What Biking Means to Me

So, May has passed, and that means my favorite month of the year is over.

Back when I still worked in corporate nonprofits in Washington, D.C., a poster on my wall promoting Bike Month got me thinking.

"We work in Tyson's Corner --- who could bike here?" I asked my colleagues over lunch. Bob, a seasoned staff member with great style, said, "you could. It's easy." I scoffed, and then followed up: "I could? How? "

He agreed to meet me on the trail. He agreed to bike with me. He showed up in shorts and T-shirt, at 7:30 a.m., and we biked from my home in Washington, D.C. out to the suburbs where we worked --- and there was a bike trail the ENTIRE WAY.

I had taken the subway along the trail, walked some of the way and driven past it, but I hadn't biked. It was a life-changing day.

These days, these connections, these possibilities are what Bike Month is all about.

Just a few weeks ago, as I was riding to work, I struck up a conversation with a woman who worked at the University of Washington. She had started biking to work because of a Commute Challenge team in her office last year, and kept it up all year long.

"I even biked in November," she told me proudly, "and it's mostly faster for me to bike than to bus or drive!"

These are the stories of the Commute Challenge. These are the stories of Bike Month. These are the stories we celebrate and share this month. Let's keep it going all year round -- 'even in November!'

See you on the road,

Elizabeth