ROCKLAND — On Friday, May 17, more than 100 community members participated in Rockland’s Bike to Work (+ School!) Day before their commute to work or school. The event took place at Rockland’s Chapman Park between 7 and 8:30 a.m.

This year, the City formed a new partnership with the South School, inviting elementary students and their families to join the celebration with a bike obstacle course, free ABC bike checks from Maine Sport, a “pedal your own smoothie” bike provided by Pen Bay Community Health, donated breakfast snacks, raffle prizes, and a bike bus to school.

The Rockland Police Department also debuted their newest addition to their fleet: an e-bike for three-season use on patrols by the Bike Patrol Unit. The new e-bike was purchased thanks to a 2023 Community Action Grant from the Governor’s Office of Policy Innovation and The Future. To close the morning’s event, Officer Peasley led the bike bus of 40 elementary students on a group bike ride to South School.

“We’re excited to promote active transportation as a department with this new e-bike,” said Rockland Police Chief Tim Carroll, in a City news release. “It’s a great tool to help us serve the community in a new way, and we’re looking forward to participating in more events like Bike to Work and School Day.”

The new e-bike will help reduce the Department’s transportation-related emissions and allow officers to interface with the community about bicycle safety and e-biking for transportation. Officers will have information available for community members who would like to learn more about e-bikes and biking in Rockland.

Rockland’s 2024 Bike to Work (+ School!) Day was made possible thanks to the support of Pen Bay Community Health, South School, Good Tern Co-Op, Ruckus Donuts, Rock City Coffee, Maine Sport, Sidecountry Sports, Walgreens, Hannaford, Rockland Rolls, Rockland Main Street, Bicycle Coalition of Maine, and the Rockland Energy and Sustainability Advisory Committee.