Best places to work or learn if you ride a bicycle

Do you often feel like there is something missing from your job or college education — like your bicycle?

Bikes at UC-Davis

For the past several years, the League of American Bicyclists has been naming bicycle friendly employers and universities in the same categories as it lists bicycle friendly communities; namely platinum, gold, silver and bronze.

This fall, the bicycling advocates added 71 new Bicycle Friendly Businesses to its list, as well as nine new Bicycle Friendly Universities.

Bike friendly companies

The new businesses run the gamut from small law and engineering firms of 3 employees to giants such as Apple (Cupertino; 10,000 employees), Dana-Faber Cancer Institute (Boston; 6,500), General Mills (Golden Valley, Minn.; 4,500) and Amway (Ada, Mich.; 4,000).

In all, nearly 500 businesses in 42 states are considered bicycle friendly. See the fall additions to the list, as well as the full list of all companies.

Companies on the list actively promote bicycling for transportation, recreation, exercise and sport. They have safe access for cyclists, bicycle racks, showers and lockers for bike commuters. They give extra benefits for bike commuters, promote bike safety, and make loaner bikes available for short trips.

All about the bicycle friendly businesses awards and how to apply.

Bike-friendly colleges

Meanwhile, colleges also are seeking recognition for making their campuses bicycle friendly. So far, 44 colleges in 25 states are on the League’s list.

The new additions are University of Utah (silver) and Eastern Mennonite University, Penn State, Princeton, Rochester Institute of Technology, State University of New York at Buffalo, University of Denver, University of Kentucky and Yale (all bronze).

The University of Utah made it to the silver level because of innovate on-road facilities, bike-related academic course offerings, an anti-theft campaign, on-campus bike rental and collective and other pro-cycling policies.

The League tells how to get your university on the bicycle-friendly list; here’s the full list of bicycle-friendly universities.

Meanwhile, Mississippi State University is restricting bicycle use on campus, citing safety concerns. Perhaps the university could benefit from making improvements to make the campus more bicycle friendly.