Post by seacid on Jul 5, 2007 21:50:47 GMT 8
Riding bikes to work is joyful and healthy
By John Dignam / TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Timothy J. McBrayer loves commuting to work — the curving roads, the
wind in his face, the hum of the thin tires.
"I've always loved to ride a bike," said Mr. McBrayer, 40, of
Shrewsbury. "When others were looking to go get their driver's
license, I was riding my bike to school."
Now, twice a week, he rides a bike 24 miles each way to and from work
in Natick.
It's a shorter commute for William J. Meduski — about three miles from
his Indian Lake Parkway home in Worcester to his job at the city
Department of Public Works complex off Shrewsbury Street.
"It's more exciting than driving a car," Mr. Meduski, 45, said of his
20-minute bicycle commute.
The men are among an estimated 2 million Americans who travel to work
on bicycles, a form of commuting for which there is a dearth of
statistics but a lot of enthusiasm.
"There's no question there's growing interest in biking to work," said
David Watson, executive director of the Massachusetts Bicycle
Coalition, a statewide bicycling advocacy group commonly called
MassBike. "More and more companies are asking us to do workshops to
teach their employees about commuting by bike."
Elizabeth Preston of the League of American Bicyclists said the
organization receives many calls for information on biking to work and
that cities such as Portland, Ore., are reporting tremendous growth in
the number of bicyclists.
"But we don't have good nationwide statistics except from the census,
and that's every 10 years," she said.
Concerns about obesity, the environment and the price of gasoline are
getting people who do some bicycling to consider using their bicycle
for work, she said.
Most bike commutes are a few miles, not long enough to save a lot of
gas money but also not long enough to work up a sweat, so a change of
clothes is not necessary, she said.
"You don't need a carbon titanium frame bike. All you need is a bike
in good working order, a helmet and a backpack if you want to carry
clothes," she said. "It would be helpful to have a friend who can show
you the back roads."
Mr. McBrayer rides a 4-year-old road bike — "drop handlebars, skinny
tires, 27 gears" — and takes less-traveled roads to Natick. "I'd be
frightened of Route 9," he said. He especially enjoys the quiet and
scenery of Callahan State Park in Framingham.
His 24-mile one-way ride takes him about 75 minutes, about 25 minutes
more than when he carpools on non-biking days. "It's better than
sitting in traffic."
A 2003 study found that about 1.5 percent of people in Boston commuted
by bike, 11th highest percentage among 42 major cities and a higher
percentage than Washington, D.C., Seattle, Chicago and New York City,
according to MassBike.
Only about 5 percent of Americans 16 and older go to work by bicycle,
according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, despite the fact
that Americans have almost one adult-size bicycle per household.
(Americans also report almost two cars per household.)
Lack of access to a bicycle was cited as the top reason Americans
don't ride bicycles, followed by too busy, disability, bad weather,
age, no safe place to ride, don't want to and don't know how to,
according to the 2002 National Survey on Pedestrian and Bicyclist
Attitudes and Behaviors.
Paul Kelly, 56, a teacher at Bancroft School in Worcester, said his
colleagues assume he rides his bicycle to work for his health. He doesn't.
"It's totally to save greenhouse gases," he said. "Any job I've ever
taken I've located close enough to work so that I could bike or walk.
I've pretty much kept to that," he said.
"I've had cars, but I pretty much hate them," said Matthew Caswell,
who doesn't own a car and bikes four miles from his house on Normal
Street in Worcester to his job in multimedia services at Worcester
State College.
"I've always had a bike. It's a form of exercise and a way to negate
the car culture," he said.
Mr. Caswell year-round combines bike riding with riding Worcester
Regional Transit Authority buses year to get around.
Kim McCoy used to alternate between bicycling and carpooling the 17
miles between his Charlton home and his job at the state Department of
Environmental Protection office in Worcester.
Now he lives in Worcester and rides 20 minutes from Estabrook Road to
Grove Street on his 30-year-old Columbia three-speed with fenders.
"It's not real fast, but I'm not real fast," said Mr. McCoy, 46.
He said he does about 80 percent of his commuting by bicycle. "There
are a lot of gardens to look at, the drivers are pretty courteous and
the roads are in pretty good shape."
He bikes for the exercise, to save the cost of gasoline and "for the
fresh air."
Ms. Preston said more communities need to enforce traffic rules for
drivers and cyclists, create bicycle lanes, erect signs and promote
bicycling through education and events such as bicycle-to-work days.
Federal highway officials in 1990 described walking and bicycling as
"the forgotten modes" of transportation. The federal government for
many years had been giving out about $2 million a year for biking and
walking projects. A turnaround came that year with the U.S. Department
of Transportation adopting a new national policy that sought to
increase bicycling and encouraged accommodating bicyclists' and
pedestrians' needs in transportation projects.
Starting in 1990, federal transportation funding in support of
bicycling and walking rose annually, reaching more than $238 million
in 1997. Funding declined in 1998 and 1999, then rose again from $297
million in 2000 to $427 million in 2004, then declined to $400 million
in 2005 and to $395 million in 2006.
