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The logic is like that old proverb. Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day; teach him how to fish and he’ll eat forever.

The folks at the Cascade Bicycle Club tweaked that idea with a cycling perspective. Organize a ride and a Seattle resident may pedal for a day; give that resident her own wheels and she’ll commute forever.

Now in its second year, the Green Bike Program aims to do just that — get car commuters to replace auto trips with bicycle travel. And it’s reeling in results. Turns out, getting people to give up their beloved automobiles can be as easy as baiting the hook with equipment and education.

Back in May, Cascade recruited a few newbie cyclists for the Green Bike initiative, providing willing participants with bicycles, locks and helmets. Next, they schooled the amateur commuters on road safety and basic mechanics. Then, they extended a challenge: Commute on two wheels for 50 percent of your travel and that shiny new bicycle is yours to keep.

Sound like wishful thinking? Not by a long shot. An impressive 86 percent of participants are now proud owners of Green Bikes.

“This is an incredible result,” Chuck Ayers, executive director of the Cascade Bicycle Club, said in a statement. “In only three months, we’ve helped more than 30 people new to bike commuting become comfortable, confident, and competent cyclists. I don’t know of many other programs that can boast an 86 percent success rate.”

Among those new cyclists is Alex Fuentes, a teacher at Odyssey High School who converted her 25-mile commute from automobile to open-air. Last week, she joined other green bicyclists at a celebration led by Seattle City Councilmember Tom Rasmussen. The look on her face (pictured) says it all: Fuentes is hooked. “I love riding my bike to work,” she said, “and plan to keep it up the rest of my life.”

  Click here to read more about the Green Bike program.