August 20, 2022
We had such an incredible time celebrating all things wheels and wellness in the park with POGOH’s Community Ambassador cohort – Pittsburgh Major Taylor Cycling Club, Steel Rite Rollers, Ruach Bicycle Club, and World Affairs Council – this past Saturday. Thank you to everyone who came out and supported this inaugural event. We cannot wait to bring it back bigger and better next year!
As an organization, we dream of bringing Pittsburgh together around the joy of biking. Over the years we’ve organized hundreds of bike rides and opportunities for people to try out bikeshare, but Wheels & Wellness in Westinghouse Park was a celebration of wellness and joy through being outside, whether you’re on two wheels, three wheels, or no wheels.
We’ve put together a little love letter here for all of you with event highlights and links so that you can continue to connect with our incredible partners. Keep the good times going by continuing to get outside and enjoy all that our city has to offer!
For those who bike, POGOH and Steel Rite Rollers offered 2 distinctive bike rides featuring the connectivity of the surrounding parks and neighborhoods. Thank you to all of our bicycling partners that cam out and helped us get more people on bikes!
We also wanted to have an abundance of fitness classes to get people moving whether it be a high-paced sweat with Aaron Gibson and Tiffani Hurt, a Zumba dance party with C.C. Calhoun, or a slow, meditative stretch with Alecia Dawn from YOGAMOTIF. Thank you to all of our fitness instructors!
And from there we opened it up to partners in wellness of all kinds. Physical wellness is just part of the equation. Wellness and self care can take so many different forms.
- Mayor Ed Gainey was in attendance sharing reflections on community connection and wellness. It’s so important to come together as a city and share with one another.
- Highmark Health joined us to talk about wellness initiatives happening throughout Pittsburgh. As POGOH’s Title Sponsor, Highmark supports bicycling in Pittsburgh everyday. We couldn’t do this without them.
- Y on the Fly offered games in the field for kids and adults; the importance of play cannot be understated.
- Pick Your Peace Massage offered free chair massages to tend to those achey muscles.
- Laurnie Wilson put together an absolutely incredible workbook that brings attention to the internal experience of being outdoors, being active, and being with community. Her workbook offers attendees opportunities for reflection and mental wellness.
- Face Painting Con Amor offered free face painting for kids.
- Pittsburgh Center for Creative Reuse, Red Fish Bowl, and Assemble offered creative opportunities for folks to paint, make, and express through arts and crafts.
- And Zero Fossil helped us hype the event with good tunes, bubbles, and a whole lot of smiles. All without any Earth impacts.
And let’s not forget our incredible food vendors!! We all know that a nutritious, delicious meal can be the best thing for the body and the soul. A big thank you to our food partners for giving us such delicious energy!
And a BIG thank you to our event sponsor Duquesne Light! Because of their generosity we were able to give away 150+ helmets, and were able to link attendees up with e-assist bike test rides and preview the all electric Ford F-150 Lightning!
We cannot wait to do it all again next year! Thank you to all of our sponsors, partners, and attendees. You made this event so special.
