A Winter Bike To Work Day event was held from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. last Friday at 1027 Main Ave. The event was held by the city of Durango to recognize, encourage and promote bicycle commuters in the winter.

There was food and drink provided by local businesses and free bicycle tune-ups provided by San Juan Cycles, Amber Blake, director of transportation and sustainability for the city of Durango, said.  

“It keeps people excited about riding their bikes during a cold and potentially slushy time of year,” she said in an email.

Temperatures were below freezing Friday, but that did not deter Durango’s bike commuters.

Jordan Townsend and Erika Jeffs commute by bike because it allows them to own just one car and drive less often, they both said.

To deal to winter time weather, Jeffs wears heated gloves and flannel lined pants, she said.

Rick Doornbos rides his mountain bike to work, often through Horse Gulch when the weather permits, he said.

He rides to work because it means he can clear his head and ride his bike more, he said.

Lesley Forrest, an event attendee, regularly commutes five miles because she likes to be outside and see nature, she said.

This year was the fifth annual running of the Winter Bike To Work event, Blake said.

The event was a success, with about 150 people stopping by on their way to work, she said in an email.

To encourage sustainable transportation, the city held a Business Commuter Challenge Feb.20-24. Employees from Durango businesses could commute sustainably, and the business with the highest participation rate wins, she said.

Ten local businesses participated in this year’s event, she said in an email. The winner this year was Russell Planning and Engineering with a 90% participation rate, she said.

Commuting sustainably means biking, walking, riding the bus or carpooling, Blake said.

The city also runs the Way To Go! Club, which is a year round program, she said. The Way To Go! Club runs like an airline miles program, where participants can gain points by logging their sustainable commute miles and win prizes, she said.

“This also helps the community because we can track greenhouse gas emission savings,” Blake said.  

The club currently has 828 active members 90,489 sustainable trips since January 2016 and have saved 541.64 tons of CO2 emissions, she said in an email.

The city is putting money into sustainable transportation thanks to the Multi-Modal Plan which was adopted in 2009, she said. Since then $5 million has been put into multi-modal transportation projects, she said.

In the summer, the city works with local businesses to sponsor bicycle parking, she said. A parking space is blocked off and used as a bike parking space for up to 20 bikes, she said.

The vision is to have a seventh grade aged kid be able to safely get around Durango by themselves, she said.