With National Bike Month getting underway, we at Rhode Island Bicycle Coalition would love to help those considering using a bicycle as part of their work commute. Throughout the month, in addition to the usual flow of discussion topics, scheduling announcements, we’ll be sharing resources that we’ve found helpful in our own lives.
To start off, I’d like to share that after 3 years of year round commuting in Rhode Island, I learn things every year that do and don’t work for my commute. There is no such thing as an expert on bike commuting because each of us has our own levels of comfort, speed, time constraints, and support infrastructure.
To get started on your journey to better using a bike to get around, you can check out this sample from the 250-page “Bike To Work” book by Carlton Reid and Tim Grahl. In between the advertising, there are a lot of issues addressed about health, safety, and of course, tackling the reason many give for not riding a bike: Getting Wet, Getting Sweaty, Lack of Time, Perceived Danger, Odor, Others Opinions, Costs, and many more. from page 18 onward, with practical solutions to these and many more.