I've definitely done my share of bike-to-work days over the years. I commuted by bike into DC for 5 or 6 years, then to Old Town for another few years before reducing my commute to a flight of stairs (hard to bike those). My enthusiasm for the event waned precipitously over the last few years, I got tired of the one-day commuters and the big deal that they made over riding to work exactly once per year. Way to go. Sheesh. I was much more jaded towards that scene than I am now towards bike racers. And that's saying something...

One thing I really enjoyed about commuting by bike was that I saw the same people out there every day. Creatures of habit. I used to go by this older guy who rode this mtb with a milk crate on the back. He was out there *every* day; even I used to hit the Metro on rainy days or on days where it didn't get above freezing. I thought he was so cool, he literally did it every damn day. We never spoke, just nodded in silent approval. Warrior, I am not worthy to stand in your shoes!

One thing I didn't like about commuting by bike was being scoffed at by fellow employees. At my office in Old Town I had to lug my bike up the elevator then change in my office -- no shower. Lots of deodorant. But my coworkers would look at me as if I had just breezed in from Mars. I learned to not give a rat's ass what they thought.

Funny story, at the Old Town gig there was no street parking, the firm leased some spots in a lot across the way, they were a very hot commodity. Every month the head of the firm would draw two names, and you'd get a free parking space for that month. Well I won it several times and always allowed it to sit empty as a silent protest to the motorized society. (Plus I'd drive in a few times with replacement cases of deodorant) Boy did that piss everyone off! They even tried to remove me from eligibility, but I put up kind of a fuss.

Best place to work as a bike commuter? For me it was Dept of Health and Human Services, Humphrey Bldg. You could park your bike in the parking garage, and you didn't really need to lock it because the bike racks were right next to the guard booth. The elevator from the garage went right to the gym (Humphrey Bldg has a nice gym and locker room) where you could leave your bike stuff in a locker, grab a shower, and head to work. They even had occasional seminars on biking to work there; it was actually encouraged! Imagine that!

i am sympathetic to james' point, for some of the reasons pete describes as well.  but i really like the last line of pete's.  imagine that.  imagine a time and place where people are encouraged to ride to work.  they might be encouraged because it's healthy, or because it's a bit cheaper or simpler, or because they just plain enjoy it.  oh, yah, and there's always the fact that driving a car in our area sucks it.  i am incredibly fortunate in that my office has multiple places to lock up bikes near guard stations, multiple places to shower, a laundry and our cubes have these wardrobes where you can keep sufficient clothes for at least a week of commuting.  i know everyone is not as lucky as i am, but a lot of people in my building use these features and we try to be good about thanking the people responsible.

from my perspective, the real issues behind the lack of accomodation for alternative transport commuters are the same issues behind the communities that are being built in the suburbs surrounding washington which don't even have sidewalks.  people simply cannot imagine.  why would you need a sidewalk when you have a car, what would you do with it?  similarly, why should we put in a shower and cubbies for you to store your gear?  who the heck would ride a bicycle all the way to work?  and who will clean them and what will the policy be for handling issues related to them?

i go back and forth on this issue.  the one thing that we cannot do in my office is keep a locker with clothes.  so basically, after commuting in, or riding during lunch, you need to come back to your cube (walking right through the office) and get your stuff, head down to the showers to clean up and to morph back into whatever it is you do during billable hours.  i'm not upwardly mobile in the sense that you all probably think about it, so i don't fear for my current job security or my prospects.  but i am all too aware that some feel this is a very poor behaviour and they are not shy about letting anyone know.  the flip side of it is that a number of people have seen me coming and going and have tried it themselves.  a few stuck to it.  so even if it's sub-optimal, people will see that you do it and it settles in at some level.  this is the core reason i get behind bike to work day.  i think you need to show people, by example, that things can be done.

odds and ends:

(1) i could not make to the elkton race this weekend.  that really bummed me out.  i like that race a lot; it's the nascar of bicycle racing.  i told several people this weekend that one of my fondest memories was doing well there a year or two ago and getting a handshake and backslap from the mayor and a kiss on the cheek from miss elkton.  as close as I will ever get to the podium girls I'm afraid.  my son and i had to substitute the bike racing of nascar for the car racing of nascar on friday and saturday night.  and in that spirit:

we skipped elkton at the last minute.  we were doing some testing on thursday at our home track (hains) and we were having some setup issues.  the racing union quattro assi was handling pretty well.  it started out good but tightened up as the runs got longer.  the bike was pushing hard in turns three and four.  we took out some wedge and things got better but towards the end of testing, it started getting loose.  we played with the tire pressure but the track temperature was keeping us from getting steady runs.  i can't say enough about how hard the whole racing union crew was working to get that ride together and i can promise all our fans that we'll be out next weekend racing for the win.

(2) for those who are interested, the may fabb meeting has been set for may 31st.

(3) i'm putting togther a list of people who are interested in riding out to greenbelt to race on wednesdays.  there's bene interest from a few people.  for the time being, respond to me directly if you're interested.  we'll put together a little email list for notification, pick a meeting point, and caravan out.

(4) i'll try to get a post up tomorrow with some thoughts on the other part of brother james' comment from this past weekend.