BTWD: Not a Bad Day Overall
Today was Bike to Work Day (BTWD) in our area. Like in years past, the day was a bit of a mixed bag. At work there was a fair amount of buzz surrounding the day’s events and the total number of riders was about double that of a typical sunny day in May. The brightest spot were the few new people who had never ridden their bikes to work prior to today. Their presence was enough to make the event a roaring success in my mind.
Over at the Capitol, there was a pretty good turnout for the Annual Capitol BikeFest. I’m not good at estimating crowds, but there must have been at least 200-300 people milling around during the time I was there, and it appeared to be getting busier as I was leaving. It was fun to run into old friends and chat it up with bike-minded people, but the most encouraging aspect of the event was the diversity I observed among the visitors. There were riders of every age and from every corner of the biking world in attendance, from racers in full kit on carbon racing bikes, to business people on commuters and city bikes, and even young people on BMX bikes and fixies. No one demographic appeared to be over-represented.
The only disappointing, but not at all surprising, aspect of the day was my multi-modal suburban commute. As in years past, there appeared to be no difference in the number of riders on the roads in the suburbs today. I saw the usual small group of regular commuters, but I didn’t notice any new faces on the trails or even on the train. I think this shows that long, multi-modal commutes are well outside the mainstream. I suppose it stands to reason that relatively straightforward, point-to-point commutes are more appealing to newcomers (and seasoned veterans, for that matter), and that figuring out a complex MM commute is not worth the effort strictly for a special event like BTWD.
8 Responses to “BTWD: Not a Bad Day Overall”
I love seeing that cruiser in the picture! One doesn’t need fancy bicycles (even if they are pretty!) to get to work. Some days (like today) I jump on my plush 7 speed cruiser and ease into work. No need to rush, I’m quite sure that the school will still be there when I arrive. :)
Some days you feel like putting the hammer down and flying down the road, and some days… you don’t. Cheers!
Glad your area had a good turn out for BTWD.
I finally got the chance to do BTWD here in DC (my jobs usually have me working 2 places on the day that they pick here and have to drive). There were more people riding to work than usual, I saw at least 2 times as many people than normal on bikes.
What we need to do is get destinations closer to residences. That way they are all short point to point commutes, and we reduce a lot of the other transportation inefficiencies created by such long distances.
One colleague of mine is a long time cyclist, more the full lycra type, and he won’t even consider attempting to bike to work, citing safety and the lack of a shower, because he lives about 22 miles away, amidst rural roads. It’s funny, since he considers himself a cyclist, and I’ve never biked as a hobby or for recreation. Yet I ride in to work every day. I explain the benefits to others in the office when asked, but get laughed at if I even intimate someone else could do it to.
It is rare that I see another bike commuter on my route (maybe half a dozen times a year rare). Still, I have seen a lot more people out on sunny days downtown, just biking around, usually on mountain bikes or those low bmx bikes. I even saw a girl in a skirt on a loop frame tool by on the sidewalk downtown around lunchtime the other day. That’s very atypical. So maybe we are making some limited progress after all.
Garth-
Sometimes people with those long multi-modal commutes will use bike to work day as an excuse to do the whole thing by bike. We see that sometimes in Chicago
Sometimes the multi-modal commute makes biking possible when it wouldn’t otherwise be. In my case, I have a reasonably pleasant 3 mile bike ride to a 45 mile train trip. Needless to say, without the train I wouldn’t be be biking to work!
However, I’m lucky that my train ride is into Manhattan, where walking and public transit options abound for that “last mile,” so I don’t need to concern myself with bringing the bike along with me. For most people who do not own folding bikes, bringing a bike on a rush hour train is not even an option.
Depending on your situation, I can also see how the multi-mode commute might seem too daunting, or at least too annoying. I personally wouldn’t mind a simple 10 mile bike commute, but honestly, if I had a 5 mile ride on each end of my train trip I probably wouldn’t do it.
I think that MM commutes are more for folks with foldable bikes. It’s too much hassle with full-size bikes. How many people have folders?
@Michael Blue
I’ve been multi-modal commuting with full-sized bikes for the past few years and I haven’t really found it to be a hassle. It probably depends upon the type of public facilities that are available. It’s important though, that the bike is close to “standard” sized so that it fits racks, lockers, etc. My English roadster, for example, was too big which made it useless for multi-modal commuting.
All that said, folders a great for MM commutes! :-)
Alan
Unfortunately I didn’t make it to work on my bicycle during bike to work week but saw a lot of activity around my workplace in the river district in Sacramento. For me, the lack of a shower / changing area / bike storage at my workplace makes it a deal breaker. We also have a work environment where being 2 minutes late is the end of the world so I just haven’t pulled the trigger just yet. I still haven’t done a weekend test ride to work either. Excuses, excuses…
It has got me thinking about maybe looking for another job though.