Bike to Work month is May, and I encourage everyone to give it a try this year.

I signed up for the YMCA's team last year.  You only have to ride 5 times out of the WHOLE month!  I rode a grand total of ... zero.  Sad, I know.  But here's the story:

I moved to Seattle on December 29, 2006 from Memphis, TN.  Do you know how challenging it is to ride a bike on the streets of Memphis??  When motorist see cyclist on the street, their first thought is, "Who is this crazy person and why the heck on they biking on the road?!"  It may be followed with actual speech that sounds something like this, "Get on the sidewalk before you get run over, you Nut!"  Not to mention the risk of crime in Memphis is pretty high.  Perhaps I'm exaggerating, but needless to say I didn't ride a bike.  I didn't even own a bike.  It just wasn't feasible.  Public transit is unreliable and sparce, and there certainly weren't bike racks on the buses.  Sooo, before my move, the last time I was on a bike was roughly 15 years ago.

You know the old adage, "It's as easy as learning to ride a bike!" or something similar... Yeah, it's not that easy, and I have the scars to prove it :)  I started by riding in parks or trails, and worked up to not-so-busy streets.  I even biked to the coffee shop a few times all by myself!  I was too chicken to get out in downtown Seattle and ride, sure, but with the help of experienced riders and encouragement from coworkers, I finally biked to work the first week in June!  Once I got set up on a bike that fit, learned the best routes, and slowly worked my way to riding in traffic, it just started to get easier.  I ended up biking most of the Summer and beginning of Fall!  Now I'm stoked about this year's Bike-to-Work month!

Concerned about the length of your commute?  You can bus part of the way and ride the rest!

Concerned about where to store your bike?  If you're downtown, the Downtown YMCA has bike lockers for rent!

Concerned about being sweaty?  Your local exercise center will probably have shower facilities, or see if your work building has showers available.  Or if you're like me, your commute in is all doooooown hill - nice and easy!  But, that does mean I'm headed up hill on the way home!  Yeesh - rough, but rewarding :)

When you bike to work, not only are you doing something good for your body, but for the environment, too!

Anyone else have tips, tricks or experiences they'd like to share?