So it’s more about perspective. Liberal or Conservative, narrow is narrow. And narrow is unfortunate.

I can understand why some people want to see showers in their workplaces – but I’ve never been particularly sweaty from a commute to work – I’ve always made sure to live within about 3 miles of where I work. It’s hard to get sweaty at 8AM when you’re only biking 3 miles, no matter what time of year. Biking home in the summer is another matter – but then, who cares if you’re a little sweaty when you get home?

So what does that say about license revocation? A cruel and unusual punishment to deprive non-motorists of a livelihood? When is Obama going to get off his bike and out of the ballparks and come up with some dearly needed social justice?

That said, most coworkers find bicycling offensive, put off by the constant reminders of health neglect, higher moral ground, or smug sanctimony. It’s unwise to jeopardize your revenue stream for obvious personal benefits of cycling unless where you work clearly supports it with policy, showers and storage.

In the old days, when I worked at a bike shop in Wakefield, a good amount of the DUIs in the local paper came in for bikes. Most I think we lost to Benny’s.

I do not help things much, I rarely ride to work and then it is often when the car is in the shop.

I think I’m pretty lucky with where I work. Brown is pretty liberal and understands the concept of thinking outside the box. I rarely have people question my mode of transportation, unless it’s one of those days where it is a monsoon. I have been successful in converting some people to using bikes to get around campus for meetings, rather than relying on their cars, so it’s a move in the right direction at least! The majority of my friends think it’s great and honk in a friendly way as they drive by. I have yet to convert many of the over to cycling, but they don’t think I’m nuts.

Now, the general public is another matter. I sit on a few community boards and frequently show up to school events by bike. There, many times people look at me like I’ve just landed in some sort of space ship. I have not met many people who really challenge me, but I do receive a number of comments along the lines of what Jack mentioned, pretty much saying that they could never do this.

The part that really intrigues me is that somewhere along the line, something happens. Most everyone enjoyed the freedom of a bicycle when they were younger and I find that almost everyone has a great memory of riding a bike. Yet, once we reach motoring age, many of us abandon our faithful bikes and instead start driving. If we could figure out how to rekindle the sense of freedom people once enjoyed from riding a bike, I think we would see many more converts.