Get free coffee, pizza and swag during Spokane’s Bike to Work Week

Start with the pancakes and end with a beer.

That’s right, Monday starts Bike to Work week.

The national week encouraging bicycle commuting begins 7 a.m. Monday in Spokane, with free pancakes hot off the skillet in Riverfront Park for bike commuters. Free coffee also will be provided.

On Tuesday, stations will be placed around the city with snacks, drinks and other bike-related swag for morning bike commuters. That evening, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the REI Women’s Ride will take cyclists for a nine-mile trip around the Centennial Trail before heading to the REI store for a class on fixing flat tires. Wear a helmet and meet at the Olmsted Brothers Park in Kendall Yards.

On Wednesday, the Ride of Silence to honor cyclists killed or injured on the road will take place from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. following a short dedication at the Michael Anderson astronaut statue by the INB Performing Arts Center. Spokane police officers on bikes will escort cyclists on a loop through the downtown area. Helmets required.

On Thursday, a lunch hour ride led by city engineer, Brandon Blankenagel, will showcase the new trail being constructed through Peaceful Valley, take riders over the Sandifur Bridge and on to the Centennial Trail through Kendall Yards. The ride starts at noon, is expected to take an hour, and will begin at the Ice Ribbon in Riverfront Park. Helmets are required.

That night, there’s a nine-mile ride that will take cyclists on the Ben Burr Trail and over the Iron Bridge. The ride, which is put on by the Spokane Bicycle Advisory Board and Spokane Bicycle Club, will begin at 6 p.m. at Lincoln Park on its 17th Avenue side. Again, helmets are required.

Lastly, but not least, River City Brewing will host the Friday evening beer and free pizza party. Door prizes will be part of it, but come for the camaraderie. And beer. All are welcome. It begins at 5 p.m., at 121 S. Cedar.

For more information, visit www.spokanebicycleclub.org/SpokaneBikes.