SALISBURY—  Spring is finally here and summer is just around the corner, so more people are going outside to take advantage of the warmer weather and enjoy activities with friends and family. As  May begins, so does National Bike Month. To help spread awareness, Rowan County, the city of Salisbury, and several local businesses and organizations are putting on “Let’s Ride, Rowan!” where people are encouraged to get out, ride bikes and earn prizes in the process.

This is the first time the county has taken on such an effort. Mary Rosser, director of the Pedal Factory,  said she and Salisbury Traffic Engineering Coordinator Vickie Eddleman first started thinking of how to promote bike riding while on Salisbury’s Greenway, Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee.

“It was trying to seek city support for a healthier activity. Salisbury and downtown Salisbury does a lot of really fun events and a lot of those are family friendly, they’re encouraging people to get out and be downtown, but we wanted to do that in a more active way,” Rosser said.

Residents are encouraged to go on as many bike rides as possible during May. For every five rides, they are put into a drawing to win a prize. To enter, people can download the Strava app, which you can use to track and monitor bike rides.

“It’ll show the map of where they’ve been. The city can actually see patterns where people are riding more and what routes people are taking and that helps with seeking funding and planning infrastructure,” Rosser said.

Each week, a different biking challenge will be offered for people to post photos of themselves online for a chance to win rewards. This week, people were asked to commute to work or school. From May 7-13, bikers can ride at their favorite park; from May 14-20, cyclists should visit downtown by bike; from May 21-27, people  can get together for their own bike rides with their neighbors; from May 28-31, people can post photos of local art they see throughout the community.

To get kids involved, students in Rowan County can submit a drawing with the topic “what bike month means to you.” Lastly, people can ride their bike to any five participating businesses to get their bike month punch card initiated for a chance to win a grand prize.

“At the end of the day, the goal is for people to come up with their own rides, organize and have us as a support system, but kind of do their own thing each bike month and hopefully it sticks and people continue to ride and be more active,” Rosser said.