Bicyclists honored for pedal mettle

Redmond

They had silly team names, like MS Ninjas and Honeywheels, but winners of the second annual Tour de Redmond Summer Bicycle Commuter Challenge logged some serious miles.

Some 350 bicyclists from 30 Redmond employers biked to work in June and July as part of the challenge.

Those who rode the most picked up the trophies to prove it Wednesday at the Eco-Commuting Fair at Redmond Town Center.

Eric Bisset, who works for Avocent, covered the most ground overall, logging 1,292 miles during the challenge. His Avocent co-worker, Susan Lanphere, had the longest daily round-trip commute, putting in an average of 33 miles.

Fred Motteler of Universal Avionics topped the list of employees with the greatest number of bike-commute days, 46; followed by Alexander Brown of Astronics, with 45; Peter Perugini of Microsoft, with 44, and Mike Fleenor of Universal Avionics with 42 days of bike commuting.

First-place team awards were presented to Microsoft for its teams, Microspokes and MS Ninjas; Honeywell for its team, Honeywheels; Concur Technologies for its team, Concurian Riders; and Avocent, for Avocenturians.

Teams from SR Telecom, Areva T & D and Physio-Control took second-place honors, and Archus Orthopedics and Golder Associates took third-place trophies.

Sponsored by the nonprofit Greater Redmond Transportation Management Association, the challenge and the fair were designed to reduce carbon emissions and traffic congestion while promoting the health benefits of bike commuting. For more information, visit www.GRTMA.org.

Lake Hills

Community open house this Saturday

Residents are invited to the second annual Lake Hills Community Open House from 1-4 p.m. on Saturday.

Activities will be at both Lake Hills Elementary School, 14310 S.E. 12th St., and the Jubilee REACH Center, 14200 S.E. 13th Place.

The event will include a "1-2-3 cut a CD" activity to instruct children and families on how to record a musical CD, and a "build a computer" competition. Entertainment will include Mr. Rodney Raccoon, a raccoon rapper; a storyteller; crafts; clowns; face painting; games and prizes. Those attending can also sign up for social services.

Lunch will be provided and a free on-site dental screening clinic will be offered for children and adults. The event is co-sponsored by the city of Bellevue, the Bellevue School District, United Way of King County and Jubilee.

Eastside

Hopelink needs 400 backpacks

Hopelink's annual back-to-school drive for students in need came up 400 backpacks short, and the organization is looking for help.

The nonprofit is also looking for 1 ½- to 2 ½-inch three-ring notebooks and dividers for students.

Donations can be dropped off at Hopelink's Northshore Center at 18220 96th Ave. N.E., Bothell.

Hopelink needs these items by Tuesday afternoon in order to be able to distribute the supplies to students by Thursday, before school starts. For more information visit www.hope-link.org.

Times Eastside bureau