It was my first time commuting to work today (I spent a few weeks finding parts to put together a used Trek 520 frame- circa 2003? and did it for less than half the price of buying a new one) and it was F-en great! I biked in my work clothes (which I'll need to change at some point and work out logistics) but it was not bad at all for a 3 to 4 mile commute. It only took me 5 more minutes to bike since most of my time is spent at stoplights anyway. Now I just need to find a house farther away so I can get a good workout in the morning.

The sad thing is, my bike was the only one on the rack- and for a building with like 5,000 employees, that is pitiful. So much for being the "energy star partner of the year" in our industry...

congrats on the commute. I know what you mean about being the only one. I work in a building with 3,000+ people and my bike is usually the only one out there. There's one other commuter here, but he's very sproadic.

Good for you! I am the only one at work the cyclocommutes as well. In fact, they all think I am insane for doing it, but I enjoy that

QFT. Only one as far as I know. Before I started bike commuting they didn't even have a bike rack.

atta boy! Welcome to our wonderful little secret world of bike commuting.

What it all boils down to is we're pampered, spoiled candyasses. Take a look around, how many overweight people do you see driving solo in SUVs? Sad indeed...

Congrats on joining the few, the proud, the HHCMF club!

Congratulations and welcome to the Club!

Now that you're a member, I'll let you in on one of the Club's secrets: There's no reason you can't take a 10, 20, or 100 mile "detour."

Congrats, I'm the only one who (currently very sporradically) commutes in my company. We're much smaller, but usually people suck down coffee and donuts while they ask me why I'd ride my bike to work every day. I just smile.

Tuesday begins my regular commuting after a weekend of Blizzards and moving! I can't wait!

Last time a vendor brought in LaMar's donuts everyone was standing there looking at them, and talking about how they couldn't eat a donut like that, it's not good for their diet! I walked up, grabbed the biggest, gooiest one there and scarfed it down. Then had a second. Had two more that day, too. (Nobody else was eating them!)

There was ice on the roads here for the past week. Tuesday is soon enough! It's gonna feel so good to get back into it.


I find that we always have food for anyone to eat, but really no one "should" eat it. It's so people can get rid of chocolate so they don't feel guilty for eating the calories. Besides the big picture problem (it's ridiculous that they can waste a luxurious good like chocolate when others can't even get the simple grains), maybe they should feel more guilty about their lazyness to live a healthy lifestyle than their inability to resist chocolate.

Many congrats. Keep in mind that you can instead find a longer route to work. I travel about 2 miles more than I need to each way, because the ride is nicer and safer. So, you just might not have to move!

Any ideas for tact ways to spread the word about the benefits of biking? Any flyers or comments on convincing others at work to bike? Or is seeing someone else do it enough?

IMO, the best way to spread the word is by keeping at it and surprising your co-workers with how much weight you've lost. I was becoming a chubby since I started working for my company 1 yr ago and despite dieting I gained 12 pounds . I started to commute, do solo weekend rides and workout about 6 months ago. 10 pounds later I started getting comments regarding my overall thinner appearance and one lady, who had a gastric bypass done, was asking what diet I was on. Of course I told them all that its all the cycling I've been doing. 2 weeks later at least 2 of my coworkers, females, bought bikes and started riding to work too.

What strikes me funny is there are always at least 10-15 bikes on the bike racks right outside the building. So I am not the only one doing this in the whole hospital. But apparently, I'm the first in our service that they know of to bike commute.

I've given up on evangelizing. My public relations policy is based on attraction, not promotion. But if someone approaches me, I'm happy to answer any questions, provide any advice, and I've mapped out possible routes for people and have even offered to swing by their house and ride in with them.

Welcome to the club.

+ 1 Your sense of cycle-commuter self-righteousness will only continue to grow and you will be able to lead others to the light...

Welcome! We have a bike room here and oddly enough, it's been pretty full this winter. I can only put it down to the mild New England winter we've had, compared to previous winters.

Welcome to the club.

Absolutely nothing you do will get anyone to start riding.
Save your breath for the ride.

Hey! take a picture of your bike room. I love our new bike room where I work. It's definitely not as used right now as it is in the better weather but not bad.

And congrats to the new commuter! I'm sure everyone is going to see how strikingly handsome you'll become from riding your bike everyday and soon there will be thousands of bikes in the bike rack and you'll be complaining that you've got no where to park.

Congratulations! Does it feel like you've discovered some great secret that was right in front of you all along? I bet if most people tried it just once they'd understand why we all love doing it so much.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome!

I also am a "plain-clothes commuter". In the winter, unless it's extremely cold, I'll wear my work slacks and shirt (business casual), and over 4 years I've pretty much worked out the right layering, so I don't sweat much either, therefore I don't have to worry about changing! In the summer, I just wear shorts and a jersey (or just a T-shirt) and keep some clothes at work. I think it's a nice perk of a short commute (mine is just over 5 miles) that you don't have to worry so much about cycling-specific clothing. I haven't even gone beyond platform pedals yet, which allows me to wear boots in the winter for warmth.

My white-collar office environment does not seem to be a good one for converting people, for the most part. Many of them live over 20 miles away! I'm the only year-round full-time bike commuter in my building of maybe 150 people, but there is one other who rides in nice weather, and I like to think I've encouraged him a bit. Sometimes I wonder if my continuing to ride through the winter becomes counter-productive, because then they all just think I'm crazy. But maybe at least that'll make the idea of riding in nice weather seem less radical.

I also think I'm the reason the current building has a bike rack, since it is a new building that we moved to after I started bike commuting.

My current evangelization is through a Bike Commuting Group on Meetup.com!

Welcome, mtuckr! As caloso pointed out, there's no reason why you can't extend your ride a bit. I'm planning to do just that starting tomorrow morning!

I bike in work clothes, too, but have bought a jersey that I can use as we move into spring and summer. Leaving clothes at work isn't so much of an option for me.

JohnBrooking,

I rode my bike in southern Maine many times (my aunt and uncle live in Cape Elizabeth) and there seems to be a lot more bike riding going on than where I live. They seem to be more concerned about the enviroment than here, too.

Maine is awesome for bike riding. I would think that more Mainers would commute so I'm amazed but disappointed to hear that not more of them bike commute. Especially the Boston transplants, which seems to be a lot of them there, too.