MSM Bike to Work Day Coverage

There was plenty of before and after coverage of Bike to Work Day in the main stream media last week and here are some of the highlights.

US News, on their men's health blog, debunked six myths about bike commuting (it's too dangerous, too far, I need an expensive bike, I have too much stuff, there's nowhere to shower and I'll go impotent)

Another article about how high gas prices are pushing up bike sales - this time in Frederick, MD.

"Usually, parents would buy bikes for their children, but now, it's parents coming to buy for themselves," Flora said.

Strong sales and a spike in the number of bicycle repairs and tune-ups, something that has dwindled over the last 15 years, are taking place nationally, the result of high gas prices, according to media reports.

There's no doubt that more people buy bikes for recreation and leisure, Sydnor said. But he is seeing an increasing number of buyers who say they will use the two-wheeler to ride to work, within a five-mile radius.

National trends toward green living, environmental sustainability, and fitness, coupled with higher prices at the pump bode well for the future of human-powered transportation, according to the National Bicycle Dealers Association.

And another one about bike to work day in Frederick, where about 100 cyclists showed up.

135 people had registered for the event -- nearly doubling the number of participants last year.

TransIT offered free rides on its buses and shuttles Friday to passengers with bicycles. Most buses are equipped with bike racks.

And here's NBC's coverage of DC's BTWD at Freedom plaza (with video). Holy Moley, Emeke Moneme is young (or young looking). WTOP has a video blog (though I think the video is down) of one of its reporter's experiences with BTWD.

Fairfax County introduced it's bike map at BTWD and the Post covered the introduction of the new map.

It might not sound like much, but the map's publication caps more than a year of work to develop safe and straightforward routes crisscrossing Fairfax. It also coincides with Bike to Work Day, a national effort to encourage commuters to save gas and get some exercise. In Fairfax, two-wheeled commuters can stop at any one of six pit stops during the day for snacks, drinks, free bicycle tuneups and prizes.

Congrats to FABB on that and they have a few links to BTWD coverage on their blog as well. The Post has a "working" feature on a bike commuter.

During almost 30 years of riding his bike to work, David Cottingham has seen many improvements for two-wheel commuters. carrying a bicycle onto Metro or a bus used to be unheard of, but now bicyclists have that option during after-work storms.

The Gazette ran a BTWD article from the Silver Spring site.

Arthur Holmes, director of the Montgomery County Department of Public Works and Transportation, said he was making biking a priority in Silver Spring.

‘‘We don’t just look at buses, subways and roads,” he said. ‘‘We are trying to make hiker-biker trails a part of our transportation. We want to provide ways for people to get to work with something other than their car.”

(So then why was the Bike Station removed from the Transit Center?)

CommuterPage Blog (not the MSM I know) also covered the day in Rosslyn.

And I'll end with this sad link of an everyday cyclists who died on bike to work day in a weird one-bike accident in San Mateo, CA and remind everyone that you can't afford to get complacent about safety.

Comments

[jeff]

Hi. Please join the Bicycle to Work! LinkedIn networking group. Members pledge that they will try to ride their bicycle to work or on an errand at least once a week. Although the benefits should be obvious, let me outline them here.

Right now people in the industrialized world are facing two very grave problems: obesity and a growing scarcity of oil. Compounding this problem is the new food shortage brought about, in part, by the conversion of food cropland to bio-fuel crop production. Most people feel powerless to help, but there is one thing that we can do. Ride our bicycles to work.

If everyone would agree to ride their bikes to work one day per week we could cut oil consumption by as much as 10-15%. No one would argue that riding a bike burns more calories than driving the car. Although popular politically right now, most bio-fuels consume more energy than they produce. We would be much better to eat those bio-crops then use our own energy to transport us around.

So spread the word. Make it a movement! Bicycle to work one day a week and do your part to cut back obesity and the overuse of oil and precious cropland.

Just go to my profile at http://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffreylstevenson and you can click on the group to be included. While you are there, don't forget to ask to link to my network of more than 9,000,000 like-minded professionals. I accept all invitations and look forward to meeting you.

Jeff

[Brian D]

Hey, that's my picture! Never gets old seeing your picture in the paper.