CARbon-Free Challenge
Formerly known as the Commuter Challenge, the challenge encourages the use of alternative forms of transportation.
Transportation remains one of the largest sectors of emissions across Routt County and greater Colorado. Not only do the emissions contribute significantly to climate change but transportation pollutants can also have adverse impacts on human health, such as asthma, reduced lung capacity, and respiratory illness.
Every year, YVSC holds the CARbon-Free Challenge (formerly known as the Commuter Challenge) to encourage the use of alternative forms of transportation, like biking, walking, or even roller blading, in order to reduce emissions. Participants log their miles travelled using alternative forms of transportation as solo riders, families, or adult teams for the chance to win prizes provided by local businesses.
Miles traveled
Gallons of gas avoided
2021 Event
The weather is warming up, flowers are blooming, and we are all ready for long, summer days spent outside. That’s why we at YVSC are so excited to bring back a summer activity staple, the CARbon-Free Challenge (formerly known as the Commuter Challenge), taking place from June 1-30.
As in years past, participants will log their miles for the chance to win awesome prizes from our local sponsors and have the ability to take part as a solo rider, family, or adult team. In keeping with the changes that were made last year, participants will still be allowed to log miles for commuting, running errands or just simply enjoying all that the beautiful Yampa Valley has to offer, all while using an alternative form of travel (e.g. walking, biking, longboarding, rollerblading, etc.). Also, give the Facebook page a “like” to stay up-to-date on the latest information and see fun photos from other participants.
How it Works
- Register for the Challenge and commit to using alternative transportation (walk, bike, longboard, etc.) at least once per week from June 1-30. If you are competing as a team, each team member needs to register.
- Register in 1 of 3 categories:
- Solo Participant
- Family Team (doesn’t have to be the same family but must have at least 1 child and 1 adult on the team, up to 6 members)
- Adult Team (teams can include up to 4 members, you may have many different teams from the same company or a group of like-minded friends)
- Log your miles
- Strava – Challenge participants can log their miles on Strava, a fitness tracker app that integrates social media and fitness into a fun platform for sharing routes and promoting friendly competition against others. For those interested in using Strava to record their miles, please create a Strava account and request to join the YVSC CARbon-Free Challenge Strava club. For any rides that you will be recording as a part of the challenge please use CARbon-Free Challenge in the title. For further clarification or questions, please email Kate Brocato at kate@yvsc.org.
- Google Sheet – As in years past, we still have the Google Sheet for those who would prefer to track their miles that way. All instructions for use of the Google Sheet can be found on the first page.
- Compete against other teams and participants to see who can log the most alternative transportation miles/trips for the chance to win awesome prizes.
- Participants can expect weekly emails during the challenge with leaderboard updates and upcoming mini events/challenges.
If you have questions or would like to sponsor the Challenge, please contact kate@yvsc.org.
2020 Event
In 2020, our 96 participants travelled 5,197 miles from July 6 – August 6, all while using alternative transportation. Their hard work helped save approximately 210 gallons of gas, which is equivalent to avoiding 2.1 tons of CO2 emissions.
