Anyone Can

Always read Frazz. It'll make you a better person.

For Bike to Work Day, I’m getting my car back.

Last August, I wrote about my daughter’s need for a car to get to her various classes and appointments during the school year. Riding the bus or commuting by bike were not options because of her difficult schedules, multiple locations, materials for her various classes, not to mention winter weather. I’m a winter commuter, but it wasn’t realistic for her.

I wasn’t ready to blow the bucks on another car, so I gave her mine for the school year, and committed to riding to work every day. On days when I truly needed to drive for at least part of a day, she and I made it work by taking turns dropping each other wherever we needed to be. I think I’ve driven to work less than five times since the end of August.

The school year just ended. And you know what? It has been easy. I haven’t missed the option of bailing out and driving to work.

Sure, I had a couple of advantages and caught some breaks. We didn’t have a snowstorm big enough to stop a fat bike; I had a studded bike ready when things got icy; my commute is short; and I dodged any nasty cold or flu that would have made riding in nasty weather unbearable. (Of course, the riding probably played a big role in keeping me healthy.)

And, though it might have been inconvenient, I had access to a car if I truly needed it. As I pointed out last August, owning a car can be a good thing, because riding to work is more fun when it’s a choice, not a necessity.

Other than owning a couple of good bikes that are specifically designed or set up for the task, there is nothing special about me as a year-round bike commuter. I’m just a 48-year-old guy who sits at a desk and needs to lose 20 pounds. If I can ride every day, most people could, if they tried.

If you’re pedaling to work today, don’t make this the only day of the year that you do it. Bike to Work Day isn’t about the free coffee at an aid station, or the T-shirt you might score for being part of a team at your office. Those are just nice perks. It’s really about learning that you can leave your car at home and be just fine.

Make it a habit. Everyone will benefit. Most of all, you.

Ride to work. While you still can.

People I would never invite to dinner have been telling us for weeks that the world will end this Saturday, so I guess Friday’s official Bike to Work Day is more important than ever. Get your ass on a bike, because if the nutjobs are right, this could be your last chance.

Friday is the day most of us will find our commuting routes busier than ever, but don’t you worry your pretty little heads. Most of the bikes you see that day will be safely stowed back in their garages come Monday morning, and you’ll have the bike paths to yourself again.

I make fun of Bike to Work Day every year because I know that most of the participants won’t ride to work more than a handful of days each year. But that doesn’t mean I don’t support the idea. If anyone who tries bike commuting that day decides to stick with it, that’ll be progress. I would be thrilled to see 20 riders on my commuting route every morning instead of the two I see now.

Bike to Work Day is a good thing, and Bicycle Commuters of Anchorage—a great group—is celebrating it by organizing the BCA Bacon Station on the Chester Creek trail at East Chester Park, east of the tunnel under the Seward Highway. Spenard Roadhouse will cook the bacon, Raven’s Brew Coffee will brew the coffee and Great Harvest Bread will bake the cookies.

If, like me, you don’t pass anywhere near that station while riding to work, there are more options for getting a free cup of coffee or a light snack during Friday’s morning commute. Thanks to Dawn at BCA for providing the following information:

Chain Reaction Cycles will be at it again with the station located on Elmore at the Elmore/Abbott intersection. Their station will be sponsored by House of Bread.

CRW Engineering Group and DOWL HKM will put aside their rivalry for one day—and one day only—to offer a joint venture replenishment station for Bike to Workers. Stop by the northeastern corner of Tudor Road and C Street (in front of the big red fish) for treats and prizes.

South Central and ANTHC will again have a station outside of the ANTHC building (near Elmore & Tudor).

Thompson & Co. Public Relations will be providing goodies and coffee from Kaladi Brothers Coffee at 9th Avenue and E Street. The Anchorage Downtown Partnership will be there with raffle drawings for dining certificates at downtown restaurants.

For those who fear they may get sweaty, all the Alaska Club locations are offering free showers to anyone who brings in their bike helmet on Friday.

Those free showers could be especially handy for sinners who are sweating bullets about Saturday.

Don't mess with perfection

It ain't as pretty as Meligrosa's ride (below),
but it gets me where I need to go.

Anchorage has been enjoying a spell of freakishly beautiful spring weather. The only crappy day in the past week was—of course—on Bike to Work Day. I took pride in riding in the cold rain, because I keep a filthy, fender-equipped commuter bike in the garage. When the weather turns foul, there’s nothing that keeps you riding like a 13-year-old bike that’s been retired to beater status.

