City streets are likely boasting a few more bicycle commuters today, many scrambling for free T-shirts and danishes.

Mayor Sam Katz has declared this Bike to Work Day. He is biking into the office himself today, his communications director confirmed.

"Bike to Work Day is ... is changing attitudes and getting thousands of Winnipeggers commuting by bicycle," Katz said in a statement. "Cycling is not just good for the planet, it’s good for people — our health and well-being."

The third annual event is being co-sponsored by several organizations, including Bike to the Future, Climate Change Connection, Manitoba Cycling Association, Resource Conservation Manitoba and and Winnipeg Trails Association.

The first 300 people to register on the event website, www.biketoworkdaywinnipeg.org, will receive a Bike to Work Day T-shirt, and Manitoba Lotteries will be providing a pancake breakfast to the first 300 cyclists to reach the Forks this morning.

Ron Brown, executive director of the Manitoba Cycling Association, said he was looking forward to the $21 million being pumped in to the city’s cycling paths.

This year the event will include five locations in the city where cyclists can gather to start or end their commute to work until 9 a.m.

Drinks and snacks courtesy of Stella’s Café & Bakery will be available to the first 30 people at each oasis and prizes and T-shirts will be available on a first come first serve basis at all five locations:

• Assiniboine Credit Union Oasis at Grapes on Pembina (1890 Pembina Hwy.).
• CityTV Oasis at Portage and Raglan (in the parking lot of the Portage Mennonite Brethren Church).
• Manitoba Public Insurance Oasis at St. Mary’s and Fermor (in the parking lot of the Junior’s restaurant).
• Natural Cycle Oasis at Northgate Shopping Centre (1399 McPhillips St.).
• Winnipeg Free Press Oasis on the Northeast Pioneers Greenway (north of Munroe on the path between Gateway and Raleigh).