Cycle September is a little over week away, and we're looking forward to getting started!

If you haven't been on a bike in years, it is the ideal opportunity to rediscover the joy of riding a bike. Already riding? Let's get your friends and peers enjoying all the benefits of riding a bike. Pre-registration is open now (and pre-registering enters you in a drawing for a $100 gift card!).

Cycle September is a month-long, fun and free, community and workplace challenge designed to get people to ride their bikes. Throughout the month, there are weekly and overall challenges for participants to compete, win prizes and top the leaderboards.

Throughout the month, the Office for Sustainability will also be sponsoring several bike related events, including the Bike Block Party on Sept. 2, the first home game bike valet on Sept. 4 and Bike Commuting 101 workshops from Sept. 8 - 10. Check out this calendar for a comprehensive view of what is going on this Cycle September!

The U of A won the national Bicycle Month challenge in May, and we'll be defending the title in September. The Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences won the inter-college competition in May, and Jon Johnson from the Walton College of Business topped the individual leaderboard with a whopping 744 miles. The September competition will be even tighter with cooler weather and more folks on campus -- pre-register and start inviting friends now to get ahead on the leaderboard!

Cycle September is about more than competition -- it's a way to get more people comfortable using active transportation, which is better for our overall health and the climate.

"Active transportation is a great way to build relationships, enhance your health, reduce your carbon footprint and work toward the university's goal of carbon neutrality," said Eric Boles, director of the U of A Office for Sustainability.

As you log miles throughout Cycle September, Love to Ride will calculate the amount of carbon you're mitigating. Even if you start by just riding your bike to campus a couple times a week, you'll be saving money on gasoline and preventing carbon emissions. The U of A's goal is carbon neutrality by 2040, and every little step helps us bridge the gap.

The Love to Ride website also has some incredible resources ranging from courses around your bike ABCs, to how-to commute and tips on how to overcome barriers that keep you from riding. Check it out!  Participants using the popular activity tracking service Strava can log their rides automatically, and there's also a Strava club you can join if you want.

About the Office for Sustainability: The mission of the University of Arkansas Office for Sustainability is to motivate, facilitate, and coordinate responsible practices through partnerships with students, faculty, and staff across all campus departments. The OFS uses the campus as a living laboratory by overseeing the implementation of the University of Arkansas environmental goals. These programs are part of the UA Resiliency Center, hosted by the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, and are supported by UA Facilities Management.