Hi, Silicon Valley: Bike to Work Day is Tomorrow!

I’m still getting over internal combustion engine-lag (I had to turn my watch back an hour every couple of days during last week's cross-country drive to get to Silicon Valley from Connecticut - a trip I’ll write about later) but I wanted to give you a reminder that tomorrow - May 14th - is Bike to Work Day in Silicon Valley. 

And you're going to do it. 

I once told Elizabeth Kim - the reporter at the Stamford Advocate who is writing excellent Bike to Work stories all this week - that half of what a city needs for cyclists is infrastructure and the other half is acceptance. (For reference: Delhi and Gurgaon, India has a ton of acceptance - a road user is a road user - but no infrastructure, Cleveland, Ohio has a great and growing amount of both and Greenwich, Connecticut has just about none of either).

When I moved out here, I wanted to find out how much of both Silicon Valley has. And you know what? You’ve got a lot going for you: nicer weather, flatter terrain, a superior bikes on trains policy, no Massachusetts or New York drivers around - the list goes on. That also means your list of excuses for not biking to work is even shorter than most folks in Connecticut. So remember those Thirteen Words: If you have a bike and can ride it safely, please ride it. 

The Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition is doing a lot of work to bring a great Bike to Work Day tomorrow, so be assured that if you #choosethebike you won’t be alone. They’ve got Energizer Stations (which is what it sounds like) all over the place - check their map to find one near your route. They’ve got tips on how to ride safely to work and are even having a Bike Away From Work Bash from 6 - 8pm at the Roosevelt Community Center in San Jose.  They’re also inviting you to share your photos to their Twitter and Instagram accounts (@BikeSV and @BikeSiliconValley, respectively). Also use #BTWD and #BikeMonth to talk about both. 

So give bike commuting a try: as I wrote before you’ll save money, make friends and change yourself - and your neighborhood - for the better. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

Nine Reasons to Take Part in Bike to Work Week

It’s Bike to Work Week 2015. If you’re in Silicon Valley, check out what’s going on with the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition or the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition. If you’re in Stamford, Connecticut, befriend People Friendly Stamford on Facebook and read the Stamford Advocate’s Elizabeth Kim’s coverage of Bike to Work Week. If you’re anywhere in between, check with your local bike shop, bike club or bike organization and plan to bike to work this week yourself. 

If you’re already doing those things, talk to your car-driving brothers and sisters and remind them of the following reasons to #choosethebike and participate in Bike to Work Week 2015. 

9. Energy to run a car is expensive. 

Wherever you live in the U.S. (but especially California, where gas is expensive) it costs a lot per mile to use your car. If gas is $3.39 per gallon and your car gets 25 miles to the gallon, you spend almost $0.14 per mile to drive your car.  Even for short trips, that adds up: last year I pointed out that one simple, four mile round trip bike ride saves more than enough to buy a cookie at my favorite coffee shop in Stamford. 

8. Burning calories cycling reduces the guilt you’ll feel eating said cookie. 

Other than the strength training your right foot gets as it moves back and forth from the accelerator to the brake in traffic, you don’t burn a whole lot of calories when driving. When I lived in rural New Hampshire - where I would drive everywhere - I weighed about thirty pounds more than I do now. 

Bicycling changed my waistline for the better and it improved my eating habits. For instance, I’m quite fond of donuts, and I made a deal with myself years ago that I’d only indulge when I would ride a bike to a donut source. The deal stuck, and after a while I wouldn’t crave donuts that much to begin with and would just pedal on by the donut source. Your results may vary, but consider burning calories and not gasoline when going to work. 

7. You are not limited by the slow-moving car in front of you. 

I don’t care how many cylinders your truck has, whether you drive a muscle car or if you do your daily commute in a Tesla. Your car only has as much horsepower and as much top speed as the car in front of you. It’s something manufacturers hide as well as possible - filming commercials of their cars on sweeping, beautiful rides in strangely desolate areas with the familiar disclaimer - professional driver on a closed course - in tiny letters on the bottom of the screen.

