Top 10 reasons to NOT bike commute

“I would bike to work, too, but ___(insert excuse for not bicycling to work here)___.”

That’s the most common response I get from people when I tell them I bike to work.

Here are the unofficial Top Ten reasons I’ve heard during my years as a bicycle commuter.

1) I work in an office so I have to dress up.

2) I’d look like a mess when I got to work.

3) I sweat too much and we don’t have showers at work.

4) I haven’t gotten on a bike since I was a kid.

5) The way people drive is too scary.

6) I got hurt riding a bike once.

7) Bikes are too fancy and expensive these days.

8) I don’t have anyplace to keep a bike at work.

9) I have too much to carry to work.

10) I have too much driving to do during the day.

I suspect the REAL NO. 1 reason, though, is this: “I’m too self-conscious about how I look when I ride a bike.”

Fact is, everybody falls somewhere in the range between looking as good on a bicycle as Lance Armstrong, and as dorky as Pee Wee Herman. I’m probably a lot closer to the P.W.H. end of the appearance scale, but I feel a helluva lot smarter than anyone sitting behind the wheel of a car.

--Wordsmith 1953

The Big RiDIGulous

As I pedaled to work today, I couldn’t stop thinking about the most expensive public-works project in the history of the world? Let’s call it “The Big Ridigulous.”

According to the Massachusetts Turnpike’s Authority, the $22 billion project (wait ... it probably just jumped another billion in the time it’s taking me to type this) was undertaken to relieve traffic congestion on the Central Artery in Boston.

So, instead of doing something to lessen the number of vehicles on the roads, we just make bigger new roadways. Isn’t that like trying to solve someone’s drinking problem by serving them cognac in beer mugs? Imagine how our public transportation system could have been improved with $22 billion.

Do you think, just maybe, we could have minimized vehicular congestion by maximizing the use of public transportation and promoting alternative means, like bicycling?

Instead, we forged ahead without considering what every homeowner knows: Every time you add a closet, you’ll find a way to fill it. We’ve done precisely that with The Big Ridiguous. In approximate terms, twice as much road space is being filled by twice as many vehicles.

All we seem to be able to do to make ourselves feel better is to note how pretty the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway will be, perched proudly atop our enormous boondoggle.

As the saying goes, though, “You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” In the meantime, I guess we’ll just pedal on.

--wordsmith1953

Welcome Bay State Bike Commuters

If you bike to work in Massachusetts -- this is your place to blog.
Bike commuting is our commute of first choice.
We eschew driving alone for the freedom, fitness and frugality of biking.
An ideal bike commute is less than 10 miles. Many avid cyclers go much further than 10 miles each way. A commute of 3 or 4 miles can be done in business casual clothes, or without taking a shower.
Ideal bike commuting season is daylight savings time, and temperate weather accompanies it.
Be sure and use lights when bike commuting without the sun.
There's no such thing as bad weather for bike commuting -- just inappropriate clothing!

These are the kinds of topics we can chat about on this blog.
Send your experiences and wild bike tales and advice to baystatebikecommuters@gmail.com for posting.
Happy biking.