The Bay Area is full of macho super-athletes who bike 75 miles every Saturday and post about their times on Facebook. I'm not one of those, and biking hasn't exactly turned me into Arnold Schwarzenegger (in fact I'm embarrassed to admit I don't quite fill up my the leg holes of my hot spandex bike shorts).
But for the last 5 years I've biked to work, and it's been a life changer. Here's my top 10 reasons:
1)Efficient. Driving to work takes me 25 minutes. Biking to work takes me 25 minutes. So I get to exercise and commute at the same time. I'm way too lazy to exercise for the sake of exercising, but after 5 years I still can't help feeling smug about getting two things done at once (I tried listening to books on iPod at the same time too, but it's unsafe). Even when traffic was better and biking took a few minutes longer than driving, it was still a good deal.
2)Predictable. Driving is an emotional roller coaster. You never know how bad traffic will be, how many red lights you will hit, or if you ride the train, whether CalTrain is going to break down or run over someone.
Google has at least doubled the number of people driving to MTV since I started in 2006, and it's impossible to get there without sitting in off-ramp hell on Shoreline or Rengstorff. It's so deliciously satisfying to zip past all that stopped traffic in the bike lane or the Steven's Creek Trail.
The other thing that sucks about driving is traffic lights, and the Powers that Be have conspired to ensure that I hit every light red. Ask Amy about how I feel about red lights (see #3 below). The combination of secret bike paths and my . . er . . . flexible approach to stopping at stop signs means it takes the same amount of time to bike every day, regardless of the whims of the traffic engineers.
3)Mental Health + Sleep. Exercising in the morning gives me more mental energy and clears up the morning blahs more effectively than caffiene. On the way home, 25 minutes on the bike allows me to get rid of all the frustration and stress of the day, so I show up at home without work on the brain and can sleep better at night.
4)Save the environment. I'm no tree hugger and throw plastic bags away like they are, uh, disposable. But I avoid driving around 2000 miles each year. So all you Prius drivers who drive 100 miles per day to and from work can stop looking at my gas-guzzling cars with righteous indignation, because I rarely use them.
5)Save money. We sold our 2nd car for $2300, and bought my bike for $1000, so it kind of was free until we graduated to a minivan. But 15 miles a day saves $3.00 in gas, so there. Plus I take my ridiculously long hot shower at Google, sparing myself the expense of heating all that water (yes, this may cancel out all environmental benefits of biking).
6)Front Row Parking. I love driving right up to the edge of the office every day. No parking jams, no long walks, and no valet cars parked behind me when I want to leave.
7)They have lights and splash guards. For 4 years I biked in mortal fear at night and arrived home soaking when it rained. The emails from Security about their being ambushes of bikers on the Stevens Creek Trail didn't help. But then I discovered the magic shine and a mud/splash guard.
8)You get to buy gear. With so many benefits, who can't justify spending outrageous sums on bikes, shorts, jerseys, gloves, lights, tires . . . . ?
9)Nature. 85 and 101 are pretty freeways as freeways go, but they aren't as cool as cruising down a tree-lined path by the bay or a cool river.
10)Charity. Google gives me a couple bucks each time I bike to work that can be donated to charity at the end of the year. Wahoo!
