Bike to Work Week 2008

The Times ran an article about DC's Bike to Work Week.

The groups will have 26 "pit stops" across the region. The Rosslyn pit stop in Arlington has its own Facebook page and incentives for riders to go to the stops to receive a free T-shirt.

I am a student with a limited income," said Brian Dickerson, 22, of Bethesda. "I cannot afford these gas prices, so I bought a bike and decided to bike to class and work."

High gas prices are a common theme in Bike to Work Week articles (same as last year).

Four-dollar-a-gallon gas is good for business _ if you run a bike shop. Commuters around the country are dusting off their old two-wheelers _ or buying new ones _ to cope with rising fuel prices, bicycle dealers say.

Teacher Joyce McCusker of Herndon, Va., owns a bicycle for the first time in years. She bought it last month and uses it to make the eight-mile trip home from work. A friend drives her pickup to take McCusker's daughter home from school.

Bicycle shops across the country are reporting strong sales so far this year, and more people are bringing in bikes that have been idled for years, he said.

"People are riding bicycles a lot more often, and it's due to a mixture of things but escalating gas prices is one of them," said Bill Nesper, spokesman for the Washington. D.C.-based League of American Bicyclists.

The League of American Bicyclists is promoting Bike-to-Work Week this week and Bike-to-Work Day on May 16. Nesper said he expects a record number of people will be pedaling this year.

There's almost nowhere for the numbers to go but up: The group says less than one-half of 1 percent of Americans ride a bike to work.

Heinert, 56, started cycling to work when the price of gas began skyrocketing _ in 1973. But that isn't the only reason for choosing pedal power: "It's a stress-reliever," he said.

Stelton, a printer, doesn't let North Dakota's cold, windy weather slow him down. He said he's ridden to work on snow-covered roads when the wind chill temperature was 40-below zero.

"If you waited for a bluebird day to ride to work in North Dakota," he said, "you'd never do it."

Not true here in DC. We've had more than a few nice ones lately. And its not just about biking to work, but biking to the store and church and the dentist (yes, you have to go to the dentist)...

Anderson said that about 40 percent of trips by car are 2 miles or less _ "a habit for some people to get in a car and drive just a few blocks."

The LA Times has a great "gas is so expensive that people are biking" article about NYC commuters.

Only a decade ago, the few bicyclists who tried to wedge into traffic were seen as interlopers, scorned by city drivers and pedestrians alike -- "granola eaters from a fringe movement," said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, a leading bicycle advocacy group.

But with rising oil prices and heightened concern about carbon emissions, riding a bicycle no longer seems quite so silly. The number of bicyclists has grown by 75% during the last seven years, according to the city's count.

"The bike is not a hobby," said Sadik-Khan, 47, who cycles to work. "It's an important part of the transportation network."

Middle-aged bicycle commuters like Amy Cohen and Gary Eckstein are now more plentiful on the streets than daredevil bike messengers, once the dominant image of New York cyclists.

In theory at least, Manhattan is ideal for cyclists: a grid, flat and finite. But Transportation Alternatives estimates that cycling commuters make up less than 1% of New Yorkers. In contrast, almost 40% of Copenhagen's 1 million residents bicycle to work -- even during long, cold winters.

"This is a moment when everything can happen," he said, referring to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's willingness to work with the cyclists and the increasing number of cyclists on the streets. "But," he added, "there are some serious cultural structures that have to be dismantled."

And the Minneapolis StarTribune ran one of those car vs. bike vs. transit commuter challenges

The not-exactly-scientific-but-entertaining race was organized by Transit for Livable Communities, with help from public agencies including Metro Transit and the Minneapolis Bicycle Program.

With an interesting twist, Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak Rybak - a triathlete - rode the bicycle, and need I mention he won.

We'd all left Merriam Park at 7:40 a.m. Rybak arrived at the library at 8:11, Carter four minutes later and yours truly five minutes after Carter.

If only our Mayor were a triathlete, he could do something like this...oh, he is?

The Post also gets in on the Bike to Work Day announcements, bringing it up on the MisFits (and other places)

it's time to gear up for Friday's Bike to Work Day. Did you hear? Bicycling Magazine just named us the most improved biking city the country.

That means we have a reputation to uphold!

Which leads one reader to ask

I am intrigued with the idea of commuting in by bike and would love to give it a try. My only problem is my office doesn't have a shower. Do you have any creative ideas on how to get around this? Or am I just out of luck?

Several people responded with good strategies

Any chance you're a gym member? Or want to be one? they're handy for getting off the sweat.

Two words: baby wipes! They have those little travel packs so it's not a pain to carry them around. A little cornstarch or baby powder can dry up/smooth out helmet hair

Can you get by with [a strategic change of clothes] and an also-strategic rinse at the sink -- the proverbial "bird bath?"

I'm spoiled by a shower at my work, but I've used the other strategies as well. Another great place for some commuting tips is the Slacker's guide to bike commuting. Basically it's got ways for people to bike to work who want to be reasonable about it (not in the snow and not 22 miles a day).

Comments

[charlie]

Thanks for bringing up the "bike to the store" angle as well.