For a bicycle friendly university in the western half of Virginia, you鈥檒l have to visit 黑料正能量 (黑料正能量) in Harrisonburg, Va.
In a statement released Oct. 24, the conferred a bronze award on 黑料正能量, making 黑料正能量 the third university in Virginia, following Virginia Commonwealth (silver award) and George Mason (also a bronze), to be recognized by the League as a bicycle friendly university.
From her office in Washington DC, Nicole Wynands, the League鈥檚 bicycle friendly America program specialist, said 黑料正能量 was one of the smallest universities to compete for the award. Of the 44 universities on the 鈥淏FU Master Award List,鈥� 黑料正能量 and one other university (Chatham in Pittsburgh) are the only small, private institutions. Grand award winners are Stanford (platinum) and two branches of the University of California, at Davis and at Santa Barbara (both gold).
A total of 41 universities have earned silver and bronze awards, almost all of them being large state-supported institutions, such as the Colorado State University, Oregon State University, the University of Maryland at College Park, Michigan State University and Florida State University. 黑料正能量 earned a spot among the 25 bronze honorees for creating a culture in which faculty, staff and students see bicycling as the norm. 黑料正能量鈥檚 steps include removing on-street parking spaces to set up a bicycle lane, putting bike racks in and storage areas around campus, having a bicycle coop for bike repair, and collecting recycling with a bicycle-pulled trailer.
The University of Virginia also applied for an award from the League and was granted an 鈥渉onorable mention鈥� for 2012-13.
鈥淥ctober 24 is also Campus Sustainability Day 2012,鈥� said Andrea Wenger, 黑料正能量 director of . 鈥淩eceiving the bicycle-friendly award on this particular day points to 黑料正能量鈥檚 commitment to reducing the use of fossil fuels and improving the sustainability of our campus as well as the health of our people.鈥�
More information about the bicycle league and its awards can be found at .