Bike for (a little) money
Posted on July 14th, 2008 – 8:24 AMBy Josephine Marcotty
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has come up with what it hopes is one of those win win plans as part of its “do” exercise campaign. You’ve seen the signs and the ads that say you should just do. Exercise, that is.
This time they’ve cut a deal of sorts with 20 area bike shops. You keep track of your biking miles, and the bike shops will give you 10 percent off of their merchandise. (Not all merchandise. Not bikes, for instance. Not sale items.) You can find information on their web site here. It’s kind of a frequent flyer program for bicyclists.
You join at any of the participating bike shops, get a safety inspection and an odometer, and the bike shop keeps track of your mileage. If you bike 50 miles, you get a “do” water bottle. Bike 100 miles, you get 10 percent off store merchandise. Bike 200 miles get 10 percent off store merchandise, plus a pair of “do” socks and a “do” water bottle. And so on.
Jill Chamberlain, Blue Cross project manager for community initiatives, said that the idea came about as a compliment to the discounts health plan members get on their gym memberships. Some employers pay part of the membership fees for people who join fitness clubs. But bikers and runners who don’t pay to exercise are left out of that deal.
This is also a way for bike shops to encourage customer loyalty and get repeat business. They pay for the 10 percent discount, Blue Cross provides the “do” merchandise.
There are some interesting questions here, starting with whether an advertising campaign can actually get people to change their habits and get moving. In this deal, Blue Cross is providing a web site and free “do” stuff. The bike shops are spending the money in the form of discounts to bicyclists.
One avid bicyclist I know scoffed at the reward plan as nothing but a way for bike shops to generate foot traffic. It doesn’t go nearly far enough, he said. Why not, say, give people who ride 1,000 miles in a year — or a summer — $500 off a new bike? Now there’s an incentive, he said.
Chamberlain says this is the first time bike shops have tried anything like this. If it works, maybe it it will grow.
Would you do this? Is there enough in this for you to go to the trouble of getting an odometer, signing up at a bike shop and keeping track? Or is this just something that people who already bike a lot will use?
18 Responses to "Bike for (a little) money"
The web site is down, unfortunately…I’d love to join, I’ve already ridden more than 800 miles this year.
I think that 10% is not enough of a benefit to the cyclist. The shops are getting the better end of this deal.
The link is broken - was entered as “http://www.do-groove.com./” Remove the extra period after ‘com’ to view the site.
Despite working at Blue Cross I guess I won’t be joining as the actual bike is the only thing I would buy in a bike shop. I don’t go for the whole spandex and helmet and expensive trip computer aspect of bicycling, just myself and my bike in a T-shirt and sweatshorts.
I like that BCBS is recognizing activities outside of a discounted gym membership. Discounting gym memberships via health insurance is swell, but it feeds a larger belief system that says exercise has to be expensive, time consuming, and hard. Discounting gym memberships but not recognizing free exercise just communicates that you have to spend money to be fit or healthy, which makes fitness a privileged activity.
Too bad that employers actually have to pay more for their insurance contract with BCBS to offer this program. Paying more to save the insurance companies money? Hmm….
Title of article on strib front page says “biking for (a bit) of money” and should read “biking for (a bit of) money”.
Headlines and sentences must work independent of parenthesis.
Sorry about that, the link is fixed. JM
Sweet, now if I could just get my miles pro-actively counted 
I already bike and won’t sign up because the 10% isn’t worth the trouble of tracking miles via a bike store. If I won’t sign up, and I bike, how do they expect those that don’t bike to start biking for a discount that can be had by price shopping? Not enough incentive. Great idea, poor execution.
I think the program could work if the incentives were good, which they are not in this case. Is anybody really motivated to ride their bike to win advertising merchandise, plus a small discount at a bike shop that doesn’t allow them to save money on a new bike?
I think a better system would be after X number of miles, you get a rebate on the purchase of your bike. I also think there should be some sort of bonus for riding your bike to work. Once you get used to doing that, you’re more likely to continue since you need to get to work anyways. Or, if you live too far from work, drive to a park and ride and bike the rest of the way in.
I have already biked about 900 miles this year. Why didnt they publish this earlier. Also I dont live whith in 20 miles of a bike shop. And why dont they give a list of participating shops? Are there any in St Cloud?
I think this is a great idea but…it needs some work. Pretty much more incentive like everyone else said. I sighned up because it was easy but basically for biking whatever someone bikes in ayear you get BCBS merchandise(socks, water bottle, shirt) and 10% off at a bike shop. Thats about it. Also the milleage totals are to low. I know they are trying to not scare the new biker but for those of us who put in >400-500 miles a month biking to work we will already reach the max mileage. I agree with the above the Bike shops are the big winners here and lake of a good incentive is a problem. Like I said I joined because it was relatively painless and I happen to go by a bike store. I am also hoping that enough people join and they see how many miles people ride that they change and fix it. Still think its a good idea just poor incentives…
I agree that this is weak, at best. But some people are motivated by things like this. It miiiiight tip the scales for a few people to start biking more. Or at least for some it’s a way of keeping track of their miles and possibly, they may be competitive enough to up those miles. I bike to work - and most other places. I signed up because it was easy and I want to support it. Maybe down the line I’ll get a break on my insurance because they see how much I exercise on a regular basis. At least the Do campaign is something I can support and believe in. I might even shill for them and wear their free socks! And hopefully, down the line, the program will improve and they’ll offer some real incentives.
I agree with euterpe, the gym discount was rather elitist, and says you have to spend money to be healthy. A program for bikers is needed but this is not enough. I bike to work and have signed up with the 494.org group for thepast 5 years, that is enough.
Good idea - a little shaky on implementation.
It looks like the larger chains are part of the program, but I won’t sign up because my local shop, Gateway Cycle, isn’t on the list.
I think you’d get a lot more participation if you could log your miles online. Who’s going to go to the bike shop just to log their miles?
if… my local favorite bike shop were involved, I might do it, but frankly, the best incentive for biking would be to put plenty of free, secure, weather-protected bike parking right next to the front door of all the workplaces, grocery stores, restaurants, etc.
I think a fairer system would be after Y number of Admiralty mile, you get a discount on the leverage of your bike. I also imagine there should be some sort of fillip for depending on your bike to employment.
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james
Wide Circles
