Commuter Bike Ride Tuesday, May 18

Which route are you going to take? Meet at the Central YMCA at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 18. Commuter guides will take you along one of the following routes. You have the option to return with them, leave the route along the way to head off in your own direction or be picked up by a friend or family member at any point along the route.

Here are the Five Route Maps:

Route 1 Northwest: Keeper of the Plains, Riverside Park, Cowtown, Museums on the River, Twin Lakes area, Sedgwick County Zoo and Park, Warren Theatre West, New Market Square, YMCA West Branch – Led by commuter cyclist Scott Dyer, Jeff Usher and Bob Blinn

Route 2 K-96: Via Christi-St. Francis, Coleman, York, USD259, Grove Park, Chisholm Trail Park, (WSU), Koch, Pioneer Balloon, LSI, YMCA (K-96 & Woodlawn), Bel Aire – Led by commuter cyclist John Thompson

Route 3 East Central: Wesley Hospital, Wichita Clinic, Towne East, CCH, YMCA, Hawker-Beechcraft, Andover’s Central Park, Andover YMCA – Led by commuter cyclist Greg Standifer

Route 4 Southeast: Linwood Park, Cox Communication, Via Christi-St. Joseph, Cessna Park, Cessna-Pawnee, McConnell AFB, Boeing, Spirit, (return route past Towne East) – Led by commuter cyclists Dean Smythe and Rick Moss

Route 5 Southwest: Delano, Friends University, Newman University, Cessna-Wallace, Case-New Holland, (return route past YMCA) – Led by commuter cyclist Larry Bennett

Why Bike to Work?

When is the last time you smelled the honeysuckle in springtime during your morning commute? Or pulled into the parking lot with a big smile plastered across your face, pumped with endorphins and ideas? Or lost weight just by going back and forth to work every day? 

Likely never, if you slide behind the wheel of a metal box and fight the freeway each morning. But what if one day you left the car in the driveway and rode a bike instead? 

You’d actually look forward to going to work, says Larry Bennett, an underwriter for KMUW public radio. “ I arrive at work with a great attitude because I get to hear the birds sing in the morning and I get a close look at flowers in people’s yards along my bicycling route.  I arrive home in the evening with a great attitude because I get to work off the stress of the day by pedaling as hard and fast as I want.,” he says. Though he’s been making the 14 mile round trip through Wichita’s College Hill district. “ I ride a bike to work during three of the four seasons and sometimes even on a warm day in winter.  My commute is rarely boring since the same route looks and feels different with each season.  But every commute in a car is pretty much the same regardless of the time of year.” 

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