Vicky Hallett, the Post's Fitness columnist, had an article last week on "The Fitness Commute" or how people use biking and walking to work as a way to kill two birds with one stone. It included some photos of bike commuters, a section on bike commuting and the drawing of a bike commuter (at right) that looks so much like me that I think it must be based on a photo (I like the slightly overweight guy in the car behind him. Nice touch).
It helps to have a mentor show you the ropes. But if you're not into hanging out by bike racks to make friends, as Marts suggests, you can call up the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (202-518-0524) and ask for "bike ambassador" Daniel Hoagland, who visits area offices to give talks on cycling commutes, covering everything from picking your wheels to D.C. biking laws.
Two weeks ago at the K Street law firm McKenna, Long & Aldridge, Hoagland gave his spiel to the staff, which already had several dedicated riders. One of them is Charmaine Ruppolt, a 52-year-old legal secretary who rides in daily from Arlington. She credits the regular exercise with keeping her healthy, which means instead of taking sick days, she gets more vacation time. To go biking, of course.
Part of the pitch is that you don't need to start out by copying Ruppolt. Hoagland encourages folks to try it once a month, if that's all they're comfortable with. His most popular prop at the seminars is a folding bike he can collapse in seconds, so it's easy to take home on the Metro if round-trip riding wears you out.
It was a good set of articles for anyone thinking about changing up their commute.
I liked the article (and the picture) as well. My kids noticed the overweight, unhappy guy in the car, too.
There was a recent article in the Del Ray Patch (I think The Patch is a new ultra-local online news service) which had similar recommendations on how to start bicycle commuting but did not go into running, exercises for the Metro etc... (Oh, and I was mentioned in it...)
http://delray.patch.com/articles/beating-the-cars
Posted by: Eric_W. | October 11, 2010 at 01:51 PM