Events: National Bike to Work Week 2026

If the infrastructure is in place, National Bike to Work Week can become every week in many locations across the United States. As it stands, many cities suffer from a motorist’s gaze- a blight in throughway designs that only considers cars. Heavy work still needs to be done, but the progress toward car-alternate transportation is on display for the full week of bike commuting during National Bike Month. National Bike to Work Day is this Friday, May 15th.

We are fortunate to live in a cycling-considered community. Recently, the Doylestown Public Works Department connected a major portion of bike lanes to create the possibility of encircling a major portion of the town. Kids can now ride their bikes to school where, until recently, they were forced to take a bus to a school they could see from their house. During the Bucks County Classic, family members came from afar, but toted bikes. They drove to the edge of Doylestown before riding the miles of bike paths into town for convenience. Get to know the town enough, and a cyclist will learn all of the sneaky pathways that lead to various locations normally thought out of bounds.

Doylestown is not all good cycling news, though. There are still labeled bike lanes entering the southern part of town, though no designated protected bike lane. Add to the long hill approach and riding into town from the south could become exciting. There is little room to maneuver up South Main Street amongst the onstreet parking, SEPTA bus routes, speeding cars, and motorists departing many of the businesses. ‘Just avoid that area,’ one might say, but one block over is the R5 train line that goes straight into Philadelphia while one block in the opposite direction is the Bucks County Library, Mercer Museum, and Michener Museum in the same area. There are too many possibilities to write South Main Street off as a cyclist.

For our own commute to work, the route would include an enjoyable descent off the ridge. Slicing through bucolic farms, these roads tend to be peaceful, save for the frustrated motorist trying to gouge time off a late commute. It’s our western approach to Doylestown that features concern. For the first eight miles, the route has exactly zero cycling features other than quiet roads. To cross a major road leads to heavy traffic trying to access the northwestern parts of town, and there are no sheltered bike lanes. It is this middle portion that keeps bike commuting from becoming a thing. Only then does the new bike lane come into view to finish the ride.

It’s often been a consideration to ride to work to shake things up. Gas is nearly $5.00 a gallon. Leaving the team car at the office would be an exciting prospect. Each time, though, thoughts of the middle leg of the commute flair up and the bike commute concept is dismissed. (And this is coming from a rider who has clocked hundreds of miles on only the roads needed.) One possibility is taking an altered route, but that would add several miles to the one-way direction.

In the meantime, it’s been fun seeing students riding to school. An e-bike has been locked up at work the past few days. People are pivoting to bikes to shake up the mundane task of working all day. Hopefully our readers are in towns where biking to work is an option. If it isn’t, now is the best time to get results for more bike lanes. At this rate, gas will be $10.00 a gallon for next year’s Bike to Work Week.