Patrice Fanjoy on most weekdays from March to November rides her
hybrid bicycle on a 4.6-mile, 25-minute commute from her Minuteman
Road home in Shrewsbury to work at St. Francis Adult Day Health center
in Worcester.
She does it "for the exercise and to save money on gasoline" and
estimates she saved $500 last year. "That (savings) should go way up
this year."
Concerned about the unpredictability of traffic lights and the
behavior of many motorists, Ms. Fanjoy walks her bicycle across major
intersections, she said.
"My biggest complaint is people who run red lights and stop signs and
scare the living daylights out of me. I bike defensively and
anticipate that sort of thing," she said.
The Federal Highway Administration describes the bicyclist as "a
vulnerable road user." It says bicycling had been overlooked as a form
of transportation in the building of the modern transportation system,
with many streets designed to accommodate high traffic volumes and
speeds, making them less safe for bicyclists.
In 2003, 622 bicyclists were killed in crashes with vehicles and
46,000 were injured, with almost half of the fatalities in California,
Florida, New York and Texas.
The University of North Carolina's Pedestrian and Bicycle Information
Center reports that the numbers of bicycling fatalities and injuries
have been dropping since the early 1990s. However, the lack of
statistics on the number of bike riders, trips and miles ridden makes
it difficult to tell if bicycling is actually getting safer.
Local cyclists say they follow the rules of the road when bicycling.
Mr. McBrayer tends to wear "as obnoxiously bright a cycling jersey as
I can — phosphorescent yellow is good — so that it shows even in
shadows." He also uses his blinker that he turns on even at midday.
"I basically stick to main roads and observe all the traffic rules
because people in Worcester don't know how to deal with bicycles,"
said Mr. Caswell, 36. He rides a 15-year-old rebuilt mountain bike and
uses reflective tape, a flasher and a headlight.
Mr. Meduski says he is especially wary of parked cars, never knowing
when a door might suddenly open. He rides a 20-year-old road bike —
drop handlebars, skinny tires, 10 gears.
His three-mile ride doesn't save much gas, he says, but it is exercise
and it is a change of pace because he spends much of his working day
using a vehicle.
"Being a bike commuter doesn't mean a $4,000 bike, spandex and riding
five days a week in all kinds of weather," Mr. Watson said. "It can be
someone who rides a bike once a week or once a month, rides only when
the weather is good, rides the bike part of the way and puts it on the
bus the rest of the way.
"As far as we are concerned, those are all bike commuters. It's great
for our health, great for the environment and you also get to save
money if it takes the place of a driving trip."
Article Available at:
www.telegram.com/article/20070626/NEWS/706260627/1007/RSS01&source=rss
By John Dignam / TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
Timothy J. McBrayer loves commuting to work — the curving roads, the
wind in his face, the hum of the thin tires.
"I've always loved to ride a bike," said Mr. McBrayer, 40, of
Shrewsbury. "When others were looking to go get their driver's
license, I was riding my bike to school."
Now, twice a week, he rides a bike 24 miles each way to and from work
in Natick.
It's a shorter commute for William J. Meduski — about three miles from
his Indian Lake Parkway home in Worcester to his job at the city
Department of Public Works complex off Shrewsbury Street.
"It's more exciting than driving a car," Mr. Meduski, 45, said of his
20-minute bicycle commute.
The men are among an estimated 2 million Americans who travel to work
on bicycles, a form of commuting for which there is a dearth of
statistics but a lot of enthusiasm.
"There's no question there's growing interest in biking to work," said
David Watson, executive director of the Massachusetts Bicycle
Coalition, a statewide bicycling advocacy group commonly called
MassBike. "More and more companies are asking us to do workshops to
teach their employees about commuting by bike."
Elizabeth Preston of the League of American Bicyclists said the
organization receives many calls for information on biking to work and
that cities such as Portland, Ore., are reporting tremendous growth in
the number of bicyclists.
"But we don't have good nationwide statistics except from the census,
and that's every 10 years," she said.
Concerns about obesity, the environment and the price of gasoline are
getting people who do some bicycling to consider using their bicycle
for work, she said.
Most bike commutes are a few miles, not long enough to save a lot of
gas money but also not long enough to work up a sweat, so a change of
clothes is not necessary, she said.
"You don't need a carbon titanium frame bike. All you need is a bike
in good working order, a helmet and a backpack if you want to carry
clothes," she said. "It would be helpful to have a friend who can show
you the back roads."
Mr. McBrayer rides a 4-year-old road bike — "drop handlebars, skinny
tires, 27 gears" — and takes less-traveled roads to Natick. "I'd be
frightened of Route 9," he said. He especially enjoys the quiet and
scenery of Callahan State Park in Framingham.
His 24-mile one-way ride takes him about 75 minutes, about 25 minutes
more than when he carpools on non-biking days. "It's better than
sitting in traffic."
A 2003 study found that about 1.5 percent of people in Boston commuted
by bike, 11th highest percentage among 42 major cities and a higher
percentage than Washington, D.C., Seattle, Chicago and New York City,
according to MassBike.
Only about 5 percent of Americans 16 and older go to work by bicycle,
according to the U.S. Department of Transportation, despite the fact
that Americans have almost one adult-size bicycle per household.
