Be it resolved: Biking to work is not impossible
Posted on October 12th, 2008 – 1:39 PMBy Roadguy
Here’s my column from the Sunday paper. This’ll probably be my last post for about 10 days (I’ll be on vacation), but keep sending me stuff and we’ll continue the transportation conversation when I return.
A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION ON TWO WHEELS
This past week, Roadguy finally conquered one of his New Year’s resolutions: I rode my bike to work.
Serious bicyclists are permitted to chuckle at this humble 4-mile feat — and at the fact that it took me until October to do it. But I had my reasons for hesitating to make my first bicycle commute since college.
I had to pick a day that I wouldn’t need my car to do my job. I don’t have the outerwear to bike in the rain or snow, and a heat wave would’ve required hauling a change of clothes and a towel. I also wanted to make sure I didn’t have any appointments after work.
The stars aligned on Wednesday. I managed to fit my work supplies and my lunch into my backpack. I grabbed my helmet, bike gloves, a blue rubber band to keep my pant leg out of my bike chain, an old gel seat pad, and my front and rear lights, just in case.
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I then noticed that my color scheme was the opposite of what safety experts would recommend: The coat, backpack, bike and even the gel seat were all black. A bright orange safety vest that I keep in my car is on the small side, so I wrapped it around the backpack to make myself more visible to drivers.
Downtown Minneapolis is currently home to more excavating equipment than the entire Iron Range, so I mapped out a route on side streets, the Midtown Greenway and the dedicated bike lane on Park Avenue.
I’ve never been a huge fan of road biking, and this year’s spate of fatalities hasn’t helped. But aside from a few left-turning drivers who got a bit close and some grumbling from my legs (what’s happening, and why is it happening before noon?), the ride turned out to be fine. My drive to work takes 11 or 12 minutes, and I made it to the bike-parking area in exactly 20.
I probably should’ve brought the towel, though — below-50 temperatures weren’t enough to stop the sweat. (There’s a 1940s-era locker room in the Strib’s basement. It’s never been remodeled, but it has seven showers.)
As my workday dragged on, I furrowed my brow at the setting sun. But I put the white light on the handlebars and the red light on my back pocket, and the trip home was a minute quicker than the trip in.
While my feet pedaled, my mind did a cost-benefit analysis. If you count the locking and unlocking, my commuting time doubled, but I got 40 minutes of exercise. I saved, at the very most, a dollar’s worth of gasoline, but no dollar is to be sneezed at these days.
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In the interest of research, I gave it a try again Thursday. I took a different route and learned that Lowry Hill feels much more like a hill if you’re on a bike.
I stopped for a few groceries on the way home, and as I was stuffing a half-gallon of juice into my backpack, I realized that I’d walked all over the store with my red light still flashing on my back pocket. (It worked — no shopping carts crashed into me.)
Overall, I have no epiphany to report. I didn’t suddenly become like my co-workers who break their arms in crashes and still revel in biking through sleet. I won’t be selling my car or surrendering my space in the company parking lot.
But I felt a sense of accomplishment, one I don’t normally have upon completing a commute. And if a guy with a 17-year-old bike, reluctant legs and a minimal amount of gear can pedal to work two days a year, maybe more of us could give it a whirl.
23 Responses to "Be it resolved: Biking to work is not impossible"
See, you get a whole new feeling of how traffic works on the ’street’ level.
Being a fairly avid cyclist(year ’round)and taking the side of cyclists during arguments on this ‘blog, cycling to work doesn’t work for me. I tried it so I can come to such conclusion.
I have to commute from east Mpls to well beyond the 494 loop to the west. There is no comfortable route to take unless I want to triple my distance, so I rode along side 394 (the service roads, of course).
A commute that long is open to too many variables. For example, it took me two hours to ride to work but only 55 minutes to ride home.
To sum it up, I had never felt so miserable in all of my recent life.
I am a bit jealous of the folks who DO ride in to work here, but they only have to ride 3 miles. Now that I could handle without any excuses.
Cycle-commuting works for some and doesn’t work for others. I used to be part of the “ANYONE can bike to work” crowd until I actually took myself up on my own offer and did it myself. Now I want to throw broken spokes at anyone who makes that claim, regardless of how far or short or where the commute is. It isn’t for everyone, even if it’s two blocks.
Congrats on the experiment, Roadguy! Maybe you will become at least a part-timer!