But we aren’t professional drivers on a closed course. We’re Amateur Drivers on a Crowded Course (I'll write a book with that title since it sounds catchy) and no matter where you drive, you are hemmed in by the motor vehicles around you. 

6. On a bike, you control the terms of your commute. 

This is a companion to the last one: we’ve all tricked ourselves into believing we control our rolling glass and metal enclosures we use to get to work but we really don’t. If someone is tailgating you, you drive faster. If someone is driving slow in front of you, you drive slower. If every parking spot in front of your favorite coffee shop is full, you don’t stop. 

Biking doesn’t just provide exercise, but it allows you to not have your day defined by what others are doing. You can ride to work as fast or as slow as you want. You can take different routes. You can stop anywhere along the way. I could rest my case right there. 

5. Every day you don’t drive your car is another day you don’t have to pay a mechanic hundreds of dollars to find and eliminate a mysterious noise.

I have a well-documented personal experience with this one. In addition to the running costs, cars are complex things that cost a lot of money to fix - especially if you’re not entirely sure what’s wrong with it other than it is making a sound it isn’t supposed to make. Each day your car is at rest is another day between you and an expensive bill from a mechanic. In other words: if you love your car, drive it less. It - and your wallet - will thank you. 

4. Every day you don’t drive your car is another day between you and the next car wash. 

One of the things that struck me biking around Silicon Valley was the number of car washes there are - and how many featured water running from the driveways into the roads. It seems normal for a car wash but the state is also in a drought, and everyone is being asked to cut back on the water they use. 

I’m not going to let the car culture off the hook for aiding and abetting the conditions that created the drought in the first place (greenhouse gases, suburbs and their lawns, etc.) but let’s focus on a simple thing: if you’re not using your car, you’re not exposing it to dirt. Biking to work - in addition to being more healthy and more fun - is a tool to deal with the drought since you’ll be washing your car less. 

3. It’s easier to communicate with people.

A decade and a half into the 21st century we have no shortage of ways to communicate with each other - I’m sure fifteen new apps that promise as much were funded this morning while I wrote this. But cars are stuck in the early 20th century because the only communications tool each has is…a horn. 

To the credit of my fellow human beings: we’ve figured out ways to stretch the little trumpet-shaped button on the steering wheel in ways not intended by the manufacturer. Push it gently but sharply and the person in front of you who took more than four seconds to react to the light changing to green has a gentle reminder to move. This is followed by a sharp, long burst at the following light when the person has displayed this reprehensible behavior a second time. 

We also have the two-short-toots technique, usually reserved for seeing someone we know traveling in the opposite direction. This is followed by waving from the enclosed motor vehicle as it passes by - and a look of indignation or confusion from the person driving the car in front of you. 

One day in Stamford I was biking west on Broad Street and was turning right onto Bedford Street. On the corner next to the Ferguson Library I recognized Congressman Jim Himes. Since I was on a bike I waved and shouted “Hey, Congressman!” He recognized me and waved back, so I pulled into a space between two parked cars and we talked for a couple of minutes. More recently, the head of makerspace Rippowam Labs recognized me, called my name, and I stopped my bike to talk with him a while. 

Think of the conversations you could have had with the last person you addressed with a friendly ‘toot toot’ as you drove by. Think of the friendships and relationships - to say nothing of the spontaneous invites for coffee or treats - that could have moved forward if you were on a bike instead. Instead of being in a capsule with a horn as a voice, you can be on a bike with your own voice and your own smile to send your greeting.

2. Bikes are easier to park.

We spend way, way too much time looking for a place to put our motor vehicles when we aren’t using them. Do we have a place in front of the restaurant? No, let’s try the next block. Okay, there’s one. Wait, it’s a loading zone. Okay, how about this. Perfect. A little narrow. Get out on my side, okay? When do they enforce the meter? Should we put a few quarters in just in case? Wait, it’s credit card only? 

And so on.

Cities and businesses need to create and maintain bike parking that is safe, visible and accessible (and cyclists should thank cities and reward businesses that do this) but it is always going to be easier to find a place to stash a bicycle that takes up maybe five square feet than a car that takes up over 100.

