Rack My Ride: Five Reasons Two Wheels are Better Than Four

We just got a new bike rack for the office. Several of us commute via two wheels as often as the unpredictable Chicago weather will allow and while Andersonville is a safe neighborhood locking our bikes to a parking meter on the street probably isn’t the most secure option.

So it is in the spirit of the warming weather and our fancy new bike rack that we offer up these wise tidbits for why we support biking to work:

1. Each year, 238 million gallons of gasoline are saved by replacing car trips with bicycle trips. (Joy came across this interesting stat while putting together our fundraising plea for Mightybytes’ Climate Ride team).
2. A short four-mile bicycle ride keeps about 15 pounds of pollutants out of the air (WorldWatch Institute).
3. One hundred bicycles can be produced for the same energy and resources it takes to build one medium-sized automobile (California Bike Commute).
4. The average person loses 13 pound their first year of commuting by bike (Trek Bicycle Corporation).
5. The U.S. could save 462 million gallons of gas a year by boosting bicycle trips just half a percentage point: from 1% to 1.5% of all trips (Trek Bicycle Corporation).

Today, more and more businesses are encouraging employees to bike to work, even going as far to offer incentives. Clif Bar in Berkeley, CA offered a one-time benefit to its employees: $500 to either buy or repair a bike if the employees pledge to use the bike a minimum of two times per month. Kudos to them!

At Mightybytes, both Steve and Joy got shiny new bikes this Spring to use in the upcoming NYC to DC Climate Ride. Bryan just refinished his bike and added new components. And Tim has finally gotten his bike tuned and tweaked after last year’s California Climate Ride (though he only lives two blocks from the office so he more often walks rather than bikes to work). We’re pretty sure we’ll put the new rack to good use.

Final Thoughts

How often do you bike to work? Does your employer offer safe, secure housing for your ride? Do you have any other suggestions for making the workplace a more cycling-friendly environment? Let us know.