The top employers in Midland (Dow, Dow Corning, MidMichigan Health, and Midland Public Schools) are going to have another friendly competition to see which can get the highest percentage of employees to commute to work by bicycle during bike to work week (May 17th - 21st).

Last year, the Midland Public School employees logged the highest percentage of commutes by bike, will another group wrest the trophy from them in 2010?

Here are five compelling reasons to promote bicycle commuting:Information courtesy of Trek Bicycle Corporation. 

1. The average person loses 13 pounds their first year of commuting by bike.
2. 40% of all car trips in the U.S. are made within 2 miles of home.
3. 60% of the pollution created by autos happens in the first few minutes of operation, before pollution control devices can work effectively.
4. Just 3 hours of biking per week can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke by 50%.
5. The U.S. could save 462 million gallons of gas a year by boosting bicycle trips just half a percentage point: from 1% to 1.5% of all trips.