1. Biking is more fun.

This is everything on this list added together and more. If you want to sit in a car and watch the traffic light in front of you go from red to green and back again before you have a chance to drive through it, you’re free to select that option. But if you #choosethebike, you’ll have a lot more fun. That's all there is to it. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

Dear Connecticut: It's Not You, It's Me

I doubt I’m going to handle this with the same level of class and composure Jon Stewart mustered when he gave his announcement a few months back but here goes: over the next several weeks I am leaving Connecticut and moving to Silicon Valley. There are only two possible explanations: I have either gotten tens of millions of dollars in funding to develop the DIYBIKING.COM smartphone app or my brilliant wife got a job offer in California and I’m packing up my laptop, bikes, Star Wars action figures and HO scale miniatures to go with her.

I'll give you a hint: it’s the second one. 

So I’ve been flying back and forth to California several times over the past few months. This is a big reason why there are longer than usual gaps in posts and a lack of builds lately. I’m sorry to say I’ve been spending a lot of time dismantling things that were never built to be dismantled and selling things I always thought I’d keep.

I know, I know, I know - I even donated my good ice scraper to Goodwill the day after teaching my bike repair workshop at Rippowam Labs.

What ‘builds’ I have done have been improvements to our Stamford home so the sight of parts of it wouldn’t send potential buyers fleeing toward the West Beach breakwater. I even modified my workshop so it would look less like like a Dexter Morgan kill room and more like a place Bob Vila would like to hang out it. 

Of course, a lot of the house looks great. I mean, we haven’t even gotten two years out of the kitchen that upended our lives in early 2013, so that’s a huge selling point…once I get past my disappointment of just figuring out where everything goes when emptying the dishwasher a couple of weeks ago.

So while that’s been going on I have been checking out the bike scene in Silicon Valley and hope to be a part of it - recreationally and professionally. It’ll be an adjustment, for sure (just now I’m getting used to the idea of having to apply sunscreen in months like February) but eleven years ago I adjusted from rural New Hampshire life to city life, so I have a halfway decent track record going on. Also, as I’ve learned biking around this country and eleven others: a lot of cities have similar transit problems - many of which can be solved if more would #choosethebike. 

Also, I am terribly sorry to say I will not be participating in this year’s Five Boro Bike Tour. Last year was my tenth one in a row, and not giving it a proper send off is like Ed Sullivan going off the air without a finale. I’m sure it’ll be a great one per usual - visit the Bubba’s Barbikyu tent if there is one at the festival - but there are regular rides in Silicon Valley and some cool-sounding events taking shape like the 1st annual Silicon Valley Bikes: Festival & Bicycle show on Sunday, May 3rd at 635 Phelan Avenue in San Jose. 

Even though I’m not completely on a hard timeline for finishing this move (Jon Stewart's being vague about his last day; this is no different) I am excited to begin a phase of my life where I don’t need to dream up ways to make my house smell like baking cookies for potential buyers.* While I am in this transitional period I’ll do what I can to promote Bike to Work Week in Connecticut (especially Stamford, since there is even more planned this year than there was last year) and Bike to Work Week and Bike to Work Day in Silicon Valley. 

Thank you for keeping up with this site and for all you’re doing to lift your communities with cycling. As I’m learning it may not matter where you live since you can bicycle - and improve the environment for bicyclists - no matter where you are or what you do. I’ll let you know when I’m about to have my last alfajore cookie at Lorca and when I get my California driver’s license.  As always, thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

*As a service to cyclists who may be selling their homes, here’s the process I developed when you have five minutes to get out of your house before a realtor comes over with a client:

HOW TO MAKE YOUR HOUSE SMELL LIKE BAKING COOKIES

1) Buy Toll House chocolate chip cookie dough at your local grocery store. Roll into 1” balls and place on a sheet of aluminum foil in your freezer.

2) Within an hour of the broker and potential buyers coming to the house, remove one of the frozen balls of cookie dough, place on a paper towel or napkin, and microwave for EXACTLY 42 seconds**

3) Leave the microwave door open when you remove the now steaming ball of dough and place in a central location of your house.

4) Wait three to five minutes. This is a good time to get the rest of your Go Bag together.

