Volunteer

Volunteers are the fuel that powers Washington Bikes. From data entry and tabling at events to providing testimony at public hearings and sitting on the board of directors, volunteers are the ones that make our organization successful. Whether you can give three hours a week or three hours a year, we have a place for you in our volunteer community.

Check here for current volunteer needs.

Create your own volunteer assignment!

Is there a particular bicycle issue or project that you would like to tackle with guidance and assistance from Washington Bikes?  Maybe you’re interested in documenting bike use in your community, or you want to create a video that encourages seniors to bike, or you’d like to organize a Share the Trail or Bike to Work event.  Email your idea to volunteer@wabikes.org.

Volunteer Work Parties

If you live in the Seattle area, our volunteer work parties are an easy way to get involved with Washington Bikes and meet others who care about making Washington a better to place to bike.  Work parties are usually scheduled on the 4th Thursday of the month from 1-4 pm at our office.  Check the calendar for upcoming work parties.

Spotlight

#BikeIt: What’s On Your List?

By Barb Chamberlain | Published December 31, 2014
My New Year's Resolution: Ride More! Text below Washington Bikes logo "W" bike

Right-click to download, save, and share this in your social media accounts to tell your friends you’re working on your #BikeIt list in 2015. While you’re at it, invite them to join in one or more of the ideas below. And if you’re taking this seriously as a New Year’s resolution, research shows that telling other people increases the likelihood you’ll follow through.

You know what a bucket list is — the things you want to do before you die. We’re not looking quite that far ahead with our #BikeIt question. We just want to know what kinds of things you want to do to enjoy and expand your riding.

Some of the ideas listed here came from Twitter and we have a Facebook poll that collapses the detailed list below into broad categories (see bottom of this page). We’ve also been inspired by similar lists from partner organizations and people making New Year’s resolutions.

Some are big, bold, and year-long, others more easily done. Some may already be routine for you, others seemingly out of the question. That’s the beauty of a list for all kinds of riders who have all kinds of reasons for riding.

Add your ideas here in the comments or in social media and we’ll keep this list growing over time to share inspiration. Don’t forget to come back and tell us when you’ve accomplished one of your dreams.

[Tweet “Working on my #BikeIt list in 2015 w/ideas from this. What’s on YOUR list?”]

And yes, we deliberately mixed the list up instead of grouping by any sort of categories. Enjoy stumbling across something you wouldn’t have thought of.

