S.F. Bay Area Cyclist/Commuter Honored
05-18-05, 11:26 AM
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S.F. Bay Area Cyclist/Commuter Honored
From our local rag, the San Jose Mercury News: https://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/11674609.htm
(I have mentioned this in other threads: this site may require registration in order to read the article; I do not re-post copyrighted material so please do not ask me to. Use https://bugmenot.com/ or Google News or similar if you want to read the full article as originally published -- thanks!)
Summary: A local bike commuter has logged over 70,000 miles since 1985, commuting every day, rain or shine, 14 miles round-trip. He's been named Santa Clara County Bike Commuter of the Year - great publicity for Bike to Work Week. Congratulations, Mario!
(I have mentioned this in other threads: this site may require registration in order to read the article; I do not re-post copyrighted material so please do not ask me to. Use https://bugmenot.com/ or Google News or similar if you want to read the full article as originally published -- thanks!)
Summary: A local bike commuter has logged over 70,000 miles since 1985, commuting every day, rain or shine, 14 miles round-trip. He's been named Santa Clara County Bike Commuter of the Year - great publicity for Bike to Work Week. Congratulations, Mario!
05-19-05, 06:58 AM
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From the web site:
On the road 80 minutes a day, Mario Capra has logged about 70,000 miles commuting to and from Tyco Electronics in Santa Clara since he started working there in 1985.
He's done it without ever getting an oil change or whining about gas prices.
That's because the 49-year-old from North San Jose has made the journey on bicycle -- pedaling 14 miles round-trip every day, rain or shine, for nearly 20 years. Named by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as Santa Clara County's Bike Commuter of the Year, Capra hopes others will consider dusting off their two-wheelers Thursday to take part in the Bay Area's 11th Bike to Work Day.
Organizers expect 50,000 to 100,000 people around the bay to gear up for the annual event, which will offer free refreshments and bike information at more than 180 ``energizer stations'' along bike routes.
Only about 1 percent of the Bay Area's 3.4 million commuters were biking to work in 2000, according to the most recent census data, even though 40 percent of the region's workforce live within five miles of their jobs -- a distance considered ideal for cycling.
``Biking is a way you can make an impact locally, by relieving traffic congestion in your community, and also make a global impact on the environment,'' said Deb Hubsmith, a Bay Area Bicycle Coalition board member who was inspired to promote eco-friendly transit after totaling her car nine years ago.
``Because it was so difficult getting around, I've become a transportation activist,'' she said.
A similar predicament put Tyco employee Capra on the road toward bike commuting more than two decades ago. ``I wrecked five cars in one year,'' said Capra, recalling his return to civilian life in the late 1970s after serving in the Navy.
But there were other circumstances that led Capra to cycling as a primary means of transportation. In the mid-1980s, he took a graveyard shift at Tyco, working 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. as a chemical service operator -- a post he holds to this day. With no public transit available during his commute hours, Capra started biking to his job.
Aside from avoiding more car wrecks, the benefits of cycling were immediately apparent. ``You get to think, you get to relax,'' he said. ``By the time you get to work, you're not all stressed out.''
Capra, who weighed 152 pounds when he started biking to work almost 20 years ago, credits his 14 miles of daily pedaling with helping him stay fit. ``I eat sweets and all the junk food they tell you not to eat,'' he said. ``I still weigh 152. You've got to attribute some of that to the biking.''
Since making the switch to cycling, Capra has never owned another car. He gets around by public transit, ride-sharing or, more often, on one of his two touring bikes: a 15-speed Fuji and a $45 used Shimano.
``It costs you nothing to ride a bike,'' he said. But with a car, ``you've got to pay for insurance, you've got monthly bills, you've got to put gas in.''
Over the years, Capra's exemplary habits have inspired a few co-workers to give bike commuting a try, but none have stuck with it as he has.
``If they don't like it or if the weather changes for the worse,'' he said, ``the bicycle goes into the garage and the car comes out again.''
On the road 80 minutes a day, Mario Capra has logged about 70,000 miles commuting to and from Tyco Electronics in Santa Clara since he started working there in 1985.
He's done it without ever getting an oil change or whining about gas prices.
That's because the 49-year-old from North San Jose has made the journey on bicycle -- pedaling 14 miles round-trip every day, rain or shine, for nearly 20 years. Named by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission as Santa Clara County's Bike Commuter of the Year, Capra hopes others will consider dusting off their two-wheelers Thursday to take part in the Bay Area's 11th Bike to Work Day.
Organizers expect 50,000 to 100,000 people around the bay to gear up for the annual event, which will offer free refreshments and bike information at more than 180 ``energizer stations'' along bike routes.
Only about 1 percent of the Bay Area's 3.4 million commuters were biking to work in 2000, according to the most recent census data, even though 40 percent of the region's workforce live within five miles of their jobs -- a distance considered ideal for cycling.
``Biking is a way you can make an impact locally, by relieving traffic congestion in your community, and also make a global impact on the environment,'' said Deb Hubsmith, a Bay Area Bicycle Coalition board member who was inspired to promote eco-friendly transit after totaling her car nine years ago.
``Because it was so difficult getting around, I've become a transportation activist,'' she said.
A similar predicament put Tyco employee Capra on the road toward bike commuting more than two decades ago. ``I wrecked five cars in one year,'' said Capra, recalling his return to civilian life in the late 1970s after serving in the Navy.
But there were other circumstances that led Capra to cycling as a primary means of transportation. In the mid-1980s, he took a graveyard shift at Tyco, working 10:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. as a chemical service operator -- a post he holds to this day. With no public transit available during his commute hours, Capra started biking to his job.
Aside from avoiding more car wrecks, the benefits of cycling were immediately apparent. ``You get to think, you get to relax,'' he said. ``By the time you get to work, you're not all stressed out.''
Capra, who weighed 152 pounds when he started biking to work almost 20 years ago, credits his 14 miles of daily pedaling with helping him stay fit. ``I eat sweets and all the junk food they tell you not to eat,'' he said. ``I still weigh 152. You've got to attribute some of that to the biking.''
Since making the switch to cycling, Capra has never owned another car. He gets around by public transit, ride-sharing or, more often, on one of his two touring bikes: a 15-speed Fuji and a $45 used Shimano.
``It costs you nothing to ride a bike,'' he said. But with a car, ``you've got to pay for insurance, you've got monthly bills, you've got to put gas in.''
Over the years, Capra's exemplary habits have inspired a few co-workers to give bike commuting a try, but none have stuck with it as he has.
``If they don't like it or if the weather changes for the worse,'' he said, ``the bicycle goes into the garage and the car comes out again.''
