Bike to Work Day
 

I'm a little disappointed, I actually saw less bikes today than usual.. only around 3 going the same direction as me that weren't on the sidewalk, and i'm not sure if one counts because his "bike" had a gas engine on it, but I did get some free stuff from a check point that I stopped at. The girl working the table seemed happy that somebody finally stopped.. heh..

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2028/...33ef9f83_o.jpg

A little re-useable bag with some coupons for a bike shop, a few mini clif bars, two patch kits, a mini pocket sized metro bike guide, some 'bike to work' post-its, a pen with built-in post it notes from the Tyra show(?!), and two coupons for some Wienerschnitzel chili dogs.. cuz y'know, that's a nice healthy bike riding food.. It was a nice ride though.

Dude, a chili dog is great after a long ride. Don't dis the chili dogs.

Don't get me wrong, I like chili dogs and will use my coupons, but I just thought it was kinda strange for cycling 'schwag'

As Lewis Grizzard notes, chili dogs only bark at night. I'm stopping at a check point for the free T-shirt. Free t-shirt! I'm a sucker for those. I'd probably join a cult if they offered a cool free tee.

Kudos on showing some shoulder.

Bike to Work Day is tomorrow in DC. You made me think I missed it. I usually miss it, only joined a group ride once. Thanks for the heads up. I always bike to work, but it's fun to ride with a group.

Looks like the rain might hold off in Louisville tomorrow am for our Commuting Day, so I'll be happy to join some others even if I have to go a few extra miles to do it. I rarely see anybody on my normal route.

Man, you got some cool swag. Just bagels and coffee, here.

Stopped by Freedom Plaza in DC this morning. Looked to be about 150 people there. Got free coffee, bagels, a t-shirt, and a water bottle. I think there was more free stuff, but I was rushing and didn't stick around long.

Man...it's beautiful out here. The sun is shining, perfect temps and no humidity. I would have loved riding in to work today.

18 more days of crutches and 62 more days off the bike. I hope to ride my first come-back commute on July 31.

Bike to Work Day in Austin too. Pics below.

I stopped by two stations. The first one (at Freewheeling Bicycle Shop) was really empty because I showed up right after they set it up. I got a breakfast taco, free water bottle, coffee, cookie, and city bike map. They started getting a good sized crowd just as I was leaving (about 20 people or so).

The second breakfast station was at El Chilito. There was a decent crowd by the time I got there. They were giving out breakfast tacos, Gatorade, and coffee.

Hit three "pit stops" in San Diego. Most of them seem to be staffed by non-bike-riding HR people, which seems odd. Also, most people hitting the stops aren't first-timers. It'd be interesting to note how many are "regulars".

I think regular commuters need to man more of these booths instead of just collecting the schwag (guilty!). It feels like "aren't you special for having ridden a bike!", which frankly I don't need. We need more "I'm a bike commuter, and it's great! Let me help you start too!"

I used mine yesterday for lunch...:D

Our table looked much like yours. I was wearing a tee shirt that caught the eye of the local newspaper photographer...

Since I was the only commuter here at the office, people used to look my way for inspiratation. Now, because of me they know of three people who broke their hip while bike riding over this past month. Now, they see cycling as a high-risk venture.

I guess I am no longer a ringing endorsement for the sport, or for bicycle commuting.

Here in Scottsboro, Alabama there's no official recognition of Bike to Work day. We did, however have a beautiful morning versus the weeks and weeks of steady rain and flooding, and that was enough for me!

Man, bike to work day in Colorado isn't until June 24th. I want free swag.

bran muffin

Here's a shot from the big day here:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3225/...f873a19f_o.jpg

15-20 people, where I was. It blows my mind, seeing some of you guys pics w/ wall to wall mfers. That's just cool.

The Boston ride was ok. It seemed a little quieter than last year, but it was still fun. Some decent schwag, but no coffee (?!)

I made it to the stop at Freedom Plaza, here in DC. I usually get in too early, they're not set up until 7, however, I was running late today and didn't want to miss out again. There were a few people there-it's exciting to see others in this cycling community of ours, whom I rarely see. I loaded up on T-Shirts, water bottle, etc, got a bagel and chatted bike stuff for a bit. Got to my desk about an hour later than usual and, wouldn't you know, it was the one day my boss beat me in. Oh well, he's cool with it. Dropped off 2 of the T-shirts to co-workers and will bring one home for the wife.

Wait, it was today?

I don't think we have this many cyclists in the whole state, yet alone commuters in one area. :rolleyes:

I bike commute most days but drove today. Our BTWD event was downtown, which would have added another 10 miles to my commute and made me late to work. I also have a doctor's appointment during the day, and the weather forecast is calling for afternoon thunderstorms. Oh well, almost every day is BTWD for me.

There were very few people that actually commute regularly, most of them are just cyclists in it for the ride that came for the free stuff (coffee, food, Clif bars, t-shirts, raffles, etc.). I don't commute via bicycle anywhere near full time so I guess that includes me - my regular commute is 7 mi, but I rode 8 to the rally and then 9 to work. Kind of like a mini-vacation for me.

In fact, I would say this area doesn't have a significant bicycle commuting presence. Most people don't work in town and so drive 30+ miles into DC or Baltimore.

The organizers said they had about 220 people register in advance, and a few dozen register this morning. A cool crowd, and I enjoyed it, even though I didn't win anything.

Man, good old Buffalo as usual had squat! This is such a hypocritical community sometimes. They talk the talk but don't ride the ride.

Ride in this morning, no one in sight and I ride in on one of the main streets into downtown.

During the week I've seen a few more, but nothing today

Where'd you get that shirt? I want one..

HA! Breakfast taco--only in Texas.

BTW day today was great in Arlington/DC! There were TONS more bikes on my route. It was like an army of bikes downtown. Made me excited but I also wanted to shake people and say: We could rule the streets EVERY day!

Not great swag-wise, probably because I was a bit on the late side. There were bagels left but the cream cheese was gone. And there was a table set up for a gym?! Whatever. The sight of all those bikes out today was enought for me.

In honor of Bike to Work Day, I got yelled at by a car on the way home for the first time. Also the first day I took the shorter street route instead of the longer MUP route (been riding about a month full time, 1-2x a week before that for about a year). Was over in the left lane for about 100 yards to make a left turn, get passed on the right and yelled at (just a benign "get over to the right idiot!") then he merges into my lane and turns down the same street I was going down.

And then by the next red light I was right behind him again. Wanted to pull up and ask him if the yelling helped him get where he was going quicker, but I figured sitting right in his rear view mirror smiling was punishment enough. Doubt he would have had any problem with a car traveling in front of him at 20-25mph for a whole 100yards.

I don't know of anything going on here in Noo Joizy (NYC metro area). I haven't seen any increase in cycling as a result of the day/week/month.