  1. Bike for all trips of two miles or less.
  2. Get groceries by bike.
  3. Try a cargo bike. (What do you need to haul?)
  4. Recruit a friend to go for a ride.
  5. Tell your state legislators you want them to support bicycling.
  6. Thank your state legislators and other elected officials when they do support bicycling.
  7. Ride a trail near your home.
  8. Ride a trail somewhere else in Washington that you’ve never ridden before. (Which one?)
  9. Donate to help build a trail you want to ride.
  10. Attend the new Washington Bike Summit (coming March 16-17 in Olympia in conjunction with Transportation Advocacy Day).
  11. Go on a bike tour.
  12. Go on one of the tours in Cycling Sojourner Washington.
  13. Support your local bike advocacy organization. (Let us know if it’s not on our list.)
  14. Start a local bike advocacy effort. (Tell us if you do; we’ll help spread the word.)
  15. Test-ride an e-bike.
  16. Test-ride an adult tricycle. Better yet, get someone who shouldn’t be driving much longer to test-ride an adult tricycle.
  17. Participate in an Open Streets event.
  18. Ride to school with a kid (mine, a grandkid, the neighbor’s child — you can probably borrow one if you have to).
  19. Get neighbors together to talk about how you can make yours a more bikeable, walkable part of town and start something rolling.
  20. Work in your community for a bike master plan, 20MPH neighborhood speed limit, or other improvements to policy and infrastructure. (What does your town need? Tell us in the comments.)
  21. Look at your community efforts with an awareness of your privilege and figure out how you can include people who aren’t currently at the table when improvements are being planned. Then do that.
  22. Try mountain biking.
  23. Try bike commuting.
  24. Participate in your local Commute Challenge.
  25. Participate in one or more of the fun, informal challenges like 30 Days of Biking or coffeeneuring.
  26. Participate in the National Bike Challenge.
  27. Take your bike on the bus or commuter train.
  28. Try road racing.
  29. Try track racing.
  30. Try cyclocross.
  31. Win races.
  32. Volunteer in the annual bike count.
  33. Get your workplace to apply for Bicycle-Friendly Business recognition. (Application deadline: Jan. 15, 2015)
  34. Ask your employer to support bicycle commuter benefits if they’re already doing parking and transit. (This would look great on their Bicycle-Friendly Business application.)
  35. Get your town to apply for Bicycle-Friendly Community recognition. (Application deadline: Feb. 11, 2015)
  36. Get your college/university to apply for Bicycle-Friendly University recognition. (Application deadline: Aug. 20, 2015)
  37. Try randonneuring.
  38. Try gravel grinding.
  39. Try a fixie.
  40. Try fatbiking in sand or snow.
  41. Do one of Washington’s famous major rides like STP, RAW, or RAMROD. (Which one[s]?)
  42. Do some other famous major ride: RAAM, Ride the Divide, Paris-Brest-Paris…. (Which one[s]?)
  43. Ride your bike every day for a year.
  44. Ride in cold weather.
  45. Ride your bike at night.
  46. Ride in the rain.
  47. Plan a vacation based on the quality of the bicycling in the destination area.
  48. Test-ride a tandem.
  49. Learn how to repair a flat tire. (Bonus points if you actually use what you learned if you get a flat.)
  50. Learn how to tune up your bike.
  51. Understand gear ratios.
  52. Volunteer with a local program that helps kids learn to ride and get bicycles.
  53. Volunteer with a local community bike shop or bike repair program.
  54. Join a local riding group.
  55. Review state laws and local ordinances about bicycling so you really know the law. (We can send you a pocket guide to WA state bike law to help.)
  56. Attend the National Bike Summit. (Let us know if you’re going; we help organize visits to congressional offices for the Washington state delegation.)
  57. Get a Share the Road license plate for your car to make streets more bike-friendly when you drive.
  58. Write a blog post about something you tried from this list. (We’d love to publish it. If you blog regularly about biking you belong on our list of Washington state bike blogs.)
  59. Ride a certain number of miles per week, on average.
  60. Ride as many miles as you are years old.
  61. Set a new personal best for one-day mileage. (What would that be for you?)
  62. Achieve a target total mileage for the year.
  63. Stop tracking your miles at all because it’s just about the ride.
  64. Adopt a mile of trail or bike lane and clear the trash regularly.
  65. Support Washington Bikes with your tax-deductible donation. to help us advocate for more funding for bike facilities; work for laws that improve safety, education, health, and justice; and use the power of bike tourism to build support among businesses and local leaders. (You knew this would be on the list, right?)
  66. Ride some or all of USBR10 across Washington.
  67. Try bikeshare. In Washington: Cycle Pronto in Seattle and the state’s first bikeshare, the Green Bikes system for students, staff, and faculty at Washington State University Pullman.

For Our Twitter Fans

Have fun with our formatted tweets: Throw in the numbers of specific items you’re putting on your list.

[Tweet “On my #BikeIt list: Major rides like….”]

[Tweet “On my #BikeIt List: Get involved! Neighborhood, town, state, US.”]

[Tweet “On my #BikeIt list: Work for #bikes4all, inclusion, equity.”]

[Tweet “On my #BikeIt list: Vacation by or with my bike! #biketravel #biketouring “]

[Tweet “On my #BikeIt list: Learn new things, try new bikes.”]

Skip the Detail, Take the Facebook Poll

Your Turn

  • Which ones are on your list?
  • Which ones made you realize, “Hey, not everyone rides the way I do”?