Bike to Campus Week

Bike to Campus Week | September 11 - 15, 2023

ABOUT

The annual Bike to Campus Week brings together local bike organizations, folks new to biking, experienced bicyclists, and bike educators for a week of activities that highlight the many benefits that make biking fun and enjoyable! It is a time to celebrate our bicycling community and promote biking as a sustainable, active commuting opportunity and recreational activity.

 

2023 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

Monday, September 11

Bike to Campus Week Festival at the Gallagher Plaza in front of the William Pitt Union
11 am – 2 pm

Kick-off Bike to Campus Week with a celebration of biking at Pitt! Enter a raffle to win a brand new bike as well as locks and helmets from Pitt Mobility and the Pitt Bike Cave. Learn about bike safety from the Pitt Police and share your thoughts on campus bike infrastructure with Pitt’s Planning Department. Learn how to activate your POGOH benefit and how to use bike share bikes from POGOH. Stop by to chat with biking-related student organizations and grab a bite to eat from a guest food truck.

 

Tuesday, September 12

Confident City Cycling Class at the Pitt Bike Cave
4 pm – 7 pm

BikePGH’s Confident City Cycling class provides all the skills and knowledge on how to safely ride on Pittsburgh’s streets. This on-the-bike class will cover basic and advanced cycling skills, and best practices for solo and group riding, and includes a culminating group ride around Oakland that utilizes the best of local bicycle infrastructure! Instructors will also be on hand to answer your questions about biking to campus or anywhere else in Pittsburgh. No bike or helmet – no problem! Helmets and free Pogoh bike rentals are available!

Click here to register (registration is required to participate)

 

Wednesday, September 13

Operation Illumination free bike light giveaway at Schenley Plaza (Forbes and Schenley Ext)
5 pm – 7 pm

BikePGH’s Operation Illumination program is proudly presented by Edgar Snyder & Associates! We’ll be popping at Schenley Plaza on Pitt campus from 5 pm to 7 pm to distribute free front and rear bike lights and helmets, as well as bike guides and maps for two hours or as long as supplies last! All you need to do is stop by with your UNLIT bicycle to receive your own set of lights!

 

Thursday, September 14

Bike to Campus Week at the Pitt Farmers Market (Gallagher Plaza in front of the William Pitt Union)
10:30 am – 2 pm

Join Pitt Mobility for a bike x farmers market crossover event! Learn how to activate your POGOH bike share benefit and meet student organizations related to biking while perusing the weekly Pitt Farmers Market.

 

Confident City Cycling Class at the Pitt Bike Cave
4 pm – 7 pm

BikePGH’s Confident City Cycling class provides all the skills and knowledge on how to safely ride on Pittsburgh’s streets. This on-the-bike class will cover basic and advanced cycling skills, and best practices for solo and group riding, and includes a culminating group ride around Oakland that utilizes the best of local bicycle infrastructure! Instructors will also be on hand to answer your questions about biking to campus or anywhere else in Pittsburgh. No bike or helmet – no problem! Helmets and free Pogoh bike rentals are available!

Click here to register (registration is required to participate)

 

Friday, September 15

Pitt Bike Cave Friday Fun Ride
5:30 pm – 7:30 pm

Wrap up Bike to Campus Week with a leisurely social ride led by Pitt Bike Cave student mechanics to Point State Park in Downtown Pittsburgh. Bring your own bike or rent a POGOH bike to join. The group ride will depart the Pitt Bike Cave’s Posvar Passage location at 6 p.m.

 

PHOTO GALLERY

HISTORY

Pitt’s celebration of our bicycling community started in May 2017 with Bike to Work Day, a national event that promotes bikes as a commuting option for workers across the country. Pitt’s celebration brought together bicycle commuters from across Pittsburgh for breakfast and coffee, bike giveaways, free bike safety checks, a Port Authority bus bike rack demonstration, and more! Bike to Work Day is still celebrated each year.

The following year, Pitt, Carnegie Mellon University, Chatham University, and BikePGH established Bike to Campus Day to celebrate students, faculty, and staff who commute to campus by bike – hosted in September after students returned to campus! Events and activities were planned at the three universities and promoted by our partner BikePGH.

In 2020, the Bike to Campus Week celebration became established, holding events virtually due to the pandemic. Activities included online sessions with bike experts and bike commuters focused on equipping new riders, insights on local bike routes, what to look for when buying a bike, and group ride opportunities.

Bike to Campus Week 2021 was the biggest thus far, as in-person events returned to campus. Highlights of the week’s events included the first Bike to Campus Week Festival featuring campus and local bike organizations, a Friday afternoon social ride hosted by the Pitt Bike Cave and Latin American Graduate Organization of Students (LAGOS), and Chancellor Gallagher and Provost Cudd taking to the street for a bike ride through Oakland!

During Bike to Campus Week 2022, participants were able to take a POGOH bike for a ride, learn about our friends at Friends of the Riverfront and their dedication to protecting and restoring the riverfront, visit the Pitt Bike Cave at their pop-up repair shop, pick up some used bike gear at Thirftsburgh’s gear swap, or chat with Pitt Mobility about commuting by bike in Pittsburgh! The rest of the week was filled with bike classes, a bike-focused career panel, a bike repair pop-up, a bike light giveaway, virtual bike webinars, and an info session on riding the Great Allegheny Passage Bike Trail which goes from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cumberland, Maryland!