The new BTA offices are directly across the street from the Portland Development Commission. They have one main entrance, and we get to watch people stream in and out of it. Last month a good portion of that stream was carrying bicycles.

Two PDC employees - Matthew Collier and Karl Dinkelspiel - really took it on themselves to not just sign up for the Challenge, but to make it a big internal push for bike commuting (this is, of course, what makes the Challenge successful - it enables all these little super-local efforts in workplaces, but look for a separate blog post on that later).

First they walked across the street and asked us for our ideas about making a workplace bike friendly. We said lots of things, but mostly "bike parking" and "free food." We watched them do a little walkabout looking for possible secure or covered rack locations before disappearing back into PDC HQ, where it turns out they decided to work on expanding their indoor bike parking.

Then they took the "flex-bike" they had won in the Carefree Commuter Challenge early in the summer and traded it up for a beautiful Electra Amsterdam, an easy-riding dutch-style bike that everyone in the office could feel comfortable on. We caught them riding it up and down the street outside, like happy kids.

They talked their building manager into letting them keep it in the vestibule, a beautiful bicycle there for everyone to admire! And to check out for lunch or an errand. When they need to inflate the tires, they come over and use our pump.

And then, last night, they sent me this rockin bike commuter glamour video.

We can add PDC to the growing list of companies that support biking from the inside - through flex-bikes, monetary benefits, free food and other little rewards, and great bike parking. And it was extra fun for us to watch it all through our front windows!

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