Bike-to-Work Day

I missed writing about Bike-to-Work Day. Oh, I had a post all planned out. I was going to write about how I used to bike part of my commute to work, from my house to the Silver Spring Metro station when I used to take the J busses to Bethesda for work, and about all the different events that were going on for B-t-W Day, and I was going to encourage you to try biking. I was even going to say that even if biking the whole way isn't your cup of tea (or feasible depending on how long your commute is... or how in shape you are!), then to see how you can bike part of your route, and use transit for the rest. (Biking to Metro stations is optimal.) It's more feasible, it takes cars off the road, and it's good for you!

But the thing that makes me the happiest about Bike-to-Work Day is that it's always held the week of my birthday. :-) So the area gives me lots of people biking to work as my birthday present. And that's a lovely present indeed.

However... I missed it. It came and went, and so did my birthday. (I'm a full quarter of a century now.) Turns out I didn't even end up going to work on Bike-to-Work Day.

But perhaps YOU biked to work? Or maybe part of the way? Tell me about it!

Montgomery County has bike trail maps available for free. Bethesda even gives out pamphlets with locations of bike racks all around the city. And Metro always has plenty of bike parking, whether it's the (admittedly crappy) bike racks or just railings to lock your bike against. (Check out Commuter Connections for more commuting by bike information. And I'll bet that WABA has info on it, too.)

Try biking to the Metro instead of driving. It's fun, good for you, and it might even be faster than driving, depending on traffic. And also find out if there's a bus route that goes by your house. Because if it's the end of the day and you're tired (or a little too tipsy from Happy Hour; drinking and biking do not mix. I know this the hard way.), you can always take your bike on the bus home.

(BTW, Metro has SO much really great, awesome information on their website that's so far hidden in the bowels of their website that you'd never find it. But that's a blog post for another day.)