I Come Into Work Happy. The Summer for Biking in Washington

"I come into work happy." says Ed Cabic who rides his vintage Mt. Shasta Capella bike 15 miles round trip from Alexandria to K Street. As a driver, Ed arrived at work every morning mad and stressed. Since he changed to biking says Ed "I went from hating my commute to having the commute be what I was looking forward to all day." And he lost 40 pounds too.

Ed's story is just one of the many delightful highlights from a wonderful story in the Washington Post's Style section this morning about this being the summer that Washington rediscovered biking (Cycling Back Around, by David Montgomery, August 2, 2008). Says the author: "This summer in Bicycle Washington, it's back to the future. Old bikes are back, new bikes look old. The riders, too, seem sketched from another age." Other tidbits:

• "Somewhere along the line, we made biking a hobby and a sport instead of a way to get around," says Alexandra Dickson (pictured here), an architect who commutes from Southwest Washington to her downtown office on a blue Breezer Villager that she calls Babe, after Babe the Blue Ox. "I'd like to see it get back to being a way of getting around."
• "What's happening is, the American conception of the bicycle-as-toy and the bicycle-as-sports-equipment is being infiltrated by the European notion of the bicycle-as-transportation and the Asian notion of the bicycle-as-cargo-hauler."
• The handlebars are set higher than the seats, so you sit upright and comfortable. What a concept. The reign of the purists is over, and all the accessories they forbade are permitted again. There are baskets in front and racks in back. There are chain guards so you don't get grease on your slacks, and skirt guards so you don't catch your dress. Kickstands are no longer a heresy punishable by sneering. Fenders are back, along with mudflaps, so you don't get a splatter trail up your back on rainy days. On some of the models, front and rear lights come installed."

It's just a wonderful story so please go read it. Everything old is new again in this summer when biking was rediscovered in Washington.

Some resources for bicycling as transportation to get you started:

• Car-Free Diet. Calculate the calories, money and CO2 you'll save by switching from driving to biking.
• BikeArlington
• Washington Area Bicyclist Association

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Chris Hamilton is the Commuter Services Chief for Arlington County, manager of CommuterPageBlog and a Metro/biking commuter from Rosemont in Alexandria.

Comments

[Joe]

Great article, and it raises points that are important for promoting bicycling as transportation. There was a time when the popular image of bicycling came from bike racing. Elite athletes, on expensive and uncomfortable bikes, wearing neck-to-ankle spandex. Nothing against the sport, but it did look to me like serious cyclists must have to take a few classes at clown school. I'm shopping for a new bike now, and I'm pleased to see so many inexpensive and practical choices.

[Chris]

Thanks for the nice thoughts Jeff. Here's two places too find out more about making your workplace bike friendly: http://www.commuterpage.com/atp/ben-biking.cfm and http://www.bikearlington.com/comres.cfm. And yes, the new Google asking if you'd like walking or driving directions is pretty cool!

[JPrice]

Chris,

I agree great article, I was happy to see in on Saturday morning.

If more of us incorporate regular biking into our commuting, it might leave more space on the highways, metrorail cars and metrobuses. Plus, we all need the exercise!!

September, October and November are the best months to start bike commuting.

At my job, we are working on a Bicycle Commuter Checklist to help fellow employees navigate all the To Dos to ensure a sucessful attempt at bike commuting.

The checklist includes getting route information, safety, how-to pack, parking information, and shower and locker info once at work.

Do you recommend any CommuterPage or ACCS programs for our To Do list?

Also did you see that google maps now provides walking directions for streets, but not trails?

Keep up the good work!
JPrice