Released: March 25, 2009

Contact: Margo O’Hara
(312) 427-3325, ext. 224
margo@biketraffic.org

Training guides provide expertise, confidence for fun bike riding

Online training guides are the perfect way to get ready for the inaugural bike ride of the season – Bike the Drive May 24.

The Active Transportation Alliance is offering free guides that provide bike maintenance and riding advice to make the ride as enjoyable as possible. Training guides are available at www.bikethedrive.org.

“We want people to feel great out there. These guides show riders that they can easily ride 15 miles,” said Rob Sadowsky, executive director of the Active Transportation Alliance. If a person can walk one mile, they can easily bike five, according to the League of American Bicyclists.

Bike the Drive opens world-famous Lake Shore Drive to bicyclists from Hollywood to the Museum of Science and Industry. Participants can choose the pace and distance for this idyllic bike ride. Registration is open at www.bikethedrive.org.

The training guides, developed by Elite-level USA Cycling Licensed Coach and Active Transportation Alliance’s Randy Warren, offer tips on biking, nutrition and hydration. For those who like more structure, the Guides include biking programs that culminate Bike the Drive. The programs are based on time, not distance, so individuals can bike at their own comfort level to easily reach 15- and 30-mile goals.

“Bike the Drive is a chance to for friends and families to see Chicago like never before,” Sadowsky said.

The Active Transportation Alliance is grateful to Bank of America for its support of this fundraiser that improves walking, biking and transit in Chicagoland

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk-management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving more than 59 million consumer and small business relationships with more than 6,100 retail banking offices, more than 18,000 ATMs and award-winning online banking with more than 25 million active users. Bank of America offers industry leading support to more than 4 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients in more than 150 countries and has relationships with 99 percent of the U.S. Fortune 500 companies and 83 percent of the Fortune Global 500. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. www.bankofamerica.com

The Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel. The organization builds a movement around active transportation, encourages physical activity, increases safety and builds a world-class transportation network. Formerly the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the Active Transportation Alliance is North America’s largest transportation advocacy organization, supported by more than 6,000 members, 1,000 volunteers and 35 full-time staff. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.

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