Bike To Work Week

According to the League of American Bicyclists (LAB) May is National Bike Month. Moreover, Bike to work week (#B2WW) is May 11-15 with National Bike to Work Day (#B2WD) being Friday May 15. Never heard of any of this? Neither had I. Nor had I heard LAB, but you can follow them on Twitter at @BikeLeague. I first learned of B2WD when I was driving to REI yesterday and spotted a highway traffic sign that announced the event. I was going to REI to return a shirt. I left with a brand new bike for Ashby.

A little context first. Ashby has been asking for her first big girl bike for a couple weeks now. She brought it up yesterday morning and the day before. I was putting off making the purchase because Tara and I have so many damn medical bills from Roe being born, plus property taxes and I need to fix my bike from my recent accident because I rely on it for transportation to work ; so, I’ve been trying not to spend any money. At REI Ashby immediately spied a purple and pink bicycle and ran to it. She was smitten. She had been asking for a purple and pink bike. “Daddy, it’s a purple and pink big girl bike!!” Wow, what now? Like I said, I did not want to spend any money. I tried to talk my way out of it, but she was so damn excited! I relented. Thankfully all bikes at REI are 15% until May 10 and I have an outstanding 20% off any one item for being an REI co-op member that I hadn’t used, which would expire May 10 anyway. $107 later I was leaving with Ashby’s big girl bike and new bike helmet. Not bad! I thought it was going to cost much more.

As for B2WW, what a great idea! On May 15 San Diego RideLink is actively involved in making the event a success. They are asking participants to register now. Already a record number of participants with 5,200 riders have registered. RideLink is providing many resources including: a getting started guide, bicycle route maps, pit stops with free water and snacks (see map ), and you can ride FREE on MTS and NCTD services, which can accommodate bicycles.

Enjoy Bike to Work Week and hopefully I’ll see some of you on the road on, at least, May 15. I’ll be the guy with road rash. 😉