike Project of Wilmington—the sister organization to Newark Bike Project (one of BikeNewark’s seven partner organizations). It features competitors dressed up in costumes and carrying extra weight on their bikes; it’s truly entertaining and a great time!
This year, I got caught up in the cobbles and ended up running off the course midway up the hill. I was able to get started again and successfully made it up the hill with the crowd going wild for my outfit—a dress (which I made myself), high-heel wedge shoes, and a straw hat over my helmet. Most people could not believe that I would wear those shoes, and, indeed, most sane people would not do so, but it was my milestone after raising $500 for the cause. My feet are still recovering from blisters several days later, but the memories are worth it!
Editor’s note: Jacquee Lukawski is a University of Delaware Department of Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering staff member and currently BikeNewark’s Secretary.
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