International Winter Bike to Work Day encourages people to ride in cold

This is the third year of International Winter Bike To Work Day, which started when several communities in Canada challenged one another to see who could have the highest number of bike commuters. Last year the event expanded, and Sitka and Anchorage (both cities in Alaska) hosted events along with several other communities around the world’s polar regions. Sitka ended up having the second-highest number of participants, with Oulu, Finland trailing in second place. The organization is making an online effort to “normalize” winter bike commuting. People are encouraged to log their Friday-morning commutes online. There’s even a special app that commuters can download to count others along their route. D.C. bike shop Bicycle Space is advertising the event and encouraging riders to get out there and be counted. The shop is aspiring to put the D.C. on the map by winning what it calls the “Winter Olympics” of bike commuting.