We previously reported on Bike Belong’s project to provide delegates, party officials, and the national media attending at the Democratic and Republican national conventions the opportunity to borrow free loaner bikes to use during the events. Bikes Belong teamed with Humana to bring 1,000 bikes to the Democratic and Republican national conventions, with two goals in mind:

  1. To show convention delegates, media, volunteers, and residents the convenience of bicycling for short trips.

  2. To highlight bicycling on a national stage and generate positive media coverage to inspire more people to ride.

The final tally shows that during the eight days at the conventions, people from all 50 states and 37 countries:

  • Took 7,523 rides

  • Pedaled 41,724 miles

  • Burned 1,293,429 calories

  • Reduced their carbon footprint by 14.6 metric tons

  • Reported no accidents or injuries

The event generated a buzz for bicycles in the mainstream media event, with stories appearing on CNN, ABC World News Tonight, and the CBS Evening News, in major newspapers such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, and New York Daily News, as well as in Time and Newsweek. According to Bike Belong statistics, the event generated:

  • 2,304 clips in print, on television and radio, and online

  • Nearly 180 million media impressions

  • An equivalent of $10 million in advertising

Kudos to Bikes Belong for promoting bicycling as easy, convenient, healthy, safe, and fun transportation to a large and diverse audience at the national conventions.