Gear Up For Bike to Work Day

by Ben Carmichael  |  May 15, 2008  |  More By Ben Carmichael

The weather for my commute this morning could not have been better: sunny and 70 degrees, with a slight breeze. The sun was on my face. The wind in my hair. And in front of me, nothing but open, winding road.

Sounds like the perfect commute, right? I think it is. It can be yours, too. All you need to do is trade in your four wheels for two, and ride your bike to work.

Now would be a good time to try it out -- you certainly won't be alone. The League of American Bicyclists designated May National Bike Month, this week Bike to Work Week, and either today or tomorrow Bike to Work Day, depending upon where you live.

Most participating cities have named tomorrow -- Friday, May 16 -- bike to work day. But San Francisco, always the one to lead the nation in environmental activities, chose today instead. Thousands of citizens are expected to bike to work today around the Bay Area. (Click here for a compilation of news footage.)

For most other cities, both major and minor, Bike to Work Day is tomorrow. These include my home of Washington, DC, as well as cities like New York City, Tampa, Albuquerque and Providence. Even Juneau, Alaska, is hosting an event. Many cities will be hosting rallies at different locations in the morning, and in some places, even the afternoon. For a fairly complete listing, click here.

Where there's this sort of fuss, some will ask what's all the fuss about. Why, you wonder, should we bike to work?

In 2007, Americans drove a total of 3003.2 billion miles. Between 1982 and 2006, they drove more every year, at an annual rate of 3.7 percent. I don't think this is because Americans necessarily want to drive more every day. Rather, as the affluence and size of our cities has swelled, the distances people have to travel in order to afford their plot of grass has increased as well.

We feel the cost most immediately in how much we spend each week in gas. But it's also costing our health, and our environment, in ways we can't easily measure.

At a time when gas prices are pushing $4 a gallon, reducing the miles we drive to work makes sense to a public worried about a recession. People would prefer to save money than to burn it in their gas tanks.

Moreover, it makes sense for our environment. There are few better things you can do for the climate than reducing your consumption of fossil fuels and your carbon emissions by reducing the amount you drive. For example, if only those Americans who lived within 5 miles of their office rode their bike to work once a week -- only once a week, mind you -- we could save nearly 5 million tons of global warming pollution every year. That would be like taking a million cars off the road.

And it makes sense for our health. It's estimated that two thirds of Americans over the age of 20 are either overweight or obese, increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Amongst middle-aged Americans, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has doubled over the past three decades. Simply riding 30 minutes to work would provide the kind of exercise to reduce weight, improve the public health, and reduce the burden on our health care system.

These are all compelling reasons. But for me, the choice is even simpler, and more personal.

With every new job, and every new location, has come a new commute in my life. When I worked in NYC, I rode the subway every morning to Times Square. Here in Washington, I often take the bus. When I worked for L.L.Bean in Freeport, Maine, I drove an old convertible 20 minutes up coastal route 88 -- by all means a beautiful drive in the crisp coastal air. And one summer, when I worked on an island off the coast of Maine, I would even take a ferry named the Laura B ten miles from Port Clyde to the main dock at Monhegan Island, Maine.

Off all of these, biking to work is by far most pleasant. I've biked to work in New York City, in London and here in DC. I enjoyed all of these commutes, not least because it simply got me outside.

And so, I'd suggest you dust off the bike, pump up the tires, and head out tomorrow morning. You might never look back.