5) Discard the cookie dough in the kitchen trash can and close the microwave oven door. The smell should linger about two hours.

**42 seconds took a while to figure out. Also I like The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. 

Bike to Work Day 2014 - The Report from Stamford

As most of you know I've spent a good part of the last couple of weeks doing work for Bike Walk Connecticut to promote Bike to Work Day - a thoroughly enjoyable assignment that has come to an end. 

A component of it had to do with a bike sign I made the afternoon before the Five Boro Bike Tour. Made from foam board and letters leftover from various DIYBIKING.COM signs, I assembled it in my living room in less than two episodes of 'Justified' season 1 on DVD.

I sometimes measure time with television. 

During the weekdays I contacted as many people and companies as I could think of, wrote press releases, letters to the editor, sent notes to reporters, did what I could to help Connecticut Bike to Work Day Event hosts promote their events, and tried to get people to take the BikeWalkCT Bike to Work Day pledge. That part especially wasn't easy. Early in the week, some graphics person in the WTNH News 8 staff put a much darker cloud on Friday than on any of the other days, which were already iffy to begin with. Bike to Work Day rapidly began to transform into Oh-No-Please-Don't-Let-It-Rain Day. 

(However, while I'm on the subject: I do need to thank News 12's Kathryn Hauser as well as WTNH's Gil Simmons and Teresa Dufour for mentioning Bike to Work Day in their early morning reports - and on Twitter. I wanted as many motorists out there to be more alert than ever should they have to peer out into the world through a rain-streaked windshield. Telling everyone to be extra cautious made the whole day better and everyone safer).

As I already reported, it was difficult to get anyone to talk about Bike to Work Day before the event, but just over the past several days, a few interesting things began to happen - and none of them had to do with Alec Baldwin.

It started for fun, but I began taking pictures of my silly bike trailer/folding bike setup in front of bike shops and small businesses that I liked and later emailed them the photos. Several of them - Pacific Swim Bike Run, Lorca, and Danny's Cycles shared the picture. Even USACycling.org and Bike New York surprised me by posting it on Facebook, and my gym/yoga destination: Exhale Spa - which is having free core fusion classes during their Fusion Fest event next week - did too. 

But the real work in Stamford was being done by the Stamford Downtown Special Services District and South Western Regional Planning Agency. The poster they made was showing up in different independent businesses around town, and there was a lot of buzz around the fact that the DSSD was going to present Stamford mayor David Martin with a bike. Even Congressman Jim Himes was slated to attend Stamford's Bike to Work Day Event. 

So this morning, even though it wasn't raining, I stretched a hotel shower cap over my helmet, put on a rain jacket, and rode my bike and trailer to Veterans Park - arriving a few minutes before the 7:30 start time.

My worries that the forecast was going to keep everyone away faded quickly as it was actually turning into a fairly pleasant morning. So much so, I ditched my jacket the moment I got there. Before long, cyclists began arriving and enjoyed some service on their machines by Danny's Cycles.

I also chatted with someone from Fleet Feet Sports, one of Lorca's Bedford Street neighbors that frequently organizes group runs. I don't run, but if I did, I'd run with Fleet Feet. Maybe that's a good pull-quote for their testimonials page. Never mind.  

After getting a great breakfast at the Vanchetta Food Truck I wandered back through the tents and the still-building crowd in time to spot Congressman Jim Himes arriving in style.

Connecticut's fourth district - or as Stephen Colbert might say, the 'fightin' fourth!' - was officially represented.

The congressman impressed me by remembering the brief meeting we had in Stamford several weeks earlier (mentioned in a piece I wrote for Bike Walk Connecticut), and impressed me further by saying he had read my post/white paper on the future of bike share. Congressman Himes, by the way, holds a membership key for Capital Bike Share. 

As the crowd built up, Mayor David Martin materialized as did others from DSSD. Before the speeches I was able to take what would become my favorite shot of the day: a picture of my congressman taking a picture of my bike trailer. 

