Welcome to Freewheelin:
Remember the freedom your two-wheeler gave
you when you were a kid? How free you felt while cruising around the
neighborhood with your friends? Freewheelin captures that feeling and
gives you an opportunity to positively impact your health and environment.
Freewheelin is a unique bike sharing program that incorporates the ideals of health, environmental conservation and community. The embodiment of
sustainability, Freewheelin allows you to track your bicycle usage so you
know how your health and the environment benefits from your ride.
Did we mention it’s free? As part of our mission to improve the health and lives of people across the nation, we’re pleased to announce that Freewheelin now exists as a philanthropic program dedicated to sharing bike-sharing.
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History of Freewheelin:
A first of its kind partnership among a municipality, bike
industry leaders and a Fortune 100 company, Freewheelin was developed by Humana’s Innovation Center, an internal think tank that develops creative ways to improve peoples’ physical fitness, emotional health and environmental awareness.
Speaking of awareness, Freewheelin created quite the media splash this
summer…in the political arena, of all places. Freewheelin had a great ride at the 2008 Democratic and Republican national conventions. To recap our success at the national conventions, Freewheelers from all 50 states and various countries pedaled their way to some impressive stats in
just eight days:
• 7,523 bike rides
• 41,724 miles ridden
• 1,293,429 calories burned
• 14.6 metric tons of carbon offset
In August 2008, Freewheelin rolled into Louisville, Ky for Ideafest. Over the course of the four day festival, Louisville Freewheelers surpassed our expectations, pedaling over 3,000 miles and burning roughly 93,000 calories.
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And one year later, the wheels were still in motion. Humana, the sponsor of the Senior Games, brought 120 Freewheelin bikes and two bike stations to the August 2009 Senior Games in Palo Alto, Calif. In just 15 days, the Palo Alto Freewheelers tallied 11,000 miles and more than 2, 400 rides, proving that Freewheelin truly is a great way to go – at any age!
During Fall 2009 Freewheelin extended its reach by piloting permanent 18-bike Freewheelin stations at three of its Guidance Centers in Henderson, Nev., Mesa, Ariz., and Tamarac, Fla. The stations are open to anyone ages 18 and up, and free for all community members to use as long as riders present a valid photo ID and credit card. Operating from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. every Monday through Friday, these new Freewheelin stations have already attracted a loyal fan base of senior and community riders. In fact, the Henderson station boasted its first rider one week before its official launch!
The Freewheelin Legacy:
The wheels on our bikes (and in our heads) never stop. Floored by Freewheelin’s tremendous success at the conventions and Ideafest, we wondered, “How can we utilize Freewheelin’s success to bring more bikes to more people, and improve peoples’ health and immediate environment?” Our answer, ladies and gentlemen, is B-cycle.
B-cycle is just like Freewheelin, only it’s a stand-alone business. While no longer an active brand, Freewheelin’s legacy will live on through B-cycle. B-cycle will continue the Freewheelin tradition of re-introducing people to the joys of biking by donating B-cycle stations to communities, campuses and workplaces across the country. Good stuff, right? We think so, too.
To learn more about B-cycle, click here.
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