I am inspired that someone who can exchange a bike for a car does it. I don't know what your job is. Not everybody lives a short 2 miles away from their employment. Alot of people cannot put on wardrobe and begin the work day sweating like a racehorse. Public transit has a ways to go before everybody can use it to get around efficiently. Commuter traffic is not a simple matter of lazy people having a love affair with their cars. I am not clear what "the struggle" is but I do admire your example.  Converting motorists to bicycles won't happen unti lit is practical.

I think I live about 2 miles away from work & if I didn't have to drive 15 minutes to pick up my toddler, I would totally bike. I even have an awesome bike that hardly has had any use. Can't wait for the opp!

I would love to bike but I confess to being a total coward when it comes to riding on streets with cars.  I used to bike around my neighborhood but would NEVER go out onto Stockdale Highway.  Since you're supposed to ride and obey laws just as cars do, I would have had to cross Stockdale at the light, ride down to the post office light, get in the left turn lane and go.  I realize people don't but thats the way the CHP I know explained it.  It's against the law to ride on sidewalks so I'd be battling people turning right in the bike lanes where I'm supposed to be.

Ehhh..shorten this to "I'm terrified of and intimidated by sharing the road with big heavy cars and trucks."

How cool! I've been thinking about biking to work but have to figure out a route, since I take the 99 to Golden State.  I could only do this 3 days a week due to kids schedule and church activities. 

Thank You for this story as it is very inspiring and might get the bike out sooner than expected.  I could spare to lose some(ok alot) weight as well. 

I live 8.3 miles from my work. I rode my bike one weekend in just to see how long it would take me, and if it was feasible. I also discovered I had some of the least desirable neighborhoods in the city to traverse on two wheels, LOTS of red lights, no bike lanes for most of it, tons of junk in the streets (along with terrible surfaces). Took an hour and 15 minutes, each way. Not practical for me, unfortunately. I can normally do much better than that, timewise, but not in this city.

Mich - If I could figger a way to hook gooseneck to bike, I'd haul calves or sheep thataway (mebbe one at a time) and really get in shape!

Used to live down there and people commuting East-West or vice-versa could incorporate bike path into commute for a good bit of it and make out.

Going North-South is problematic.

Wish more people would ride bikes -- I love em -- would save on the gasoline, air quality, and make more peeps aware of riders!

Chico-that's another reason I'd like to bike. Due to the high gas prices that may just keep getting higher.  Maybe I'll help ya haul your cattle, I could use the workout!! :)

I ride my bike to work every day, too. It's gotten so that I look forward to it. I get to organize my thoughts in the mornings, and wind down and de-stress in the afternoons in a way that battling traffic in a car doesn't allow me to.

It doesn't even take me any longer, because I can fortunately just zip down 21st where it has the nice wide bike lanes, hit the bike path, and my home is just a short hop off the bike path. I save time on waiting in line at traffic lights because I can always go to the front ;-). Total trip is only about 5 miles, I think. ( When I do cross busy intersections, I do NOT get in the left turn lane, and I do NOT cross the right turn lanes to get to the bike lane going straight, either. It feels too unsafe! Instead, I hop on the sidewalk a ways before the intersection, dismount, and behave like a pedestrian, pushing my bike, until I'm through the intersection. I'm always mindful of cars and of doing something unexpected. You do need to be a little more aware of your surroundings when on a bike. )

I am also fortunate that I have a forward-thinking employer who provides bike racks and gym facilities, so I can rinse down after the ride. I would have attempted to ride my bike to work even without those facilities though it would get to be a problem in summer when I'm sweating like a pig by the time I get to work ( because I ride fast. If I rode slower I would probably only be slightly damp. ) but since my employer has the gym, it is not a problem. I ride in exercise clothes with my work clothes and work laptop in my backpack.

It would be neat if a floor of the under-utilized 18th & Eye parking garage could be converted to bike racks & shower stalls ( maybe a quarter for a 10 minute shower? Maybe a card like for monthly parking to cover the janitor fees? ) to help downtown workers have a place to park their bikes, freshen up, maybe rent a locker for their towels. Such an idea seemed laughable a couple years back, right, and still seems kind of silly today, but the reality is that a lot of people would consider biking to work if they had the facilities. You've got to start somewhere! The trolley that I heard about that they want to bring downtown could maybe run a strategic route or two mornings and afternoons for those who have more than a few blocks to walk.

PS: yesterday afternoon the bike path was extraordinarily busy. Lots of cyclists, about three times as many as I normally pass on my way back from work. Plenty seemed to be commuters returning home, not just people out to exercise. It was way cool to see. I saw more commuters in the morning, too. Bike Bakersfield, keep up the good work to make more people aware!

