{"686708":{"#nid":"686708","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Places First in Atlanta Bicycle Challenge","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor the fifth year in a row, Georgia Tech employees \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.lovetoride.net\/atlanta\/companies\/5862?locale=en-US\u0022\u003Ecame out on top\u003C\/a\u003E in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.lovetoride.net\/atlanta\/pages\/challenge?locale=en-US\u0026amp;page=1_challenge\u0022\u003EAtlanta Bicycle \u201cBiketober\u201d Challenge\u003C\/a\u003E, cycling 22,132 miles during October and finishing first among workplaces with more than 2,000 employees. \u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe top team was again \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.lovetoride.net\/atlanta\/teams\/16911?locale=en-US\u0022\u003EGTRI\u2019s Thighs\u003C\/a\u003E, a group of 10 riders from the Georgia Tech Research Institute that collectively biked more than 6,000 miles during the challenge. Francisco Valdes, a senior research engineer at GTRI, was the top rider for the second year in a row, logging 1,812 miles.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAlexa Harter, director of GTRI\u2019s Cybersecurity, Information Protection, and Hardware Evaluation Research Laboratory, was the team\u2019s top encourager and ranked third on her team for distance.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe contest ranks how many people you\u2019ve encouraged to participate,\u201d she said. \u201cI love Biketober, so I\u2019m eager to tell people how great it is. Through sharing how much I enjoy it, a lot of other people decided to sign up.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe Biketober challenge takes place each October as a way to encourage cycling in the area. This year, 2,643 riders participated and biked 326,934 miles. Their trips for commuting, transportation, fun, and fitness equated to keeping nearly 46,201 pounds of carbon dioxide that would have been emitted via other transportation methods out of the atmosphere. \u201cThere are just so many wonderful aspects of biking \u2014 the positive environmental impact, building exercise into your day, and getting to see and participate in the city instead of being stuck in a car,\u201d Harter said.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EShe says the Atlanta area is a great starting point for beginner cyclists looking to build confidence.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe current bike infrastructure makes it easier to get up to speed slowly. There are places like the Beltline Westside Trail that don\u0027t have a lot of people, allowing you to get more comfortable on a bike. Once you get the hang of it, there is no shortage of places to ride,\u201d she said.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELooking ahead, Harter says GTRI will participate in Biketober again next fall, as will many other Georgia Tech teams.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou can expect GTRI\u2019s Thighs to be back in 2026. Biketober is something we all look forward to \u2014 what better excuse to ride a bike all month?\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EFor the fifth year in a row, Georgia Tech employees came out on top in the Atlanta Bicycle \u201cBiketober\u201d Challenge, cycling 22,132 miles during October and finishing first among workplaces with more than 2,000 employees.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"For the fifth year in a row, Georgia Tech employees came out on top in the Atlanta Bicycle \u201cBiketober\u201d Challenge, cycling 22,132 miles during October and finishing first among workplaces with more than 2,000 employees."}],"uid":"27469","created_gmt":"2025-12-04 16:49:05","changed_gmt":"2025-12-04 17:19:37","author":"Kristen Bailey","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-12-04T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2025-12-04T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"678759":{"id":"678759","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Biketober Participants","body":"\u003Cdiv\u003E(L-R) Rob Kelly (Midtown Alliance) and Georgia Tech Biketober participants Kori Thompson, Karl Burkhardt, Peter Tuuk, Joshua Forester, Kevin Cook, Yatis Dodia, Jason Bryan, Alexa Harter, and Lisa Safstrom.\u003C\/div\u003E","created":"1764867795","gmt_created":"2025-12-04 17:03:15","changed":"1764869900","gmt_changed":"2025-12-04 17:38:20","alt":"Georgia Tech Biketober Participants","file":{"fid":"262833","name":"Biketober-Winner-1.JPG","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/12\/04\/Biketober-Winner-1.JPG","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/12\/04\/Biketober-Winner-1.JPG","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":694208,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/12\/04\/Biketober-Winner-1.JPG?itok=Zh4EjDca"}}},"media_ids":["678759"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"},{"id":"503491","name":"Parking and Transportation Services"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:stucomm@gatech.edu\u0022\u003EEmily Russell\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EInstitute Communications\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}