May--may we all bike to work

As mentioned previously, May is Bike Month. There is an assortment of stuff happening associated with this, including Bike to Work Week and Bike to Work Day (May 21). There are bike safety classes to be found, presented by Bicycling for Louisville and the Louisville Bicycle Club. There is a Commuter Challenge going, by which one can win some cool prizes and the adoration of your peers (or something).

I know that a few folks read what I put here. I get comments from time to time about something I put here but nowhere else online, and from people I don't know. I presume that most of the people who bother to read what I say are already bike-friendly enough that you want to ride to work even if you haven't figured out how to deal with the details. I don't have to convince you to bike to work, although I'm happy to help you figure out those pesky details.

I don't know how to convince others, though, aside from riding to work myself, talking about riding to work (I get to keep my bike in the store, and "casually" refer to it when talking to customers), and encouraging those who also ride to work to encourage others who haven't done so.

We don't have to ride to work to "save the environment," "stick it to the oil companies," or prove anything. I ride to work with those things in mind, yes, but mainly I ride to work because I like myself better when I am riding than when I'm driving. I enjoy the ride more than the drive. Sure, I save money on gas, car repairs and car insurance. Sure, I am keeping one more car out of the traffic jams (and still getting to work in a reasonable amount of time). I realize that I have some good fortune in that I'm able to keep my bike inside while at work, safe from idle hands who would toy with the various doo-dads mounted on the bike (or "borrow" said accessories), and that I also enjoy the good fortune to work in a place where cycling to work is not such a weird thing.

Anyway, it's May. It's Bike Month. It's Bike to Work Month. Soon it will be Bike to Work Week. Ride--to work, to the grocery, to the Post Office, to the Library, to the coffee shop, to your friend's house a couple miles away--and enjoy riding. Encourage your friends to ride.

"Work to eat, eat to live, live to ride, ride to work"