It's Bike to Work Day. Where are you guys?

I couldn't wait to get up and ride to work today. All week I have been out of the office at off-site meetings and I have not been able to feed my bike commuting fix.

Since it is Bike to Work Day, I was expecting to find throngs of bike commuters all over my route. Well...I didn't see a single one. What happened? Did you guys all go on vacation or something?

Actually, I'm sure this was an anomaly as there were plenty of Bike to Work Day events in my area organized by the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA). It just so happens that none were convenient for me so I went it alone.

Based on the assumption that Bike to Work Day is all about encouraging more people to get off their butts, out of their cars, and onto bikes more often, I have a few questions.

Did anyone other than cyclists know about Bike to Work Day?

I know that virtually no one at my workplace of 500 plus people knew of it. While at my off-site meeting yesterday people asked if I would be riding to the office the next day. I said "of course, it's National Bike to Work Day tomorrow, aren't you?!"

"You're kidding, right?"

"What do you mean? Come on, where do you live? I'll swing by and pick you up and we can ride in together."

"Ah, I don't think so."

That's pretty much the end of the conversation. Of course, I have to play it off like I was kidding the whole time and that I know that the whole idea is preposterous. Really, I'm just trying to leave them with a little nagging thought when they go home that night that maybe, just maybe, it is possible to think differently about biking to work.

Do you think non-cyclists are actually going to join group commuting rides for their first time?

The only way I can see a new bike commuter joining a group commuting ride is if they go with a friend who has been doing if for a while. And, maybe that's the point?

I guess it is probably really about the potential news publicity with the idea being that non-cyclists will see bike commuters on the news and think...hey, why not me?

I'm just not so sure that non-cyclists think that way. Instead they may be saying to themselves, "hmm...what a bunch of wackos." Like they do when they see news of a Critical Mass ride gone bad in the mainstream media.

Is there a better way to get the word out about biking to work?

I'd say that 80% of the workforce thinks bike commuting is crazy, while the other 20% think it is kind of cool (ok...my numbers may be off, but bare with me for a second here). That's not to say that the 20% that think its cool actually do it, but some of them would if they felt like it was encouraged and fewer people thought they were crazy. In other words, is there another way to emphasize the cool factor in bike commuting? You know, kind of like the way it's become cool to own a Harley.

Anyway, we'll see if I run into any of my fellow bike commuters on the way home. Maybe I just missed the big groups that set off from their central locations.

Oh, and be sure to bike on over to the mall to catch those National Bike to Work Day sales before they end. ;-)