 Today's picture: Brian Young has been commuting by bicycle to work from the Highlands since the beginning of the summer. He works for Humana at Fifth and Main Streets. What got him started was simple: the need for speed. Brian, 28, finds it's faster by bike than by car.
"If I bike to work it takes 15 minutes, but if I drive it takes an extra 15 minutes to walk from the parking lot – sometimes in the rain," he said. Brian bought his bike a couple of blocks from the office at the Bike Depot. On Thrursday morning when I caught up with him, Brian was locking his Jamis mountain bike to a Metro bike rack. While you're eating a cheeseburger or texting your sweetie, watch for the invisible bicyclists like Brian Young.
Like most of us, Brian Young is in a hurry. He doesn't like getting stuck in traffic. But these days, he simply doesn't get stuck – he can ride around the congestion. And like a lot of bicycle commuters, Brian finds he can actually save time on his door-to-door commute by using his bicycle. Which leads me to the first in my series of blog posts countering the chief objections to bike transportation.
It's too far. It would take too long. You'd be surprised. Because of traffic in urban centers like ours, cycling generally takes less time than driving for trips of 3 miles or less – and about the same time for 3 to 5 mile trips. For longer trips, consider that you're saving time by combining your daily exercise with your commute. If your commute is less than 10 miles round trip, the difference in commute time will be insignificant. Even if your commute is longer, 30 minutes of extra sleep isn't as invigorating as a morning ride. You'll arrive at work alert and arrive home relieved of stress at night. I have pals at work who live in my neighborhood and are sometimes amazed at how they may pass me in traffic only to find me at our ninth floor office ahead of them! It's like some kind of Houdini trick.
On Tuesday, in a downpour, my trick may have seemed all the more cruel. I rode to work wearing rain gear over my suit pants and stowed my suit coat in plastic in my bike pannier. I parked for free in the basement of the very building where I work. There, I stripped off the wet rain gear, slipped into my suit jacket and popped up on the elevator in a snap – dry as a bone. Others, who pay to park blocks away from our offices, arrived later on and soaking wet.
Gee, I hope I didn't appear to be gloating too much. Don't you just hate the smugness of those cyclists?
PS: Remember, every lane is a bike lane. Share the road.
freewheelin
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Enjoy the ride home.
See you at pedalaround.blogspot.com
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bikecommuter