Now’s the time to get your Bike Everywhere Challenge team together

The annual Bike Everywhere Challenge (formerly known as the Bike Month Challenge and the Bike To Work Challenge) starts May 1, so now is the time to join an existing team or talk to coworkers and friends and form a new team. You can also sign up solo.

The collective goal for the region is to log 400,000 trips in the month of May, 86,000 more than last year. So they're gonna need your help.

All you have to do is track any trips you bike on the challenge website. The site then compiles it all so you can see how biking even a little every day adds up to a huge amount over the course of a month. The site is also a way to encourage people to keep it up through the whole month and to find new trips to make by bike (take Pronto to a new lunch spot, for example, and you can log another trip).

Making biking your primary mode of transportation takes some habit-forming, so a challenge like this is a great way for people to make the switch. And odds are, once you're in the biking habit, you won't want to go back.

Lead in past years by Cascade Bicycle Club, the challenge is now being handled through Washington Bikes. The two organizations merged late last year, so they are still establishing which arm of the organization does which annual events.

More details from WA Bikes:

Are you in? The Washington Bikes Bike Everywhere Challenge begins Sunday, May 1 and runs through the end of the month. The Challenge is a fun, free online trip-tracking contest designed to encourage people to ride to work, school and everywhere else. The annual Challenge inspires thousands of people to start riding and challenges experienced riders to bike more. Riders can go solo or form a team of coworkers or friends and challenge each other to ride as much as possible throughout the month of May. All Puget Sound area participants are eligible for free prizes, and team captains get invited to the Wednesday, April 27 Captain's Bash.

Learn more and sign up for the Washington Bikes Bike Everywhere Challenge at challenge.wabikes.org.

New this year:

Washington Bikes is taking over administration of the Challenge from previous organizers, Cascade Bicycle Club

The name has been changed from the Bike Month Challenge to the Bike Everywhere Challenge to reflect a new emphasis on all types of riding-commuting, recreation and exercise, or everyday travel around town

Follow #BikeEverywhere on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for news and updates throughout the month

The Washington Bikes Bike Everywhere Challenge is one of many fun bike challenges happening across the state throughout the month of May.

Find other Washington state bike challenges at cascade.org/bike-challenges.

Facts from the 2015 Challenge:

15,728 participants
1,886 teams
314,210 bike trips logged
1,622 new riders
36 percent of Challenge riders identified as a woman
More than 1,000 organizations represented

About Washington Bikes

Washington Bikes grows bicycling all across the state of Washington every day. We advocate for bicyclists' rights, endorse political candidates and hold officials accountable at every level of government, working with them to shape the policies that will make bicycling a safe, accessible form of transportation, travel and recreation. Through our efforts we increase funding for bicycle facilities; provide tools for local advocates to improve their communities; and promote the health, safety and economic benefits of bicycling. Our work and that of our many partner organizations means more biking all across Washington, the #1 Bicycle Friendly State in America (eight years in a row)! To learn more, visit WAbikes.org.