How to Make Biking to Work Even Better

Biking to work is great for the environment, your health, and saving money. That makes it pretty awesome already, but who doesn’t want something awesome to be more awesome? Here are a few surefire ways to make your bike commute even better.

Dress Appropriately – Riding a bike to work is really fun, but I’ll admit it’s a little less so when it’s pouring rain, or when I’m shaking from the cold. When the weather changes, you’ll want to change your clothing to match.  Get yourself a super-slick rain poncho and a comfy, formfitting hoodie, and the weather will never stop you again.

Storage Space – It can be a hassle to carry a bunch of things in a hefty bag to and from work. Instead of dragging an extra pair of clothes and a load of other junk with you every day, try storing what you can at work. Leave a few days or even a week’s worth of clothes and anything else you can leave behind at work, and you’ll have less to carry back and forth day-to-day.

Ride with Traffic – Even if you plan your routes to avoid major thoroughfares, you will still have to ride with traffic at some point, so it’s best to learn how. When it is safe to share the lane, use the full lane when riding in the street rather than riding to the far right. Some narrow roads have signs indicating “bicycles may use the full lane” or have painted “sharrows” on the road surface. This prevents any confusion from the drivers who may otherwise be tempted to try passing you. It also makes parallel cars causing a bicycle accident by opening doors less likely.

Be an Explorer – You think Cristopher Columbus rode his bike to work on the same route every day? Of course not. He took a different path every week, and you should too! Getting stuck in a routine is draining. Map out a new route every couple of weeks at least to keep yourself on your toes. Try to plan routes that have bike lanes or less traffic.

Advocate Bike Safety – Be an advocate for bike safety in your city. Support proposed or recent changes that help out cyclists, such as installing bike lanes, widening busy highways, creating more safety regulations and ordinances.

Spread the Word – Share your love of biking to work with your coworkers, your friends, your family, your barista, your hairdresser, your neighborhood cat, everyone. The more cyclists there are on the streets, the better it gets for every rider. Give your friends this list of awesome things becoming more awesome, and surely they couldn’t refuse.