Shortly after, Sandy Goldstein, the president of Stamford DSSD, took to the stage and gave a short but energetic speech. Much to my amazement, a brief part of her address was quoting a letter to the editor that I wrote the Stamford Advocate days earlier that was published in today's print edition (under the headline 'Peddling Bike to Work Day').  It was the part about how I asked Stamford drivers to realize how much time they spend in traffic watching traffic lights go from red to green and back again without moving. I immediately thought of the scene from When Harry Met Sally when Bruno Kirby's character gleefully exclaims to Carrie Fisher's character: "Nobody's quoted me back to me before!"

Congressman Himes (pictured) leaned his kickstand-less, not-quite-as-old-as-dirt Specialized bike on the ground and gave a great speech on the value of cycling. His words were carried over the crowd quite well with the aid of SpeakerBike, which, seen on the left side of the picture below, has become an integral part of Stamford's cycling lore.

Mayor David Martin took to the stage to thank Sandy for the introduction before giving a speech of his own and accepting the bike, which was being presented by DSSD and Allied Barton Security Services. The bike, which came from Danny's Cycles, looked good as the blue cloth that covered it was unfurled. 

I glanced to my left and saw Christina Chiarelli of Itsrelevant.com, thinking back to when I spoke with her and then mayoral candidate David Martin when I did my Cycling with Candidates project last summer. Martin indicated to me and to Itsrelevant.com that he wanted to have his own bike when elected mayor so he could use it to get around the city. I took him at his word but still thought to myself: I'll believe it when I see it.  

Well, I saw it. 

Minutes after the speeches, several people mounted up to take a ride with the mayor and the congressman to the government center, which was once again a Groundhog Day-like moment as I recalled the last time I rode there. I mounted up my folding bike and, trailer in tow, followed the group to the government center. Much to my good fortune, the trailer neither failed nor caused any problems for any of the cyclists. I would have felt horrible if Congressman Himes crashed into me and fell - especially if it was captured on video someone would probably try to use the footage for an attack ad.

But the ride went well with no rain and (thankfully) a lot of patience from Stamford's motorists. It was possible that they were just as happy to not have to drive in a deluge as we were with not having to pedal in one. 

At the government center, we all laughed and talked for a little while (though I truly regret not trying to take a group picture) before we headed off our separate ways. I thanked the Mayor and Congressman Himes before pedaling back to the event to again thank the DSSD for making it all work.  

After the tents came down, I headed up Bedford Street and stopped in front of Lorca (which is having their  to celebrate with a cappuccino. I looked out onto Bedford Street, watching people pass by my stopped bike, and began to feel a sense of relief that it wasn't just me who felt Stamford is a great city that just needs attention. I began to wonder again what Bedford Street would look like with sensibly designed bike racks.

I began to wonder how many more cyclists would attend tomorrow's People Friendly Stamford ride (Saturday, May 17th) that starts at Latham Park now that Saturday's forecast looks great.

I began to wonder whether more people were taking the Bike Walk Connecticut pledge now that the weather wasn't as apocalyptic as once feared. 

Do you think your city could work better for cyclists? Begin to wonder, then begin to take action. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding.  

(You can view Christina Chiarelli's report on Stamford's 2014 Bike to Work Day Event by clicking here).

DIYBIKING.COM Presents: How to Not Ride Like Alec Baldwin

As the Jen Selter of cycling - except without the fit figure or massive social media following - I feel as though it is my duty to talk about what we should all be doing anyway (cycling) safely, which is something everyone should know since Bike to Work Day is now just two days away.

Here in Connecticut, there are a lot of people every day taking the Bike Walk Connecticut Bike to Work Day Pledge and even more going to any one of the Bike to Work Day events happening around the state on May 16, but it hasn't been easy to get anyone to talk about safety before the events. I'm hoping local media talk about the accident yesterday in Fairfield in the broader context of how to be safe, but sadly I haven't seen that yet. 

But now cycling is really in the news: Alec Baldwin, the star of such classic films such as Beetlejuice and The Shadow, was stopped and eventually handcuffed by New York City police yesterday. Let's hope this thing moves a little beyond the usual celebrity-behaving-badly Page Six stuff and opens up a bigger dialogue about riding safely.

