Date: June 20, 2007
Contact: Lindsay Gladstone
Governors State University
Phone: (708) 534-7090
Fax: (708) 534-8399
Email: l-gladstone@govst.edu
For Immediate Release
University Park, IL, June 20, 2007 - Normally it takes Jerad Garrison 45 minutes to get from his home in Crest Hill to his job at Governors State University in University Park. Last week, however, it took him three hours, but he is not complaining.
Garrison was not delayed by traffic jams, accidents, or a flat tire. Nor did his long commute contribute to the pollution levels and over crowded roadways. Garrison provided all the power he needed as he rode his bike over 40 miles to work.
Garrison’s two-wheeled commute was part of Bike to Work Week sponsored by the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation. While this trip was a first for Garrison, he frequently takes long bike rides along the Illinois & Michigan Canal state trail and other Chicago area bide trails.
“I bike all the time. I run errands on my bike on the weekends,” said Garrison. “I also enjoy getting outside and I love nature.”
The route Garrison traveled took him along residential streets from Plainfield to Joliet. From Joliet, he followed the Old Plank Road bike and footpath through the communities of New Lenox, Frankfort, and Richton Park. He left the trail at Cicero Avenue and biked south to the university.
Garrison was not too tired to put in a day’s work as Associate Director of Procurement and Auxiliary Services at the university. But he did have a car ride home after work.
“I really enjoyed the ride to work. It is exercise, saves on gas money, and it is also a lot of fun,” said Garrison. “I am already recruiting people at the university to take part in Bike to Work Week next year. I am certainly planning on doing it again.”