Of course, Friday was also when I made one of my regular visits to Meligrosa’s photo-driven Bikes and the City blog, which always has entertaining photos of bike life in one of the great American cities—San Francisco, birthplace of the Grateful Dead. Whenever Meligrosa uses a close-up shot of her bike, it’s clean enough to make my commuter look like a piece of battered farm equipment.

Now, I know the weather is a bit milder down by The Bay, but this woman must show her bike a lot of love. Meanwhile, my crusty old Stumpjumper—which has reliably carried me over trails from Santa Fe to Moab to Anchorage, and even survived a near-tragic encounter with the top of the entrance to my garage—gets rode hard and put away wet far too frequently. These days, it might get washed a couple of times a year.

I’d like to pull out the bucket and brushes and put a shine back on that pretty blue frame, only ... well, I’m not really superstitious ... but, you know how it always seems to rain the day after you wash your car?

When you’re on a roll with Alaska weather, you don’t screw with it.

Get to work

A couple of days ago, I noticed a bicycle in the office of a co-worker who has always driven to work, so I asked what was up. She had dropped her car at the shop that morning and then ridden the rest of the way to work. It was great, she said, because she realized that on a bike, she could smell what was around her. That morning’s ride had inspired her and she was thinking about taking the old bike for a tune-up.

I love hearing about the little epiphanies that are so common among people who ride to work one day and find themselves enjoying the benefits, whether they come in the form of fresh air, reduced stress, or the smells of spring. It’s a great thing to watch and listen to someone who just realized that riding to work is actually fun. (Check out the video.)

This is Bike to Work Month, and next Friday is Bike to Work Day. Companies all over town have dozens—in some cases hundreds—of employees signed up to ride. Most of them probably won’t do again until next year, if at all. Knowing this is a one-time thing for so many participants usually bothers me, and I sometimes find myself resenting the people who ride to work only on one designated day each year.

When that happens, I remind myself that if 95 percent of Bike to Work Day participants never rode to work again, it would still be a worthwhile event, because that would mean that the other five percent decided to keep trying it. That’s progress.

Everyone who knows the fun of riding to work on a regular basis should encourage co-workers to try it. Grab a map and a high-lighter and help someone plan a safe, enjoyable route. Give ’em an old pump if you have a spare that’s collecting dust. Offer them a decent used saddle when they complain that their ass hurts and you see that they’re riding a piece of junk. It’s all about making people believe, and getting them to drink the Kool-Aid.

They don’t have to gulp it.

Sips will do just fine.

(Thanks to Gwadzilla for today's picture, and the video link.)

What if ...

“This is the year,” a fellow bike commuter said to me the other day. We were talking about high gas prices inspiring more people to try riding to work, or taking mass transit, and she was expressing her hope that we’ve reached a moment when large numbers of people will see the light.

I’m not convinced, because I’m too jaded from years of seeing a surge of new bike commuters in May, then watching them all disappear by June. But I hope she’s onto something.

With Bike to Work Day coming up tomorrow, the interest in bike commuting is as high as it will be all summer, unless gas jumps to five bucks a gallon. I saw an older guy buying a brand-new commuter last weekend; I’ve been seeing more riders each morning and evening, and the Daily News ran a small feature in this morning’s edition to help new riders prepare for riding tomorrow. (Complete with advice from moi.)

In recent summers, I’ve been trying to follow some advice I read on Patrick O’Grady’s site a few years back. Observing that many non-cyclists are put off by all the gear and unusual clothing that they associate with bike riders, Patrick suggested a way to make bike commuting look more accessible—more “normal,” if you will.

Instead of pulling on Lycra shorts and jerseys covered with flashy graphics and logos, maybe we should be donning hiking shorts, T-shirts, Hawaiian shirts, etc. Rather than looking like a club of athletes or wannabe racers, why not dress like average folks out having fun?

I think he made a good point. The more fun and accessible bike commuting looks from the driver’s seat of a car, the better.

So I still wear my Lycra shorts many days, but I often pull a battered old pair of cargo shorts over them.

It’s not because I’m shy about wearing Lycra.

It’s because I hope that occasionally a motorist will see me riding to work and think, “Hmm. Maybe I should try doing that.”