Bike-to-Work Day!

Well? Did you do it? How was it? I hope you'll leave a comment or drop me an e-mail.

The Eagle had a nice story in today's paper about Bike-to-Work Day (kudos to John Thompson of Start-Thinking for providing the great quotes and for being a bike-commuter himself. The comments are positive, though they also note the lack of on-street infrastructure for cyclists.

Baby steps/little victories, I know. Still, a good sign, all the way around.

John Brown says . . .

National Bike-to-Work Week is next week! National Bike-to-Work Day is next Friday, May 15. If what I have observed round about town these past few warmer weeks is any indication, interest in bike-commuting is growing here in town; I'm hoping we'll be visible enough next week that we'll inspire others to consider cycling to work and motorists generally to see cycling as beneficial to them even if they themselves don't give up driving to work.

I encourage the bike-curious to plot a route to work and give it a try for at least a day or two. If you need maps to help with your planning, click on the "Bicycle Wichita" graphic in the right gutter for a .pdf file of bike routes. For inspiration, visit Bike Wichita. And if you happen to see me out on the south side of town on my burnt-orange Fuji, give me a wave that I'll interpret as a more-or-less friendly gesture, and I'll be sure to reciprocate.

Finals Week is next week; more (and more substantive) blogging will resume here after that. In the meantime, read this post by Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood (hat-tip: League of American Cyclists) and take heart that cyclists appear to have the ears of several folks in Washington who actually do have their hands on the purse strings.

(Photoshopping by the Mrs.)

You going to argue with this man?

"You will ride with us!"

Click image to enlarge. Photoshopping courtesy of the Mrs.

I in no way want to distract from Neil's effort over at Bike Wichita--do be sure to let him know that you'll be participating--but I got to thinking of Kansas-specific images that could be used to promote Bike-to-Work Week, and a little musing (along with my wife's skill) led to this. Hope you like it. If you do, credit where credit's due and all that.

Anyway--it was either John Brown or, uh . . .

Bike-to-Work Week in Wichita

"Recycle," a free-to-download image from Start-Thinking.

I confess to wanting to post a little something about Bike-to-Work Week, an event sponsored by the League of American Bicyclists to encourage and promote awareness of bicycle-commuting, to be held May 11-15, but just hadn't gotten to it. But today, via both Randy of Kansas Cyclist and prolific commenter Anonymous, I learned about a new blog, Bike Wichita, which appears to have been around for about a week and which, at the moment, is geared toward encouraging individuals and businesses to participate in and support Bike-to-Work Week. Neil has also provided links to other sites and posted other material intended to motivate and/or inspire.

Bike Wichita sees to be a project of a green-minded advertising and promotion firm here in town, Start-Thinking. Here's another of their images intended to encourage the viewer to think a little more greenly: As it happens, Bike-to-Work Week is also my school's finals week, which means that my schedule will permit me to participate: a first for me this spring. I hope some of you will head over to Bike Wichita, get inspired, do a little advance thinking about a bike-route to your workplace--highly recommended--and then saddle up on May 11-15.