Bike to Work

Yardi Rules CycleMAYnia Again

By Leah Etling on Jun 16, 2017 in News, People

Each May, the good people of Santa Barbara, Calif. are encouraged to put pedals to the pavement and ride their bikes to work. Yardi’s home office in Goleta is a longtime participant in CycleMAYnia, the regional cycling challenge that encourages people of all ages to get back on their bikes. The event has been ongoing since 2005.

“The community benefits through fewer cars on the road and reduced emissions, as well as elevated levels of joy and friendliness amongst neighbors, strangers, and coworkers,” said Lori LaRiva, Traffic Solutions/TDM Program Coordinator for Santa Barbara County Association of Governments.

“Employees arrive at work refreshed, they let go of stress at the end of the day, they get a free workout, and they experience the camaraderie of a friendly workplace challenge,” LaRiva said.

That’s certainly been the experience at Yardi, which captured the win for the 500 – 999 employee category. Companies are stacked up against each other based on size. Second place category finisher, Mindbody of San Luis Obispo, rode just 25 percent of the miles Yardi team members did.

Yardi employees racked up 3,598 miles on bikes during the month of May to earn the win, and 439.5 miles during the week of May 15-19 when the competition tallies were recorded.

“Not only did CycleMAYnia encourage employees to bike together, but it also encouraged carpooling for those who live too far to bike the entire way.  We had a new cyclist ride from downtown Santa Barbara every day,” said Kelly Johnson, Yardi event coordinator.  “The farthest biker came from Carpinteria.”

LaRiva described some of the widespread benefits of the competition. “Every year, participants say that the Bike Challenge gets them back on their bikes again. For some, it creates a casual routine that will last through the long summer days, for others, it has become an integral part of their lives in every season.”

Many Yardi employees ride their bikes to work on a year-round basis. Others bring bikes to the office and use them to cruise around Old Town Goleta for errands. Yardi hosts one of the CycleMAYnia breakfast events and also sponsors a bike tune-up workshop with local bike mechanics.

“Each Bike-to-Work breakfast at different offices each morning had Yardi employees in attendance,” Johnson noted. “Some biked together, others met up to eat together.  I had a group who met at my house in the morning and we would ride to various breakfasts – it was great!”

LaRiva reports that the challenge of riding to work for a month can inspire much greater feats. “Accomplishments have ranged from 2,160 bike trips in a short five-day challenge to 9,323 bike trips in a 31-day challenge, which kept over 80,000 lbs of emissions (mostly CO2) out of our air,” she said.

Find out more at http://conta.cc/2r2xWBl