(Americans also report almost two cars per household.)
Lack of access to a bicycle was cited as the top reason Americans
don't ride bicycles, followed by too busy, disability, bad weather,
age, no safe place to ride, don't want to and don't know how to,
according to the 2002 National Survey on Pedestrian and Bicyclist
Attitudes and Behaviors.
Paul Kelly, 56, a teacher at Bancroft School in Worcester, said his
colleagues assume he rides his bicycle to work for his health. He doesn't.
"It's totally to save greenhouse gases," he said. "Any job I've ever
taken I've located close enough to work so that I could bike or walk.
I've pretty much kept to that," he said.
"I've had cars, but I pretty much hate them," said Matthew Caswell,
who doesn't own a car and bikes four miles from his house on Normal
Street in Worcester to his job in multimedia services at Worcester
State College.
"I've always had a bike. It's a form of exercise and a way to negate
the car culture," he said.
Mr. Caswell year-round combines bike riding with riding Worcester
Regional Transit Authority buses year to get around.
Kim McCoy used to alternate between bicycling and carpooling the 17
miles between his Charlton home and his job at the state Department of
Environmental Protection office in Worcester.
Now he lives in Worcester and rides 20 minutes from Estabrook Road to
Grove Street on his 30-year-old Columbia three-speed with fenders.
"It's not real fast, but I'm not real fast," said Mr. McCoy, 46.
He said he does about 80 percent of his commuting by bicycle. "There
are a lot of gardens to look at, the drivers are pretty courteous and
the roads are in pretty good shape."
He bikes for the exercise, to save the cost of gasoline and "for the
fresh air."
Ms. Preston said more communities need to enforce traffic rules for
drivers and cyclists, create bicycle lanes, erect signs and promote
bicycling through education and events such as bicycle-to-work days.
Federal highway officials in 1990 described walking and bicycling as
"the forgotten modes" of transportation. The federal government for
many years had been giving out about $2 million a year for biking and
walking projects. A turnaround came that year with the U.S. Department
of Transportation adopting a new national policy that sought to
increase bicycling and encouraged accommodating bicyclists' and
pedestrians' needs in transportation projects.
Starting in 1990, federal transportation funding in support of
bicycling and walking rose annually, reaching more than $238 million
in 1997. Funding declined in 1998 and 1999, then rose again from $297
million in 2000 to $427 million in 2004, then declined to $400 million
in 2005 and to $395 million in 2006.
Patrice Fanjoy on most weekdays from March to November rides her
hybrid bicycle on a 4.6-mile, 25-minute commute from her Minuteman
Road home in Shrewsbury to work at St. Francis Adult Day Health center
in Worcester.
She does it "for the exercise and to save money on gasoline" and
estimates she saved $500 last year. "That (savings) should go way up
this year."
Concerned about the unpredictability of traffic lights and the
behavior of many motorists, Ms. Fanjoy walks her bicycle across major
intersections, she said.
"My biggest complaint is people who run red lights and stop signs and
scare the living daylights out of me. I bike defensively and
anticipate that sort of thing," she said.
The Federal Highway Administration describes the bicyclist as "a
vulnerable road user." It says bicycling had been overlooked as a form
of transportation in the building of the modern transportation system,
with many streets designed to accommodate high traffic volumes and
speeds, making them less safe for bicyclists.
In 2003, 622 bicyclists were killed in crashes with vehicles and
46,000 were injured, with almost half of the fatalities in California,
Florida, New York and Texas.
The University of North Carolina's Pedestrian and Bicycle Information
Center reports that the numbers of bicycling fatalities and injuries
have been dropping since the early 1990s. However, the lack of
statistics on the number of bike riders, trips and miles ridden makes
it difficult to tell if bicycling is actually getting safer.
Local cyclists say they follow the rules of the road when bicycling.
Mr. McBrayer tends to wear "as obnoxiously bright a cycling jersey as
I can — phosphorescent yellow is good — so that it shows even in
shadows." He also uses his blinker that he turns on even at midday.
"I basically stick to main roads and observe all the traffic rules
because people in Worcester don't know how to deal with bicycles,"
said Mr. Caswell, 36. He rides a 15-year-old rebuilt mountain bike and
uses reflective tape, a flasher and a headlight.
Mr. Meduski says he is especially wary of parked cars, never knowing
when a door might suddenly open. He rides a 20-year-old road bike —
drop handlebars, skinny tires, 10 gears.
His three-mile ride doesn't save much gas, he says, but it is exercise
and it is a change of pace because he spends much of his working day
using a vehicle.
"Being a bike commuter doesn't mean a $4,000 bike, spandex and riding
five days a week in all kinds of weather," Mr. Watson said. "It can be
someone who rides a bike once a week or once a month, rides only when
the weather is good, rides the bike part of the way and puts it on the
bus the rest of the way.
"As far as we are concerned, those are all bike commuters. It's great
for our health, great for the environment and you also get to save
money if it takes the place of a driving trip."
Article Available at:
www.telegram.com/article/20070626/NEWS/706260627/1007/RSS01&source=rss