The first month of the 2014 National Bike Challenge is in the books, and our local challenge, hosted by Thrive Allen County, is doing quite well.

39 people from Allen County have signed up for the National Bike Challenge so far, and they’ve collectively ridden over 5,000 miles already!

We’re currently ranked #5 in the nation for local challenges, and #1 in the state of Kansas.

In May, the top 5 riders in Allen County were:

1. Randy Rasa: 31 days, 862.7 miles
2. Lori Stottlemire: 17 days, 605.1 miles
3. Terry Broyles: 15 days, 556.4 miles
4. Rhi Hess: 19 days, 296.1 miles
5. David Shelby: 12 days, 187.7 miles

Residents from three Allen County communities are participating. Here’s how they ranked for May:

1. Iola: 33 riders
2. Humboldt: 5 riders
3. La Harpe: 1 rider

In addition, Iola is currently ranked as the #88 community in the entire country, and #5 in Kansas. In cities of similar size (5,000 to 49,999), Iola is #18 in the nation, and #1 in the state of Kansas.

In fact, when measured on a per-capita basis, no community of comparable or larger size in Kansas is even close to having as many people participating and logging miles in the challenge.

And even with a relatively high rate of participation, there is still plenty of room to improve. Many more people regularly ride bikes in Allen County, but they either haven’t heard about the Challenge, or they’ve declined to participate.

If you know of someone who rides a bicycle, whether for recreation or transportation, please pass along the word, and let them know about the National Bike Challenge. Just point them to NationalBikeChallenge.org, and encourage them to register and start logging their miles. The Challenge is free, and it’s open to all ages.

It’s exciting to see people in Allen County getting enthusiastic about this program! We’ve already seen a number of people begin to ride more regularly, to ride their bike as part of their day-to-day lives, and even, in some cases, to ride for the very first time as an adult.

Late update: Through the early days of June, Allen County is ranked #1 in the entire USA. How about that?! Check it out:

Let’s keep it up!