What? A bicycle advocate suggesting you forget about biking to work? Yes. Well not you Jason & Bob, you guys keep riding to work. In fact, if you currently ride your bike to work keep doing what you are doing.
First let me say that I’ve commuted to work by bike before. For about a year I did a 28-mile round trip 3 days per week. My employer was supportive, the owner let me use her private shower. In December 1999 I rode my bike to the job interview for the job I would have through May 2004. Unfortunately due to the need to visit client’s homes all over the region I was unable to bike to work. Route planning from my house in South City to Kirkwood wasn’t as convenient for me as Union & Natural Bridge was. Very quickly I fell out of the habit of cycling.
As a REALTOR® my current daily commute is walking downstairs to my office. Hardly worth putting on spandex. Meeting clients takes me all over the area and often on very short notice. Again, my job is preventing me from cycling. I suppose if I lived downtown and focused solely on selling lofts I could bike to show properties. Accepting that for the most part I must drive to earn my living, I’m looking at other ways to bike. I need to forget about biking to work.
Have you thought about biking to work? If you are a non-cyclist or a casual cyclist I want you to forget about biking to work. Not forever, just for now.
Cyclists typically fall into a number of categories: the racer, the long distance rider, the casual rider, and the commuter. I fall into the last three, I’m no racer. But commuting is often defined by riding to work. Look at books, magazines or web sites on cycling and it is bike to work this and bike to work that. If you want to ride more but riding to work is either impractical or too intimidating then forget about it. Instead think of commuting by bike to the grocery store, the library, a coffee house, to lunch (or brunch) or just over to a friend’s house.
Bike commuting doesn’t have to be a big deal. It doesn’t have to be about getting rid of your car. Commuting to work is a great feeling (except when changing a flat tire in the rain near BJC hospital). But going from doing a casual ride around Forest Park to riding to work daily is a big leap. Sometimes the leap is literal in terms of distance, route or work (no shower, need car) but other times the leap is mostly psychological. I think we in the bicycle community sometimes fail to recognize what a leap it can be.
Look at any bike publication (print or virtual) and you will see the phrase ‘Bike to Work.’ For us hard core cyclists we are beyond the leap. Biking is second nature. The ‘Bike to Work’ phrase looks and sounds good. But how effective is it? I think we need a new phrase encouraging biking as transportation, not necessarily to work. Bike Everywhere But Work? No, that discourages biking to work. Maybe, ‘Just Bike.’ Thoughts?
The whole point of bike commuting is to reduce car trips. It saves money and is better for the environment. Advocates target commuting to work because this is typically where the biggest impact can be had. People generally drive more miles to get to and from work than for their other trips. But, if we don’t get people to do it then we haven’t made such a big impact after all. I think if we forget about biking to work for a while and focus on errands we can have a bigger impact. ‘Errands by Bike.’
I tried to find some good websites advising people on just running local errands but nearly everything I found is focused on biking to work. An exception was Bicycling Life’s Practical Side to Cycling:
Perhaps the easiest way to try practical cycling is by riding to the library, video store, or any other short trip not requiring a lot of cargo. I carry stuff in panniers – bags that hook on to my rack – but just the rack and a bungee cord will often suffice. Backpacks also work, but they can get hot and heavy.
A good read and a very nice site. Bike Traffic’s Tricks & Tips for Biking to Work offers some really good advice in a fun manner than can be applied to non-work related commuting.
Do I want people to bike to work? YES! I just think we need to look at encouraging “Bike Transportation” in all forms, not just biking to work. Feel free to use the comments section below to agree or disagree with me, to offer helpful errand tips or links to good sites.
[UPDATED 4/21 @ Noon: Check out Trailnet’s “Biker’s Wanted” program. From the “where” section:
Most people think of bike commuting as riding your bike to work but this can be intimidating for some. Try starting out with shorter, easier trips. You are still reducing congestion, pollution and your car dependence while learning how to commute more effectively. Of course, when you’re ready to start riding to work, you can find out how to do it on this web site.
This is an excellent resource!]
– Steve