DrivingInAKilt - Thank you. That needs to be said here. Listening to Roadguy’s story only confirms the hassle of biking to work. Sure, if I could wear jeans, cargo pants, or shorts to work, I’d probably bike in every day (it’s really only about a mile). Unfortunately, that just doesn’t work for me.
There’s also a difference between being able to do something and having something be practical. You could bike to work, it’s just not practical. That’s how I feel about my commute.
I will say, however, that I walk home about 1/3 to 1/2 of the days. Take that bikers. Who’s creating a carbon footprint now. No factory pollution was created to build a bike for me.
Prof S’ shoes were probably sewn together in an Asian country by a six-year old child working 14 hour days. He should be ashamed! 
Biking to work definitely isn’t for everybody. And unless you are training for some serious cycling rides/races; I would not recommend anything over 8-10 miles one-way on a regular basis. Once a week perhaps?
There are so many intangible advantages when it comes commuting by bike
- the alertness I felt all day
- knowing that I dont have to go work out that night
- improved mental outlook on basically everything
Great story, Roadguy!
On the side - The phrase “Anyone can bike to work” should not be confused with “Everyone should bike to work” which is perhaps the cause of DirivngInAKit’s want to hurl broken spokes at people.
Congrats, RG! Yes, Prof and Kilt, it can be a drag for long rides, but 3 or 4 miles, it sometimes can be better than a car.
Parking, gas, road construction and freeway traffic backups–rather ride my bike, too.
“In the interest of research, I gave it a try again Thursday. I took a different route and learned that Lowry Hill feels much more like a hill if you’re on a bike.”
In my experience it takes a few trys at biking to work to find an optimal route. The first step is in changing your thinking. Routes that are optimal for driving are seldom optimal for riding. See: Park Ave & Lowry Hill. Roadguy might also consider stashing a set of clothes at work on a driving day for use on a biking day.
Here’s how bike commuting has worked for me. First, my ride is just over 11 miles, which is about on the long end of what I’d recommend to someone who is just getting going. I rode a few weeks before starting to ride to work.
For the past two years, I’ve rode from the beginning to March as far into November as I can stand it. At 11+ miles, it’s my feet and hands that give up first to the cold. Were my commute shorter, i’d be more likely to ride year round.
Only three times this year have things worked out where I have ridden all 5 days in a work week. Generally, i try to save up errands or whatever, then if it’s raining (like today) I drive, get my errands done, and free up the rest of the days for riding. As a result, I’ve only ended up riding in the rain a few times (usually in the afternoon).
We are fortunate to have showers here, or I’d prob not do it. Even though I don’t wear a backpack (I have a pannier) I still sweat a lot. People ask me all the time, esp in the spring and fall, if I get cold. Its usually the opposite. I’ve found that dressing for 20 warmer than the actual temp is a good rule (i.e. if its 45 in the morning, I dress like I’m out for a walk at 65).
As for the route - I still tweak it once in a while, if nothing else than to keep it from getting boring…
Great post. My bike commute is very short (one mile), and I do it year round. I chose to live close to work, I have different bikes for different seasons, and dress appropriately. Botski listed some intangible benefits, and I would add…
- Keeps my ass from getting fat
- Stress relief
- teeny tiny carbon footprint
- getting drenched in the rain from time to time
- endorphin release at the beginning of the day, again on the way home
- Not giving oil companies/conservatives my money
- Not experiencing the world through a car window. I think cars shut everything out.
I personally consider biking to work a pleasure and a gift that I give myself on a daily basis.
I thought about trying to bike to work on a one time basis, but since the old Cedar Avenue bridge is still closed it would involve a huge detour to the I-494 bridge or else mountain biking through the Minnesota River bottoms part of the way. And I’m telecommuting starting next month so it doesn’t look like I’ll get a chance to try when they finally replace the bridge.
Side story, my sister’s doctor recommended she take up bicycling for her knee. She hadn’t been on a bicycle in 25 years so I was teaching her on my old department store mountain bike in the Hyland Park parking lot prior to going out on the trails. Yes we got a few stares.
Haven’t tried biking yet. Lots of stumbling blocks should I try, not the least of which being I have to go up near the Pentagon in order to get across the Potomac (since the bike path on the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge isn’t finished yet).
Then there’s the matter of biking through D.C. and/or Prince George’s County, neither of which has the greatest of neighborhoods (even in the daytime). D.C. at least has some designated bike routes, but getting to Suitland by bike would still be an issue.
