having been the lone bike commuter in my office for the past few years i was happy to learn today that one of my co-workers has made the switch to bike commuting. she showed me her choice of bike- a late 70's raleigh 3 speed with full fenders. she received it new as a gift from her parents. the bike had not been ridden much and i encouraged her to get it out and take it for a tune up so she could ride it to work. the gear shifter was broken, the tires dry rotted and the front brake also didn't work. my coworker rode it to work today- it's stunning- the lbs polished it and replaced everything that was broken, she added a rack/panniers along with a cyclometer. she was thankful for my encouragement and for not laughing at her questions. i told her that anything that helps get cars off the road is a good thing and you don't have to be a racer to enjoy a good bike ride

That's sweet. Congrats on your 'conversion'.

Always good to get a vintage bike ridden again, too.

That's the way to do it. Lead by example, not by dogma.

I've told hand fulls of people at my office that I would come over and check the brakes and lube up their chain. Maybe I'm inadvertently discouraging people that way :-)

That's a nice story. Well done!

Do they know you're talking about their bicycle?