As the parking lots filled up like normal on May 5, a small faction of the BSM community took a different mode of transportation: biking. May 5 marks BSM’s Ride Your Bike to School Day. Biking is definitely in the minority mode of transportation for BSM students and faculty, so Ride Your Bike to School Day proved to be a fun change of pace for those who participated.

Ride Your Bike to School Day is a national event, and in Minnesota alone, 150-200 schools participated in the fun. “We were one of about 20 schools in Minneapolis to participate in the event,” Mr. Ryan Werdon, choir teacher and event organizer, said.

This year, 11 faculty members chose to bike to school. For most participants, biking was far from a regular part of their morning routine, and for others, it was nothing new. “I’ve been riding my bike everyday to school since last week when the weather started to warm up,” Werdon said.

Since BSM isn’t necessarily a neighborhood-based school, students and faculty come from all different walks of the metro area on their way to BSM. Participants in the event rode distances ranging from 0.8 miles to over 10 miles. “I rode 13.6 miles to school––I think the farthest of everyone,” Ms. Kristin Gilbertson, junior high math teacher, said.

Because biking isn’t the typical mode of transportation for most, the event organizers recommended testing out the bikeable route ahead of time. “I tested out the biking route over the weekend to make sure I wouldn’t get lost…I also learned I get really hungry when I bike to school in the mornings, so I have to plan my food better,” Werdon said.

As far as turnout goes, there was a solid group of participants. Although no students participated in the event, it was still exciting to see people within the BSM community take part. “I think most students aren’t very early risers, and maybe we should have done it when it was a little warmer, but I would say we still had a good turnout,” Werdon said.