So without further delay, here are DIYBIKING.COM's Top Five Tips on How to Not Ride Like Alec Baldwin:

1) Follow the rules of the road. 

Cyclists run red lights all the time and it has to stop. Period. I don't know if you've seen the terrific flyer from the SWRPA/Stamford Downtown Special Services District promoting the Stamford Bike to Work Day Event, but all the cyclists in the photo (and if you look closely you'll see me in the group) are stopped at a red light. But cyclists, especially in New York City, aren't known for this. So please; when you come to an intersection, stop at the red light. If you are in front of a car or right beside one, make eye contact with the motorist. The driver will realize he or she is sharing the road. 

2) Ask yourself: would you do this in a car? 

All around the world I've seen cyclists riding on sidewalks, riding the wrong way and weaving in and out of parked cars (I saw even more fascinating rule breaking in India). Since you're supposed to follow the rules of the road, don't do any of these things. One can share sidewalks with pedestrians if you're dismounted and the bike is being pushed, but no riding on the sidewalk. And don't weave in traffic. It's understandable to move over to one side to let a car overtake, but always ride predictably and stay visible: you wouldn't drive at night with your lights off, so if you bike at night, have lights on and wear some good reflective clothes - there is even a New York City based company called Vespertine if you don't want to dress like the Daylighter marker you used to use to highlight passages in a high school textbook. 

3) Ask yourself: what does the driver see/where does the driver look? 

Remember the Staying Safe While Riding at Night feature? That post demonstrated just how differently the same setting looks in the daytime (pictured above) compared to the nighttime.

The star of The Marrying Man was riding the wrong way, and even though if it may look safe and there are no oncoming cars visible, it doesn't mean it should be done. Cars pull out of parking spots and drivers may be more focused on their cell phones or on not scratching the car in front of them to see a cyclist - not to mention the fact that smugmobiles/hybrids like the Prius are so quiet it's hard for a cyclist to hear an engine running on even the quietest of streets. Alec Baldwin is tall, but from what I saw in the New York Post photos, he wasn't wearing anything exceptionally bright. If he was hit by a car, the driver wouldn't say 'Oh my god! I just hit Alec Baldwin!" but instead, "What was that?"

4) Say yes to a helmet with a rearview mirror and say no to headphones. 

Also in the New York Post photo: Baldwin without a helmet.

I like my bike helmet and rearview mirror so much that I bring it everywhere when I travel. When I biked in Delhi and Gurgaon a few months ago, I was the only cyclist I saw on India's roads who was wearing one. Some guy who was laughing at my appearance even took a picture of me at a red light - probably to post it on Facebook. I didn't care. There are lot of fashionable helmets available today, and even it you don't have a Project Runway-worthy helmet, any cranial protection looks better than a closed casket funeral. Period. And a tiny, helmet mounted mirror goes a long way to show what's coming up behind you and how fast its moving. Not only that, but if you travel, it is nice to move the mirror to the other side of the helmet (like I do when I went to London to research Barclay Bikes) as a reminder to bike on the left. 

5) If you come in contact with the police, pay attention, cooperate and be respectful. 

This is whether you break a law or not; sometimes there are construction sites and a traffic cop present giving very vague hand signals. Watch them closely, do what they say, and don't go on Twitter later to disrespect them. If you are a celebrity cyclist - like, say, the supporting actor in Working Girl - never assume that police know who you are or care. Whether you are 1% or among the 99%: you are a person who has chosen a lightweight and beautifully made machine to help you get around. It's a wonderful thing, and if you follow just a few simple safety measures,  it will remain a wonderful thing.

This is Bike to Work Week, and Bike to Work Day is Friday. I want as many people to ride to work as possible. I also  want Don Sterling off my television and the images of safe and happy cyclists on it. Whatever the press can do to help with that be most welcome. Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

Bike to Work Week Update: Riding to Ignite Stamford and Why I Used My Car Today

Ignite Stamford is tomorrow night (Wednesday) at the Stamford Innovation Center at 175 Atlantic Street. Featuring speakers who have to give a presentation about something they are passionate about with twenty slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds, the event begins at 7:30.

As some of you know, I actually gave one of these presentations - on welding. It was harrowing and fun and I recommend it to anyone.

