- If you're ready to trade four wheels for two and start cycling to work, our beginner's guide has you covered. We walk through route planning, bike selection, safety essentials, clothing, and more.
Last year I began to ride my bicycle to work. I loved it. I loved it so much that I’m still doing it a year later, even though my place of employment is now twice as far from my home as it was when I started.
You might love it too.
You don’t have to be a tree-hugging car-hating eco-nut like me to start biking to work. (And if you are, you probably already do.) All you need to be is somebody who wants to exercise, save money, save gas, de-stress, and have fun. Riding your bike to work is a great way to make two aerobic workouts part of your daily routine.
In fact, I have written a detailed guide about all the benefits you get when you start riding to work.
Fighting the Common Excuses For Not Biking to work
If you’re like me, you probably have a big list of excuses for not biking to work. Here‘s how to counter some of the top excuses:
It's too Far Away
If you live less than five miles away from your workplace, bike commuting will be easy for you. If you live between five and ten miles away, it’ll be harder but it’s still within your reach. If you live 20 miles away from your workplace, you’re excused. (Unless you’re a very good biker, in which case you don’t need my cheerleading.)
Try riding to work once on the weekend, just to see how far it is and how long it might take you. You might learn that it’s less work than you thought.
I live about 10 miles away from my workplace. It takes me about 50 minutes to get to work (less if the traffic lights cooperate). I thought at first that I would never be able to ride 20 miles a day.
I was wrong!
I can ride 20 miles a day pretty easily. (Okay, I got started riding only 10 miles a day, with a 5-mile one-way trip. But still. If I can do it, you can too.)
Yeah, it’s a noticeable time commitment. But I try to look at it this way: Every hour I spend biking to work is an hour that I don’t have to spend doing aerobic exercise at the gym. It’s an hour spent outside in the fresh air and sunshine. I’ve got a killer tan, layered on slowly through the weeks. And I owe it all to my bicycle commute.
I am Out of Shape
Biking to work will you get in shape really fast. And while you’re getting in shape, there’s no reason you can’t take it slow. Or stop a few times to catch your breath. Or walk the bike up that tough hill. You’ll eventually be riding up. Really.
Cycling is easier on us out-of-shape people than many aerobic sports. It’s not a load-bearing exercise; that is, some of your weight is on your butt. You’re not standing the whole time. Cycling is also low-impact, unlike exercises like jogging. Cycling doesn’t stress your knees. Instead, it’s good for them!
Even though my bike route is entirely flat, I was also nervous about whether I was too flabby to do it. I spent a couple of months improving my aerobic fitness on a stationary bike in a gym before I ventured onto the real thing. You might want to do the same to work up your confidence.
I'll Arrive at Work All Sweaty
Yep, you probably will. So wear a t-shirt and carry a change of clothes. Your workplace might even have showers! Mine does. I leave a gym bag with a towel and soap in a locker and bring it home to launder once a week. If carrying extra clothes is a pain, try stashing a week’s worth in your office on Monday. Carry them home to be laundered on Friday.
To avoid getting hot, take some extra time and bike slowly. Or ride in early, before the day has had time to heat up.
Nowhere to Store My Bike Securely
Request a secure bike storage area from your employer. There are also options like bike lockers, bringing your bike inside, or locking up securely outside. Insurance can provide peace of mind if theft is a major concern.
The Weather Is Bad
With the right gear, you can bike year-round in many climates. Wear breathable layers to stay comfortable in heat or cold. Fenders, rain gear, and winter tires can help in wet conditions. You may need to slow down and take extra caution in rain or snow, but you can still bike.
Commuting by bike is absolutely worth it for most people. Here are some of the key benefits:
- Saves money on gas, car maintenance, parking fees, etc. You can save over $1,000 per year compared to driving.
- Improves cardiovascular health and fitness. Cycling just 20 miles per week reduces heart disease and cancer risk by over 50%.
- Reduces environmental impact. Commuting by bike produces 21g of CO2 per km traveled, compared to 271g for driving.
- Convenient and efficient. Commuting by bike is often faster than driving for urban commutes, with no parking hassles
- Fun and relaxing. Cycling allows you to enjoy the outdoors and provides mental health benefits.
See all the benefits of riding a bike to work here.
Tips on Biking to Work
Here’s what I’ve learned in a year of bicycle commuting:
- Do your first ride on the weekend. Test-ride your intended route. You might learn that your intended route isn’t the best. You can also experiment with alternative routes without any time pressure.
- Set reasonable goals. Don’t plunge in over your head. Start out by telling yourself you’re going to do it one or two days a week. When you’ve met that goal, try to do it three days a week.
- Don’t make yourself miserable. If you hate riding in the rain, don’t ride in the rain.
- In the summer, try to ride when it’s cool. Ride in early, before the sun is high, and ride home after dusk. (My schedule is insane enough that I usually ride home after midnight when it’s plenty cool.)
- On mornings when I intend to ride, I get dressed in my bike shorts right away. This helps me avoid wimping out.
