Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer
Summer Cyclist: Barton Smith has been biking to work a couple times a week during the summertime for the past 22 years. It's 15 miles each way between his home in Campbell and his job in South San Jose.
Riders ready for Bike to Work Day
Campbell bicyclists say pedaling to work can benefit health, wallets and the environment
By Erin Mayes
On May 17, Gregg Okunami will be getting to work the same way he always does. It's what thousands of Bay Area residents have been doing for years now--commuting to work by bicycle.
May 17 marks the seventh anniversary of Bike to Work Day, organized by RIDES for Bay Area Commuters Inc., a private nonprofit corporation that helps people find alternatives to driving to work alone.
According to RIDES spokesman Jeff Becerra, more than 8,000 people pledged to ride their bikes to work on the designated Bike to Work Day last year. About 59,500 Bay Area residents use bicycles as their primary means of getting to work and 126,000 use bikes secondarily when commuting.
Okunami, a Campbell resident, said he's been riding his bike to work for almost three years now, and started mainly because he was just tired of driving his car.
It takes Okunami about an hour to bike the 12 miles from Campbell to his office in Mountain View, where he works as a project manager for Hewlett-Packard. The company accommodates bikers by providing bike lockers and showers.
Okunami, 39, said he takes side streets to get to work so he can avoid areas that are congested with vehicle traffic. Dealing with drivers can be tricky, but he said most people drive carefully when they notice bicyclists.
"Occasionally you have a problem, but 99 percent of the people are really good about it," he said. "Sometimes they swerve to go around me and I hear their tires hitting those bumps in the road."
Okunami said he started biking to work for environmental reasons.
"More people should bike to work for the same reason--so they're not burning as much gas," he said.
People don't realize the amount of pollution just a single car chugs into the atmosphere, Okunami said.
"When you're right next to the car on your bike, you can smell the exhaust. When you're in a car, you can't really notice," he said.
Barton Smith, another Campbell bicyclist, said he also rides his bike for environmental reasons.
"Basically, it's a combination of getting exercise, saving money and not making pollution," Smith said. "And it's just nicer. When I ride up the hill, I can hear the birds. You see your surroundings so much more. Sometimes, there are deer standing by the side of the road."
Smith, 51, has been biking to work since 1977 and said that the main reason he started was because he didn't have a car. Although he's owned a car for quite some time now, he said he's continued to bike to work because it just made sense.
It takes him an hour and 15 minutes to bike the 15 miles from Campbell to his job in San Jose, where he works as a manager of human interface research for IBM. The ride home takes only 50 minutes because it's downhill.
Smith said he uses part of the Los Gatos Creek trail during his commute, but he mainly uses regular roads that usually have bike lanes. He hasn't had much trouble with drivers, although he has had problems with cars pulling out of their driveways or cutting him off, requiring him to hit the brakes hard.
He said he's also run into a few car doors when people have been parked at the side of the road and not checked to see if anyone was coming before opening their doors.
"We typically don't have a problem with drivers," Smith said. "There are drivers who don't like to slow down. Even once I had somebody reach out the car and try to shove me over on Highway 84. Some people are just too impatient. But I've never had that kind of thing when I was riding to work."
Smith said IBM also accommodates bicyclists by providing bike lockers, locker rooms and showers. During the summer, the lockers are sometimes completely full. Besides accommodating the bicyclists, IBM also encourages its employees to carpool and take public transportation.
Those who live near their jobs should bike to work, Smith said. Biking might add time to their commutes, but the upside is that they won't have to go to the gym later on. "I'm not an athletic person," Smith said. "If I can ride to work, anybody can."
According to Rides for Bay Area Commuters, biking burns 500 calories per hour. The organization also compiled information that reveals that automobiles are the single largest source of air pollution in this area, and if American workers biked to their jobs only two days a week, it would completely eliminate the country's dependence on foreign sources for oil.
People interested in riding their bikes to work as part of Bike to Work Day on May 17, should contact RIDES and pledge to bicycle. Doing so enters their names into a drawing to win prizes. The grand prize is a bicycle tour for two to Tuscany, Italy.
More than 100 "energizer stations" will be set up around the Bay on May 17, in the following cities in Santa Clara County: Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Milpitas and Cupertino. Other counties are participating, as well. Lists of exact locations are available on-line at www.rides.org. Snacks and drinks will be given to bicyclists who stop at the stations. People interested in pledging to ride can also sign up at the website, or call 800.755.POOL.
Campbell, California
