‘Bike to Wherever Day’ Debrief: Participation Counts Up from Last Year
The Marin County Bicycle Coalition’s (MCBC) count of people who stopped at their energizer stations in Marin last Thursday on “Bike to Wherever Day” was 1,146. Last year “We counted 702,” said the MCBC’s Warren Wells. “As we close the gaps in Marin’s bikeway network, we see more and more people choosing to ride their bikes to transit or all the way to work.”
That’s one count from one advocacy group. And numbers across the Bay Area aren’t fully tabulated yet. But all advocates are reporting modest-to-significant increases in Bike to Wherever Day participation everywhere.
“Our tally is in; it’s around 4,300 visits to our 24 energizer stations and Valencia LIVE! in the evening,” reported the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s Krissa Cavouras. That’s an increase of 40 percent from last year, she added.
Although they’re still tabulating, Bike East Bay’s Lauren Zampa McCormick says preliminary numbers show a moderate increase in participation across Alameda and Contra Costa Counties too. “We’re projecting 13,140 riders this year (2,437 in Contra Costa and the remaining 10,703 in Alameda).” That’s up from 12,100 riders last year. “These numbers and the responses we’ve received from participants in Bike to Wherever Day make it clear that excitement about biking is strong and growing stronger in the East Bay.”
The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition (SVBC) also reports increases. Their 2025 total count was 7,365 participants at their energizer stations. It’s already up to 7,864 this year, and they’re “still chasing down some Energizer Station Hosts” to complete the count, said SVBC Cherie Barnett.
The hope is that these increasing numbers reflect growth in cycling throughout the Bay Area on normal days as well.
This is “a testament to both the hard work the coalitions do all year to encourage biking and how inspired Bay Area bikers are to Bike to Wherever Days,” wrote Ilyse Magy, a consultant with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
“Bike to Wherever Day is always our favorite day of the year, and the energy among the thousands of people we spoke to this year was electric,” said the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition’s Cavouras. “As SFMTA Director Julie Kirschbaum pointed out … bikeshare smashes ridership records every month. At SFBike, we see the movement growing and strengthening every day.”
“To quote one of our fantastic Energizer Station hosts: ‘people on bikes are happy people,'” added Zampa McCormick.
Note: SVBC will hold an El Camino Real Ride from Santa Clara to Menlo Park on May 30th as a capstone to Bike Month.
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