May is National Bike Month and this Friday, May 17, is Bike to Work Day, a perfect time for Whidbey Island communities to recognize and celebrate all the benefits of bicycling.

Bike to Work Day is being recognized by Useless Bay Coffee, Honeymoon Bay Coffee and Coupeville Coffee and Bistro, where a free cup of coffee will be offered to all riders who stop by between 7 and 10 a.m.

Whidbey Island Bicycle Club is celebrating National Bike Month by encouraging all Whidbey residents to get out and ride. The club’s website, www.whidbeybicycleclub.org, has a link where riders can record their miles.

Prizes will be awarded for the most miles in May, and the club has something for all school-aged riders who log miles during May.

Riders can also look at the many rides already logged by clicking the spreadsheet link on the website.

If riders are looking for routes or want to post a ride to the WIBC ride calendar, they can email administrator@whidbeybicycleclub.org.

The ride data collected will be used to motivate community leaders and state planners to improve programs (like Safe Routes to School) and infrastructure (such as road improvements and off-road paths) that support riding on the island.

According to the national bike group PeopleForBikes, half of all trips Americans make are three miles or less, an easy biking distance. Bicycling keeps people healthy, carries them efficiently from point A to point B, saves them from high gas prices, and makes the air cleaner and the roads less congested.