Signs of the Democratic Party's efforts to hold a "green" Convention show up everywhere in Denver this week. DNC officials drive hybrid Chevy SUVs; there are official emails encouraging media to ride public transportation, shuttles from major hotels to convention venues, even signs put up by Convention sponsor Coors/Molson boasting that the Convention's flex-fuel vehicles run on a brewery byproduct. But one of the most visible efforts to solve transportation snags and promote a healthier, greener lifestyle comes from a joint effort between a major national healthcare provider, Humana, and a bicycle manufacturers' organization, Bikes Belong.
Together, those organizations have created Freewheelin, a bike lending program that lets anyone with an ID and a credit card (for security only) borrow a bicycle free of charge. Freewheelin has seven "kiosks" located strategically around downtown Denver; registration is simple (and can be done online), checking out a bike is quick and easy, and the bikes are well-made, well-maintained, comfortable cruisers with big comfy seats, raised handlebars, automatic shifting and coaster brakes - not exactly for hard-core cyclists, but terrific for cruising around Denver's gently rolling hills and creekside bike paths. Each bike comes with a handlebar bag, computerized odometer, light, and (mandatory) bike helmet, and the kiosks even hand out pant cuff straps, water, maps, fun buttons (mine reads "Ride Me - I'm Free"), and advice.
The program seems successful so far: 1,100 people preregistered online, and 1,700 people checked out bikes in just the first two days of the Convention. At the end of the Convention, Freewheelin will email each rider with info on how many miles they rode and what their carbon offset was. It will have lasting benefits to Denver, as well: the organization will leave two kiosks and 70 bicycles behind even after the Convention is over. And it's not partisan: another button reads "I'm Bikepartisan," and they intend to provide the same service at the Republican Convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul next month. The sponsoring organizations may also benefit from the good publicity they're generating: Bikes Belong, for example, works largely with federal transportation grants. If so, though, it's a win-win, good for the sponsors but also for the City of Denver and for the people who can whiz effortlessly among the various venues where the Convention is being held, from the Pepsi Center to the Colorado Convention Center to the bloggers' "Big Tent" to the hotels, restaurants, Internet coffeeshops and other destinations spread all over Denver's downtown.
Most of the riders I saw today on Freewheelin bikes were dressed casually, but I had no problem tucking my wool blazer into my bag, swinging into the saddle, and pedaling away in my Rockport wingtips. In part that's due to spending seven years in college and professional school in Davis, California, famous for having more bikes than people, but I wasn't alone. As Tricia Hemsky, a worker at one of the kiosks, explained, everyone from local residents to Convention delegates to tourists are borrowing their bikes: "It's just a wonderful myriad of all different folks. I haven't seen anybody in heels yet, but I expect it'll happen."
