WomanTours, Inc. is proud to announce that we have earned recognition as a Gold Bicycle Friendly Business from the League of American Bicyclists.
We’ve joined the movement of 1,416 small businesses, government agencies, and Fortune 500 companies across the United States in transforming the American workplace to be more welcoming to our customers and employees who bike. We know so many more of you are biking during the coronavirus pandemic, and we are proud to support the health and well-being of our community by being more welcoming to people choosing to bike.
“Since WomanTours applied for the Bicycle Friendly Business award in February 2020, much has changed across the country,” said Bill Nesper, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists. “What hasn’t changed is the commitment of our Bicycle Friendly Business award winners to the health and well-being of their employees, customers, and community through the promotion and encouragement of bicycling as a means of transportation, fun, and fitness.”
The designation will be valid for the next four years. Some of the factors that helped WomanTours earn this designation include the following:
- Located half a mile from the Erie Canalway bicycle path in Rochester, NY, WomanTours encourages bike commuting amongst our employees by establishing a casual dress code, having a shower on premise and providing secure bicycle parking and tools for repairs and service.
- WomanTours teaches tour guests safe bicycling techniques as well as basic bike maintenance and repairs. We encourage independence and self-reliance via cycling.
- Each year, WomanTours donates proceeds from our Tanazania tour to globalbike, an organization that works to make bicycles accessible to women in rural Tanzania in order to improve their health and well-being. We have so far donated more than $50,000 to globalbike.
- Thanks to our annual Angel Fund (supported by an anonymous benefactor), each year we are able to offer women a chance to travel with WomanTours for free. Candidates are selected based on need and suitability to the tour.
- WomanTours is involved in local and regional bicycling advocacy programs, such as Reconnect Rochester, promoting cycling as a means of transportation and commuting as well as recreation and exercise. Our president, Jackie Marchand, is on the Reconnect Rochester board of directors, serving as its treasurer.
- WomanTours donates older used bikes to R Community Bikes in Rochester, a service that refurbishes bikes for those who could otherwise not afford them. WomanTours is also a contributor to DreamBikes of Rochester, a service that sells used bikes and trains youth to become bike mechanics.
- Each year we run a bike mileage challenge, a friendly competition to encourage staff to bike as much as possible year-round.
“I’ve wanted us to apply for years and finally felt as if we had a lot to show for our hard work in promoting cycling,” says WomanTours President Jackie Marchand. “I was so excited to obtain gold status right out of the gate! As far as I know, we’re the only Gold Bicycle Friendly Business in Monroe County.”