What Counts as a trip you ask? Visit our Team Guide for all the details.

About the Challenge

The Bike Commuter Challenge is a month-long biking competition where Chicagoland organizations compete to see who can earn the most points by riding their bike. Your bike ride to and from work count plus any additional work-related trips you take by bike. And it’s free to participate! Just sign up, ride your bike to work, and watch the points roll in.

You don’t have to be an experienced bike commuter to participate. Just logging one trip helps your team inch closer to victory! We’ve got plenty of resources to help you feel comfortable riding. Plus, we’ll send you emails throughout the Challenge with words of encouragement and tips.

Captain's will create a team for their organization during registration. Your role is to encourage others in your workplace to sign up and ride their bike! Don’t worry, you can enlist others to help you and we’ve created a Team Captain Toolkit with all the resources you need to crush the competition!

Once the Challenge begins, all you have to do is ride your bike and log your miles! We encourage you to log your miles daily so you know where your team ranks in the standings. Plus, we’ll select one random winner each day to receive sweet-bike related swag just for logging your miles!

Throughout the Challenge, the individual points you and your teammates earn will be combined into your overall organizational score. The organization with the most points at the end of the Challenge wins! To make it fair, we place organizations into tiers based on the total number of employees and type of business. That way you’re competing against other organizations that are similar to yours.

Point System

So, how do you earn points? Here’s the nitty gritty:

- First Time Bike Commuter = 25 points (check the new rider box during registration!)

- 1 Mile = 1 point (receive one point for each mile you ride) All milage will be complied into one daily trip log.

- 5 Days = 10 points (must be 5 consecutive trips including weekends). You can earn unlimited 5 day streaks bonus points.

Bonus Points:

Attend an Event and get 5 extra bonus points! We'd love to see you at one of our Bike Commuter Challenge Celebration Stations or at one of our Chicago Bike Month events. Simply come to an event and scan our Event Points QR code Sign and then add 5 miles to your total milage for that day (we will verify your points using the QR code). View Celebration Station events here and our Bike Month events here.

CTA Bus or Train = 15 bonus points by using CTA (only once during the Challenge). We've partnered with CTA and you can earn extra points if you include a train or a bus during one of your commutes. Use it to shorten a bike ride because maybe you already crushed 20 miles, or perhaps rain is coming up in the forecast but you still want to ride your bike later or perhaps you are just out exploring. Simply take a photo of yourself on CTA (with a thumbs up) and email it to bikechi@activetrans.org AND post it to social media with #bikechicta and we will add the 15 bonus points to your trip log (it may take a few days for your points to show up). It's easy, fun, and it puts your team one step closer to victory! (15 bonus points only valid one time.) Learn more about the bikes on CTA here: https://www.transitchicago.com/bikeandride/

Metra Bike Car = 30 bonus points by using Metra (only once during the Challenge) We've partnered with Metra and you can earn BIG extra points if you include the Metra Bike Car during one of your commutes. Use it to shorten a bike ride because maybe you already crushed 20 miles, or perhaps rain is coming up in the forecast but you still want to ride your bike later or perhaps you are just exploring the region and the dozens of beautiful Chicagoland bike trails accessible by Metra. Simply take a photo of yourself on the Bike Car (with a thumbs up) and email it to bikechi@activetrans.org and we will add the 30 bonus points to your trip log for that day. It's easy, fun, and it puts your team one step closer to victory! (30 bonus points only valid one time.) Learn more about the Bike Car's routes and schedules!

Organization Tiers

Throughout the Challenge, the individual points you and your teammates earn will be combined into your overall organizational score. The organization with the most points at the end of the Challenge wins!

To make it fair, we place organizations into tiers based on the total number of employees and type of business. That way you’re competing against other organizations that are similar to yours.

The award tiers below are based on the type of organization and it's number of employees.