May is National Bike Month

Next week, May 12th through the 16th, is National Bike to Work Week, with Friday the 16th is the official Bike to Work Day.

Now, technically Colorado’s bike month is June, but why not double up? I like biking to work on a regular basis for several reasons:

• I’m more awake. Not just in the morning, but I have more energy throughout the day when I ride. Just don’t ask me why.
• I eat better.
• I can use the 45 minutes to an hour that I usually spend in my car to do something useful, like stay fit in the off season. Or I combine it with my training plan.
• I don’t feel like I have to rush home to get my workout in.
• I get to see some weird things on the commute. Like Colorado Spring’s finest bums. Or fox on the bike trail. Or racewalkers (verrryy weird).
• I save money. Some stats from the Bikes Belong website:
  
  --On a commute of 10 miles, bicyclists save roughly $7.50 and spare the air ½ pound of carbon monoxide emissions. They also burn 350 calories!
  --Based on gas prices of about $3/gallon, the annual cost of owning, operating, and driving a passenger car roughly 15,000 miles is nearly $11,000. (It costs roughly $120 a year to maintain a bike.)

So go ride!