Events: National Bike to Work Day 2023

May is National Bike Month in the States. From May 15-21 it was National Bike to Work Week. And then Friday the 19th was National Bike to Work Day. Maybe there’s a Bike to Work Hour in there somewhere we may have missed. We sent one of our writers onto Bucks County roads where motorists text, drive, chug coffee, and converse all in that order. Here is what was discovered:

There is one stop light in particular that has aggregately stolen hours of my life while commuting by vehicle. If only I could rearrange my priorities to bike to work, this light would be theoretically avoided. This year everything lined up to finally accomplish that feat by riding the asphalt bike to the workplace for National Bike to Work Day, put in a hard day’s work, and then pedal home knowing the car remained idle and that dreaded stoplight deleted from my experience.

To bike to work along a route that is usually navigated by car took multiple considerations. The first was this ten-mile commute by vehicle would take substantially longer by bike. For those who live in the central Bucks County region, few commutes take place without some form of climbing. Further, lugging a backpack stuffed with work clothes and necessities alters the ride experience. Then there was the storage question, but first some of the busier roads needed to be navigated.

The route from the front door of the creakybottombracket.com office to the official workplace is considered by route maps as ‘downhill.’ Indeed much of the hills negotiated over the early morning passage found me coasting instead of wheezing uphill. It is not out of the question that a fit rider could accomplish this route in thirty minutes of continuous riding. Since the rider averages a much lower speed, the departure time was much earlier on National Bike to Work Day, but by a marginal twenty sooner minutes. The increasing breeze even blew in my favor, giving an extra boost to those flatter sections en route to the workplace.

This early morning ride had to be planned the night before. Call it Night Before Bike to Work Day. The night was used to pick out cycling kit (it was calling for temperatures in the low 50sF on the way in; balmy room temperatures of 70 on the way home) and work clothes to be folded and stashed in the backpack (May is also National Mental Health Awareness Month denoted by green, so that end of the rainbow had to be prioritized amongst the wardrobe). The work lunch and water bottle would be added prior to departing in the morning.

The ride home featured a healthy tailwind reflected by the trees’ swaying branches. This was the road photographed in the morning and nearly the exact same location.

The ride toward work went almost quietly. A boy and his dad were observed riding their bikes in the direction of an elementary school. Hopefully this was a daily event, but just one commute to school with his dad is a great way to start the school day. I managed to get stuck at a major intersection, proving that infrastructure prioritizes cars. It was the only congestion for the entire ten-mile commute, but it proves that traffic frustration is hardly avoided as a cyclist in a progressive cycling community. To block out frustration, I kept reassuring myself I would avoid the other stop light twice today. Interestingly, it was as if the motorists knew it was National Bike to Work Day, too, as they gave me ample room.

A problem that needed to be worked out during the commute was the question of bike storage and changing space. Uncertain about where to stash the bike, I had to ask management days in advance for a location. The helpful bosses were welcoming of the bike to be stored in one of the offices barely used. Meanwhile I had to quickly change in my workplace, stash the damp cycling gear, and try not to sweat through the green Friday work clothes. This was definitely a drawback to the possibility of daily ride-ins.

Then there was the workday. Coworkers ogled over my bike as if it was a new car, much to my enjoyment. I was raging with hunger almost immediately and had to hang in there for the rest of the day. But the most enlightening aspect of the day was the carefree mentality. Riding into work had gnawed at any driving stress and even consumed working stress. I even found myself thinking about longer routes home to prolong the high of riding to and from work. 

It came time to slip discreetly back into the damp cycling kit, reeking of the morning’s effort. One worker asked if I would put my ‘cycling costume back on.’ I clipped my marginally lighter backpack on and reversed the direction from work to home, a mostly uphill affair this time. The enjoyment of riding home was endless. There were numerous cyclists out. I was blessed with a strong tailwind for most of the ride home. As I approached the stoplight that held me up in the morning, a final slice of happiness was served as the light turned green at the perfect time for me to attach myself to the end of cars navigating the intersection, sending me hurtling into the final half of the home commute.

Once home, the cycling and work clothes were either tossed into the wash or a hamper. The bag’s contents were emptied. The bike was racked. The weather forecast called for all day rain on Saturday. These were bonus miles on top of the much desired bike to work. 

I have long heard cyclists state that if their workplace had an area to store bikes as well as change/ shower, they would consider riding to work more than simply infrastructure or ride distance. This was my belief, too. It is unrealistic to think I could store my bike in the same office daily and expect it not to inconvenience others. Also, attempting to change clothes in locations as well as sweating through the clothes is a concern. For the most part my commute was quiet country roads with a few miles of suburban riding. There is roughly a mile of heavy commuting that required heightened attention and the hopes motorists did their part. Considering all of this, National Bike to Work Day can blossom beyond the month of May based on Friday’s experiences. Driving to work is stressful. Work is stressful. With a little planning, commuting to work by bike is a solution to so many stressors if a community plans infrastructure for those who want to ride to work more than just one day a year.