For this Ignite Stamford, as it isn't winter anymore, I've decided to ride my bike there. 

See, this is Bike to Work Week, and as I've said on this site (and on my column at Stamford Patch) several times that I want people to choose the bike, just like I want every working Connecticut resident to visit Bike Walk Connecticut's site and pledge to ride to work on May 16th. 

To back up just a moment: if any wily reporters from TMZ were tailing me today (they're bored now that they've established that Solange Knowles assaulted Jay-Z for mocking CitiBike): the only reason I used my car on the second morning of Bike to Work Week was because I had to drop it off at Hank May's to get the air conditioner fixed.

Sorry: I was trying to get a shot of the bike in front of the building and my hand must have slipped. Anyway, after this photo was taken I rode the bike home afterward. Later today I'll pedal back to Hank May's to pick the car up. Assuming everything is fine, it will go back to costing me $0.17 worth of gas each mile I drive it. 

The thing is, as a lot of people know, the weather is a bit iffy this week. Today is gorgeous but things will likely get wet later on - possibly by tomorrow. But I've planned for this contingency, for I have the two inexpensive tools any cyclist needs to survive the rain: a hotel shower cap to stretch over my helmet and a cheap rain poncho.

I also, of course, have a bright jacket to wear on the way back (this one a Christmas gift from my parents) since it may begin getting dark by the time Ignite Stamford is over. 

If it is dark AND raining, I'll wear a simpler vest over the poncho. I'll also have any number of bike lights attached to my person and whatever bike I take. For those of you who haven't seen the DIYBIKING.COM Presents: Staying Safe While Riding at Night, please give it a look. 

The reason I'm telling you all this - aside from the fact that Ignite Stamford is a lot of fun but is situated in a place where the parking situation isn't ideal - is that I'm making the commitment to take my bike ahead of time, and there are the simplest, simplest things one can do in case of bad weather. I can also tell you that when I worked across town last year I'd sometimes look at the sky, look at the weather forecast, and reluctantly drive my car the three and a half miles.

And whether the forecast was accurate or not, I regretted choosing the car each and every time. 

Sometimes I'd regret it because I have to stop somewhere during the trip back and have trouble finding a place to park…even though I absolutely do not need a space that is more than 144 square feet to park a bike.

If the Stamford Police Department and/or the Parking Authority is not amused by this photo, I have to tell you that there was money in the meter at the time this shot was taken and there was no visible bike rack on Bedford Street. 

Hint.

So I hope those of you who can attend Ignite Stamford (as of this morning there are only a few dozen tickets left so get a ticket as soon as possible) commit to biking safety to the event if you can, and I hope everyone in the state of Connecticut will take the pledge to ride to work on May 16th. Also be sure to check Bike Walk Connecticut's list of Bike to Work Day events to see if you can visit one near you. And if you're still holding on to excuses to not ride to work, check out their list that debunks the top ten.  Thanks for reading and thanks for riding. 

One Cookie: The Seldom-Reported Reason to Bike to Work

Last year, when I was promoting Bike to Work Week and National Bike Month, I took a red Peugeot mountain bike I bought at a tag sale for $20 bike and rode it 112 miles on trips where it would substitute my car. Riding it 112 miles meant I had essentially earned back my $20 by not spending $20 on gas. I later brought that bike to Cleveland and never brought it home. 

This year I'm doing a number of things to promote Bike to Work Week (and Bike to Work Day on May 16). Some of it is for the advocacy organization Bike Walk Connecticut, some of it is for my own personal amusement. Yesterday, I came up with a challenge that I thought served both ends:

Ride to the coffee shop Lorca and buy a cookie.

Yes, the same person who bought a single-speed behemoth in India and biked 100 miles in Delhi and Gurgaon not two months ago had decided that buying a treat at Lorca was a worthwhile way to promote Bike to Work Day. 

But this is what I took for that trip.

I took The Mysterious South Norwalk Bike pulling a trailer I made last fall with a vintage Schwinn on it - the same bike I tried unsuccessfully to sell in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. I added a sign for BikeWalkCT since I want to encourage all Connecticut employers and employees to take the pledge to ride to work on May 16th. 

