Bike to work month

[taterguy]

It's that time of year again.

Bike to Work Month.

What things does your employer do to encourage cycling?

What things do you wish they would do?

Now watch this thread sink like a stone

http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikemonth/

[DS1]

1. Every day so far. Rain tomorrow, I might walk with an umbrella

[NeedleCast]

2. Maybe with some divine weather cooperation

[flvegan]

3. I'd like to see decent bike racks outside office complex buildings more often.

Maybe it would promote riding more. The last law firm I worked at, I biked to work for two weeks. I had to stop because they told me I couldn't bring my bike inside with me anymore. They had no bike rack, and told me to chain it to one of the trees in the parking lot. Yeah, chain my $2500 Gary Fisher, my baby, to a sapling. Whatever.

[taterguy]

5. Have you seen those bike racks with lids?

They have them in Santa Cruz. Keeps a bike reasonably dry

[flvegan]

6. They have those at the mall.

Very secure and impressive.

[FightingIrish]

4. Same problem here

I started biking to work last month but so far May has been a weather bust. Today we have high wind warnings and heavy rain.

[WheelWalker]

8. I hear ya...It's been wet, but we were under the rain year's normal precip

through winter. We need the water, I think. I love the rain in any case. The storm door is open! I'm going out Morchella hunting this week.

[bigwillq]

7. RIP bigwillq

I wouldn't make it very far before collapsing, sadly. I got a 15 mile commute.

[taterguy]

10. A few months of training and you'll be fine

Where's that Can-do Spirit?

[bigwillq]

11. Riding a bike is not feasible

for my job anyway.

[taterguy]

12. I guess that Can-do spirit has taken a ride

:shrug:

[bigwillq]

14. It's just that I drive too much for work

to make a bike or another mode of transportation possible. It sucks that driving for my job is not environmentally safe, but I've had this job for seven years and I'm lucky to still have it since we filed for bankruptcy already.

[Kazak]

9. My emplyer does diddley-squat.

I ride my bike anyway, "bike month" or not. :shrug:

[Betsy Ross]

13. The owner of the business I contract for

didn't like me chaining my bike to a sign post near the front door. He wanted me to use the rack which was rather hidden, a great place for someone who wanted to steal a bike. Well, the building owner did some remodelling putting a new rack 10 feet from the door. YIPEE! But we've had high winds for a week and now rain so I have not been on my bike for a few days.

We've gone two months between fill-ups on our car so we must be doing something right.

[taterguy]

15. It's amazing how much difference a simple rack makes

[damntexdem]

16. Well, I recommended it. But bike-to-work only works for those who can do so.

With the built environment of our metro areas, many simply cannot. Still, every little bit helps.

[taterguy]

18. What percentage of the people that "can" bike to work actually do so?

Just asking what your guess of the percentages are

[graywarrior]

17. I don't have a job.

I can ride to a job interview, if I could get one.

[central scrutinizer]

19. I bike 5 miles to work every day for 15 years now

Fortunately I live in a place where it seldom snows so this is possible. It does rain a lot, but fenders and rain gear and I'm good to go. Also, I have a really powerful head light so I can ride even in the winter when there it is dark both coming and going.

[taterguy]

20. Hope you have a powerful tail light too

Feel free to put in a plug for your favorite brand so folks will know what lights work best

[SeattleGirl]

21. Too far, and too many hills for me.

Plus I often have appointments out during the day, some of them as far away as 60 miles. Sorry, but I'm not biking that far!

The building where I work does provide bike racks, and there are quite a few people in this building who do bike to work, so for those that do, that's good.

[Occulus]

51. Same here, with WAY too much traffic.

I have several major local thoroughfares to negotiate, and there's no way to avoid it.

[Ghost in the Machine]

22. Damn, I've got to buy a bike AND get a job???

I'm out of here, I didn't sign up for this shit, man....



:hi:

[Gregorian]

23. YES!

Sadly, someone has forgotten that this is America. Nobody walks in LA.

But in a hypothetical America, there would be more bikes than cars.

I'm all for this. I biked rain, shine, snow for a decade.

