Michael Cass

mcass@tennessean.com

Bike riders from across Nashville pedaled their way downtown for their morning commutes Friday and met at the Public Square to celebrate National Bike to Work Day.

Mayor Karl Dean spoke to the crowd, which enjoyed a free breakfast and coffee.

The percentage of Nashville workers who bike to work tripled from 0.1 percent, or one in 1,000, in the 2000 Census to 0.3 percent, or three of every 1,000, in the 2008-12 American Community Survey, the U.S. Census Bureau reported this month.

That might not sound like much, but the Census Bureau described the change as statistically significant. The rate of workers taking their bicycles to work in the 50 largest American cities as a whole — Nashville ranked 25th in population — climbed from 0.6 percent to 1 percent.

Portland, Ore., led the way with 6.1 percent of its workers commuting on two wheels instead of four.

Reach Michael Cass at 615-259-8838 and on Twitter @tnmetro.