Now even though I said all Connecticut employers I'll have you know I'm only riding the bike around Stamford since I want our pledge numbers to go up and not be so, well, cringeworthy. Stamford: even though most of my audience is elsewhere in the U.S. and overseas, please take the time to take the Bike to Work pledge, if for no reason other than the fact it breaks my heart that other towns that feature Applebee's as the fancy dinner place are ahead of us in Bike Walk Connecticut's most recent rankings. So Stamford: step up. Don't embarrass me. 

Anyway, I was trying to think of an original way to promote Bike to Work Day without having to actually do anything and I landed on this setup. South Norwalk is the bike I chose to tow this rolling reminder with because, as a small bike, I can get more of it in the frame when I take a picture. 

The only real downside is that my first experience on this bike was the day after the splendid Five Boro Bike Tour, and it was the cycling equivalent of towing a boat with a Prius. 

But it's doing its job.

So yesterday I left my house and pedaled (fairly slowly) to Lorca. Since it was rush hour, it got some curious looks. The traffic volume was so heavy I saw the same Toyota Celica at three traffic lights. 

The trailer held together the whole trip, and before I knew it I was able to turn right on Bedford Street and pull in front of Lorca.

I committed a no-no and did not lock up, but I detached the trailer and leaned them both on the same tree out front. Made me again wish for bike racks downtown, but that's another post.

Inside Lorca, I quickly noticed new artwork on the walls, and learned from Leyla, the owner, that the artist featured for the month of May is Liz Squillance, and the opening reception is the day after Bike to Work Day: May 17th from 6pm to 7pm.

I also feasted my eyes on the magnificence of Lorca's cookies.

I told Leyla I wanted a ginger snap cookie to promote Bike to Work Day and I asked for it to be put on a plate so I could photograph it. She said something jokingly about finding me a 'photogenic cookie' as she reached into the jar. If Dave Barry were about, I'm sure he'd insist that 'Photogenic Cookies' would be a great name for a rock band. Actually: I should look him up on Twitter to get his opinion.

I handed over $0.50 and ate the cookie. I enjoyed every last bite.

While eating I talked with Andrew, one of Lorca's team members (who I actually ran into during the Five Boro Bike Tour as he was doing his first one) and keeping an eye on my unlocked contraption outside. After finishing the cookie, I thanked Leyla and headed outside. 

Fueled by the cookie, I headed home, first stopping at Fairway Market to buy some bananas. This time, I locked up.

Because it was such a nice morning, I continued my detour and passed by Starwood's Stamford headquarters. As I rolled by, I gave the building an appreciative nod for Starpoints, for many of my travels wouldn't be possible without them.

Once I got home, I detached the trailer and carried the entire assembly inside in two trips, satisfied I had done enough outdoor promotion of Bike to Work Day for one morning. 

Before you write this off as a preposterous exercise, let me explain something: Lorca is almost exactly two miles from my house. As it happens, a massive number of car trips are two miles or less.

Also my car gets an average of 23 miles to the gallon (just about at the national car/light truck average of 23.6 miles per gallon). Since gas costs about $3.90 in Connecticut - more near where I live in Fairfield County - I spend about seventeen cents per mile I drive my car.

Actually: more. 

This means, that in the four-mile round trip, I saved about $0.68. It's not enough to pay for an entire used Peugeot mountain bike, but that's more than enough money to pay for my cookie at Lorca. 

Bike to Work Day is in eight days, and in that time you're going to read a lot of reasons why you should bike to work: the environment because there's no gasoline involved, how it saves wear and tear on your car, and how it makes you fitter, and so on.  All of that is great, but for me and for you Bike to Work Day is about a lot of different things, and maybe one of them is canceling the savings from gas and negating the calories burned by buying a treat at your favorite coffee shop. 

Nation - especially you, Connecticut: If no other reasons to bike to work appeal to you, then, as Jerry Seinfeld once said, look to the cookie. You shall find your answer. If you live in The Constitution State, please take the Bike to Work Day pledge, and thanks for reading and thanks for riding.