[FightingIrish]

24. I've been biking to work for thirty years.

My daily commute is eight miles in and eight miles back. My home is at 2,100 feet and my office is at 1,350 feet. I have clients and project sites that I can easily reach by bike and I leave an old beat up Subaru at the office for trips that are just to far to bike. I arrive at the office invigorated and I return home physically exhausted but relaxed. Every year I see more and more people bike commuting. It's kind of reassuring to know that I'd still be in business even if the gas stations weren't.

[nichomachus]

25. Please spare us the "dare"

We can do without

"Now watch this sink like a stone."

"Oh, here come the Obama bashers."

"I know no one will recommend this thread."

and all these other thumb-sucking taunts.

They're as juvenile as the people who write letters to the editor and start with "I know you're too chicken to publish this letter," figuring that that will goad the paper into publishing it just to prove they're not "too chicken." Actually, whe I was editing letters to the editor, that was a good way to get your letter into the trash.

[taterguy]

29. How dare you?

Misspell the word "when" in a sentence where you say you used to be an editor

[MineralMan]

26. I tried it once, but the bike didn't do well on the stairs

to the office in my basement. Now, my wife, who has her office in the spare bedroom could probably ride to work, but it's only about 32 feet, so she probably won't. :bounce:

[SteelPenguin]

32. Lazy Bastard

I'm not worried so much about my stairs as the drywall at the bottom. I'm pretty sure I won't stop in time and I'll plow right into it. I don't feel like redrywalling it every day.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

33. Thanks for the advance warning! My office is in my baserment too and I was wondering how

I could negotiate the stairs with my bike. ;)

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

27. Kind of hard to carry all my gear on a bike.

[david13]

37. There are fire medics all over who use bicycles. Try google image search.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

39. Where am I supposed to carry the 750 gallons of water, 5 different ladders, airpacks, etc?

[taterguy]

55. You get to drive the fire truck home?

That's so freaking cool

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

56. Most people think it's pretty cool.

[Omnibus]

28. I'd love to! Now all I need is a job...

...and a bike.

[progressoid]

30. Hmm, that would be a rough trip.

Since I'm either working in my basement office or 400 miles away. But if I could I would.

[alarimer]

31. It's too damn hot and dangerous here to do that.

I work outside as it is; the last fucking thing I am doing after spending 10-12 hours in the sun, is ride my bike.

[LynzM]

34. Wish I could!

I work 33 miles away, half of that on the highway, the other half on curvy, two-lane roads with no shoulder. :(

But 2 days a week I work from home!

[taterguy]

35. If your employer was considerate they would move the business closer to your house

[LynzM]

36. I know, right?

:rofl:

[WI_DEM]

38. I walk the three miles to work most days (walk along bus path most of the way)

of the year, if the weather is bad I might take the bus.

[bikebloke]

40. It's bike to work year around for me.

I've been doing it since the 80's.

[Danger Mouse]

41. I live 30 minutes away from my job by car.

It ain't happening, sorry. :hi:

[taterguy]

42. When you're on a bike you can blow past stop signs and traffic lights

If you were in really good shape your commute would take about 40 minutes.

:hi:

[Danger Mouse]

43. It's about thirty miles.

Seriously, that's not happening.

[WI_DEM]

44. Yeah you're right lots of bikers do blow past stop signs and traffic lights

[slampoet]

45. My work doesn't have a shower. There is no way to get me to bike without a shower. sorry.

I once had a workplace that had a shower and i walked to work back then (only 1/4 mile) but without a shower i just can't risk the more germaphobe workers getting me fired because i am sweaty. I have seen it happen before.

[Mr. Ected]

46. I Live 35 Miles From My Worksite

Besides, if I attempted to bicycle here in north Georgia, I would be dead within two weeks. Drivers here disdain cyclists....and there are relatively few bike lanes or trails available.

When I lived in the Netherlands, I cycled to work every day for 5 years. It was beautiful, invigorating, and 35 pounds ago. American lifestyle adds girth. I miss Holland.

[riverdeep]

52. It's not just Georgia where they disdain bicyclists, it's almost everywhere.

Maybe in Portland or something they might not hate you, but pretty much everywhere else you're at least going to get cussed out, and probably have something thrown at you. After all, you're on a bike, and they're in an SUV. What're you going to do?

