The benefits of bicycling are well known: it’ll make you fit, it’s good for the environment, and it’s a lot cooler than cruising down Broadway in your mom’s Ford Escort.  Soon, you can add to that list a crisp crust, savory tomato sauce, and gooey mozzarella.  As long as you can find a safe spot to lock your ride, that is.

On Wednesday, May 19, Capitol Hill’s Via Tribunali will participate in the 5@5 campaign, a joint project of the City of Seattle, Caffé Vita, Peroni beer, and the Stranger.  Patrons who bike to the Neopolitan pizzeria between 5 and 7 p.m. will receive a free margherita pizza and can buy a Peroni for $3.  The campaign kicks off on May 12 at Via Tribunali’s Georgetown outpost and will continue on the succeeding Wednesdays at locations across the city.  Proceeds from Peroni sales will benefit a different bicycling community partner at each event.

Via Tribunali owner Michael McConnell spawned the idea for the campaign after a February trip to Naples.  There, he and staff observed that Italians hungry for a steaming pie often took to their bikes.  Spokesperson Michael Yuasa said, “We thought it was interesting, so we decided, ‘Why not here?’”  They planned the event to coincide with National Bicycle Month.

“Our biggest goal is to raise funds for the biking community and awareness in the city of Seattle,” Yuasa said.

The Garage Cycling Team will benefit from proceeds raised at the Capitol Hill 5@5 event.  Team member Alex Rosenast said, “We’re flooding [the event] with everyone we know.  It supports the full circle of cycling, and we’re really excited about it.”  The team, which is entering its seventh year of competing, is named after the Hill’s Garage Billiards, and is comprised of more than 40 bicycling enthusiasts.  The team competes from late-winter through early-fall and hosts several bicycle races.

The question, though, is where to park?  The bike-on-Pike debate persists, as Via Tribunali is saying “Yes, please,” just weeks after sister-enterprise Caffé Vita said, “Thanks, but no thanks.”  Both establishments are owned by McConnell.

When SDOT recently offered Vita the chance to locate a 14-bicycle corral in a space presently used for auto parking outside its Pike Street location, the café’s management declined and suggested the space outside Bimbo’s/Cha Cha instead.  Yuasa said that the company is in fact a supporter of bicycling, but the location suggested by SDOT was inappropriate for such a large bicycle corral.  In particular, the area’s proximity to a commercial loading zone might create a dangerous environment for cyclists, he said.  Yuasa suggested that cyclists park their bicycles in the existing smaller racks currently outside Via Tribunali, Vita, and Neumos.

“We’re not opposed to it,” Yuasa said.  “There should be a big bike rack in the area, but we’re just figuring out where to put it.”  As alternatives, he suggested either across the street from Vita or around the corner on 10th Ave, adjacent to Quinn’s.

The 5@5 campaign will continue on May 26 in Queen Anne, on June 2 in Belltown, and on June 9 in Fremont.