What would be a good path to get from Olive Dr./Fruitvale to Truxtun/F St.? You all are making me really want to get the bike out but I just worry about the heat and sweating.  I could REALLY use the exercise and help improve air quality.

Michele, here's

BikeBakersfield's page

about requesting commuter routes.

Michele, I think these guys do bike route maps.  Worth contacting them

http://www.bikebakersfield....>http://www.bikebakersfield....

http://www.bikebakersfield....

 Missed it...by *THAT* much...

Thanks both of you, I'll check it out and let you know how my venture went when I do try this.

Thank you guys very much for referring potential riders to us. We do help out with routes and provide online maps through a site called wayfaring.com

If anyone has any bike commuter questins we'd be more than happy to help, just be patient as we've been inundated with requests since we've been in the Californian.

And to Nancy,

It's a shame that you'e intimidated about riding on Stockdale Hwy. I ride there all the time and rarely encounter problems, but riding in traffic doesn't really phase me now. You're also right about it being against the law to ride on the sidewalks where you're actually more likely to get hit than in the bike lane (People can't see you.) Though you don't have to get in the left hand turn lane to go left. You can always get off your bike and walk it through the cross walks if you feel more comfortable with.

and to Griffon,

I can only imagine the horrors a public shower downtown would cause. Lol, however, it would be nice if more employers took the initiative to provide them.

And then, if you really want a good ride:

Start at Ducor, head east from Hwy 65 on CR22 to Hot Springs Road then on to California Hot Springs then on to Hwy 190 to Springville, or

Down there just start at Comanche and go up Breckenridge to summit, then if you've got any H2O left down into Havilah.

You'll cuss me for it (but you'll be better for it too)

{it may not get ya ta work, but it'll for shore work yore  "ta get" ..........)

Xbike..not only am I intimidated, I have a yellow stripe up my back that matches the ones on the roads.

I don't live over there any more but somehow this place seems just as bad.  I'm curious about your comment that riding on the sidewalk you are more likely to get hit.  Do you know many people who drive on the sidewalk?     :-)

 I bike to work just about every Friday.  It's11.5 miles one way, but it's a fantastic way to start and end the day.  Even yesterday--104 degrees and an oven like head wind on the way home--it makes you feel alive and connected with your community (except yesterday, it made me feel somewhat dead!).  But those leaf blowers!!  Let's not be quick to blame the gardeners that are using them.  Let's look squarely in the eyes of the numbskulls that somehow justify spending their hard-earned $ trying to make their little piece of the world look SOOO much nicer by moving EVERY LITTLE BIT OF DUST and EVERY SINGLE LEAF off of it.  Go figure =>/

Don't get discouraged on your first try at biking across town.  It gets so much easier as you do it.  The more you ride the more fun it is.  Really! I had to try many routes before I found the safest, most efficient way to get to work.  And the route home is substantially different than the route to work.  I reference Bike Bakersfield's map and Google maps to help find the safest route.  Sometimes you may have to go a little out of your way, but it very seldom will add more than a few minutes to your ride.  So enjoy it--you never know what new things you might see and one more friendly face to share greetings with--that's one of the greatest rewards.  All of the Hi's, Good Morning's and little waves of the hand.  Yesterday I was the lucky recipient of a very enthusisastic "Yahoo!" from a fellow commuter who was heading in the opposite direction on Belle Terrace.  (Thanks, Mr. Yahoo!, if you're reading this--you made my day.)   Get on your bikes people--you won't be sorry. 

I love riding my bike, too.  But I can't ride to work, because my parents won't let me.  The reason is because I have to cross the bridge and railroad crossing at 7th Standard and 99 (the one that should have been fixed years ago if you ask me).  I am working on riding from my house near Hageman and Old Farm Rd to the west end of the bike path near I-5.

So Bry, why would you go over 7th Standard (Merle the Hag's Hwy) if you want to go from Old Farm Rd to West end of BP @ i-5 (Enos Lane)??

Getting in shape for ride to work? Merle Haggard over 99 overpass is bad for bikes, so go South and go Snow (under 99) to Norris then go up Pegasus to other side of Hwy 65?

Chico, as far as the Old Farm to west end of bike path goes, that's just for fun.  Besides, I know about the overpass.  When my parents take me to and from work, we go over it.  Not only is it narrow, there's dirt, glass, and all sorts of other debris on the sides of the road there.  So, if I ever do ride to work before the new bridge is complete in 2010, I'd have to follow your advice and take Pegasus.  By the way, I am wanting to get into better shape, too.  I definately ain't in good enough shape to ride from Old Farm Rd to my work and then all the way out to the west end of the BP!