The other part is the way bicycles are viewed in this country. They're looked at as either a children's toy, or at best, as recreation. To put them on the road is an affront. Unfortunately, many bicyclists don't help the matter any, as I've seen plenty of bikers not following the rules of the road-riding against traffic, not following stop lights, riding on sidewalks. It doesn't help that the cops don't even know what the rules of the road for bikes are. Some will stop you for riding on the street, some will stop you for riding on the sidewalk. There are serious bicyclists advocating for say, vehicular driving courses for bicyclists, but our ways are pretty ingrained.

[grahamhgreen]

47. More bike paths!!! I bike daily, it rocks.

[Johonny]

48. I wish

If there was a safe bike path to work, I'd gladly Bike.

My employer is having a special breakfast every morning for bikers and a week of events during the month. Keeping with the original post.

[taterguy]

50. We'd have more bike paths if there was more knowledge about how roads are paid for

A typical person thinks that gas taxes pay for all the roads, so they're financed by user fees.

The reality is that considerable amounts of general revenue funds are used for road building and maintenance.

Bike paths are cheaper for the government than roads.

The problem is that no one knows exactly how much cheaper, because everything our government does is so convoluted.

ps: If your employer makes a consumer product I might have to start stocking up on it. Feel free to PM me if you don't want the whole world to know where you work.

[riverdeep]

49. I used to bike to work for years.

Why? Because I was a truism of that classic joke: What do you can an adult who rides a bike? Someone with a DUI.

Getting rides wasn't always feasible, so I'd ride or even walk to places, and I made it a point to get a job close by. What I discovered is, when you HAVE to do something, the objections to not being ABLE to slim down. But the objections also have validity. Right now, it's too far a commute. But I still bike to closer locales, the convenience store or something. Most people find it scary because the routes are set up for cars. And if you have to carry a lot of stuff, most bikes aren't touring bikes, but plain old Huffys or something. And then there's the weather factor.

And can I just give a little advice to people thinking about it? The KIND of bike you choose is really important. At some point in the late eighties/ early nineties, most consumer bikes became an offshoot of the mountain bikes. They were supposedly more comfortable to ride and safer and less threatening than road bikes (ie, ten speed). But a lot of people discover that for regular riding, they're lousy. They are heavy and slow. The rider has very little ability to become aerodynamic, making riding in strong winds a complete nightmare. You can't vary your hand position or riding position much, and as a result, feel stiffness quickly. They are generally more tough than typical road racing bikes, but other road bikes in the family are plenty tough, like touring bikes or even, a cyclocross bike- being like a road bike but tough like a mountain bike:

[taterguy]

53. Anyone considering biking should go to their friendly local bike shop

I'm not being PC, just practical.

Someone there can tell you what to buy and make sure it's fitted properly.

I use a mountain bike and have never had trouble with stiffness, even during long recreational rides.

I don't mind the extra weight since I've never had much of a need for speed.

I like the mountain bike because the thicker tires are less prone to puncturing, which is a problem in an area with lots of broken glass.

[riverdeep]

54. Well, I would second that call to the Local Bike Shop.

The reason why I point out my mini-diatribe against psuedo-mountain bikes, is because I almost gave up biking because it hurt too much to go out for more than 40 minutes. A well fitted road-type bike might be a revelation for a lot of people. But everybody's different. Hell, if you live in a flat area, a recumbent might even be your style.

Oh, and lastly, the beauty of touring bikes and especially cyclocross bikes is that they have the ability to accept wider tires that can withstand more punishment. They can also not sink in to the ground like thinner, strictly road bike tires.

edit one: grammar

edit two: bikes and tires

edit three: grammar again, I need to quit while I'm behind

[ecstatic]

57. People should understand that it takes time to build up

the stamina necessary to ride a mile on a bike, much less to work! I'm great with stationary bikes, but me and my SO have started riding REAL bikes and it is HARD work! I could never cycle to work though--that's about 15 miles away in rough traffic with horrible drivers.

[taterguy]

58. Trust me, I'm a lazy sod

If biking was truly difficult I wouldn't do it.

Obviously, a lot of people live too far away to bike to work, depending on variables like weather, physical condition, dress codes, etc.

But the fact is that plenty of people live within a couple miles of their job and chose to drive, for whatever reason. I see them every day and breathing their exhaust, wondering if they're gonna be the car that takes me out annoys me.

Which is why I start threads like this too often.