Froggie- last time I was in DC my wife & I rented a tandem bike for a day. It was an awesome way to get around. Not for the faint of heart, but far more convenient that driving & trying to find parking places everywhere.
Regarding your ride, isn’t there a bike path along the Potomac that connects Arlington with the Mall? I don’t know which bridges we used, but we crossed the Potomac on more than one.
A great way to find new routes is to take a saturday & go exploring. Or find a friend/co-worker who bikes and get them to share good bike route tips.
Monte, don’t forget the Bloomington Ferry bridge crossing. It’s all paved and leads to and from roads (i.e., no dirt trail riding needed).
Froggie - Don’t trains connect in those neighborhoods? My friend bike commutes in Arlington and DC, and he brings his on the train. It was a sacrifice of time, but it worked for him.
Unfortunately the Bloomington Ferry Bridge Trail is no good unless I want to bicycle to my parents house in Shakopee. I live at I-35W and 98th street and work on the Blue Cross campus at Yankee Doodle and 13. A nice mountain bike is on my list of things I want for next year since I’ve already got a nice road bike.
Congrats on your first bike commutes, Roadguy! I think it makes perfect sense to ride in now and then when it works for you, and drive when that’s better. I bike 5 miles to and from work most days, but if it’s raining or something I take the bus. So many people seem to have an all or nothing approach, but I think more people would try bike commuting if they were to consider it one of several options rather than some kind of obligation.
My full time job is close enough for me to bike. But my part time weekend job is south of the Minnesota River, like Art and Monte were talking about.
The Cedar bike crossing has been gone for years, and there doesn’t appear to be any big plans that I’ve heard about. It would help beef up bike commuting if it were reopened. I think it would take a lot of requests or a big petition… …and a ton of dollars?
The Bloomington Ferry Bridge is too far west. The Minnehaha bike trails work, but even that will still add five miles each way.
Though I ain’t do it yet.. I do believe it’s possible.. nice post!
Actually Barry, the Cedar Avenue bridge will be replaced. Copy this link into your browser to read the Strib story from last may:
http://www.startribune.com/local/west/19303419.html?location_refer=Local+++Metro
bsimon: you’re talking about the Mount Vernon trail. That’s the one I was referring to when I said I’d have to bike up near the Pentagon in order to cross the Potomac. I live in Alexandria near the Beltway, not in Arlington.
Coldie: yes, I could take Metro, since it’s about an 8-10 minute walk on either end. But this blog article was about biking…:o)
Also, Metro restricts the number of bikes that can be brought onboard the trains during rush hour, as bikes get in the way of paying customers and Metro is at/near capacity as it is during rush hour.
20 min. and four miles is doable on nice days. Maybe a slow 25 min and you do not even break a sweat.
But to me, the traffic is different in the morning (civil, everyone is just getting along to work) and the afternoon, ( savage threats from road rage crazy car-tards.)
Do other people notice a difference in the morning and afternoon traffic?
A little bit, Joe Toe. Depends on where, too. More-so Friday afternoons.
Part of my ride is in Edina. Not much road rage there–not yet.
Richfield, Minneapolis… That’s altogether different. What I have learned is like any other self defense situation: Keep cool, be very law abiding… And appear very aware. Criminals are less likely to target someone that’s prepared and knows the area. Same with road ragers. They smell fear. You look like you’re gonna take care of yourself, they’ll move onto another potential victim.
After dark, it’s trickier–they cannot always see facial expression or body language/posture. Ride a straight line, and make sure your bike looks like a laser light show. And, no cell phone, iPod, or texting.
Also, take comfort in the fact that eventually, those types threaten someone in a bad part of town and it’s their last time.
Ok people. For all of you who think that you can’t bicycle to work, I offer you this website.
http://www.copenhagencyclechic.blogspot.com
Notice anything? That’s right, no one is wearing bicycle specific gear. Most women are in heels, and dresses and everyone casually rides to and from work. It really isn’t that difficult, once you get over the social stigma. You feel better having exercised and feel better for taking it slow.
Yes, I understand. Some people commute well over 15 miles of freeway to work (or more like 30-40 sometimes.) Obviously, these people are not going to ride in, although some do. I know many people who live in Excelsior, Apple Valley, Eagan, etc that ride to Downtown Minneapolis on a daily basis. If you can’t ride to work, ride to the grocery store, or running errands. Its not hard.