- Explore new routes to add variety to your commute. Trying different paths or neighborhoods can keep things interesting.
- Ride with friends when possible for companionship and accountability. Having a buddy to chat with makes the miles go by faster.
- Listen to music, podcasts or audiobooks to entertain yourself while riding. Having something engaging to listen to can distract you from fatigue.
- Use an app to record your rides and track distance, speed, calories burned, etc over time. Seeing your improvements provides motivation.
- Note how much money you’re saving on gas, car maintenance, and parking. The financial benefits are great motivation.
Getting Your Bike Ready for Commuting to Work
You don’t need to buy a special commuter bike. The bike that’s sitting dusty in your garage is probably just fine. You can ride to work on it as soon as you pump up the tires.
But for a quality commuting experience– and a safer commuting experience, you might want to take it to a bike shop for a tune-up.
You could even give it a tune-up yourself, with the help of one of the fine bike repair books listed here.
If you do want or need a new bike, you have a lot of choices.
Many people prefer hybrid “city” bikes or mountain bikes for commuting. These bikes have flat handlebars, which let you sit upright when you’re riding. They also have fat tires, which give you a cushier ride.
Fat tires have more rolling resistance, though, so they’re less efficient than skinny road bike tires.
For a light zippy ride, you might want a road bike.
Test ride bikes of each kind and see which you like best. (I commute on a mountain bike with skinny tires. For weekend fun off-road, I switch to knobby tires.)
Whatever kind of bike you ride, you’ll want to customize it a bit for commuting. Here are some gadgets and accessories you probably need:
- A cycling helmet. (You definitely need a helmet.)
- A flat fix kit and an extra inner tube.
- A portable frame pump.
- Lights for riding in the dark: a headlamp and a blinking rear light/reflector.
Here are some gadgets you might find helpful:
- A bike rack or a basket to put your work stuff in.
- Panniers if you’re really into carrying stuff.
- A bell that goes *DING*.
- A bicycle lock.
- Puncture-resistant inner tubes, or tire liners.
- A bottle cage and water bottle.
- Reflective tape to stick on your bike.
- A rear-view mirror, either helmet-mounted or bar-mounted.
Here are some things you don’t need that you might enjoy anyway:
- Funny-looking spandex padded MTB shorts (to show off your new leg muscles). You’ll notice the padding on the shorts if you go on longer rides.
- Bike gloves (to cushion your palms). Since I’ve had tendonitis in my wrists in the past, I got MTB gloves with gel padding.
- A bike computer (to keep track of how far and how fast you ride).
Choosing a Bike Route
The roads you drive to work on aren’t necessarily the roads you want to bike on.
Spend a little time looking at a map and thinking about the best way to get from your home to your workplace.
If you’re in luck, there’ll be a road with a bike lane going in your direction.
Failing that, look for a road with wide shoulders. If you have a choice, go for the less-traveled road, or the road with the better intersections. (Intersections tend to be dangerous.)
If your area is extra nice to cyclists, you might be able to ride a pleasant bike path.
I once regularly rode a bike path from my home to my college campus. This path was great because it took me most of the distance and didn’t force me to interact with cars. And since it was parallel to a pedestrian walkway, I didn’t have to worry about watching out for walkers!
Bike paths have one danger spot, though: be extra careful at intersections. Drivers might not be expecting or looking for you on the bike path.
Coexisting with Cars
Motorcyclists and bicyclists have a name for car drivers. They call ’em Brain Dead Cagers. You’ll soon learn why, and you’ll wonder if you were as awful before you started biking to work. T
hese tips will help you avoid accidents and manage the risk of sharing the road with lunatics.
Be predictable.
Obey traffic laws the way you would in your car. Signal your turns. Ride on the right.
Do you remember the hand signals you had to learn way back in Driver’s Ed?
They use your left hand. Hand outstretched to the left to signal a left turn. Hand down to signal a stop. Hand up to signal a right turn.
In some states, like California, you can point right with your right hand to signal a right turn. I usually do this, because I figure even somebody who’s forgotten the standard hand signals will understand what “pointing right” means.
Pretend you’re Invisible.
Act as if car drivers can’t see you. It isn’t so far from the truth: car drivers will see bicycles, dismiss them as unthreatening, and forget about them.
This is a variant of the general theme of riding defensively.
Pretend they’re out to get you.
Some drivers are total nutcases. Don’t bait them. Just get out of their way. Write down their license numbers and report them to the local police. Live to ride another day.
Share the road.
Here’s the order of terror on the road:
truckers->drivers->motorcyclists->bicyclists->skaters->pedestrians
Notice that skaters and pedestrians fall below you. Be courteous to them. Warn them when you’re about to pass them. (You can ring a bell, if your bike has one, or say, “I’m passing on your left!”)
Be especially careful if you’re on a recreational path shared with pedestrians. Don’t terrorize them the way cars terrorize you.
And while you’re at it, be nice to the car drivers who are pleasant. Give them a friendly wave of thanks.
You have a right to be on the road. But sometimes staying alive is smarter than exercising your right.