Yesterday at work, some fellow bike commuters and I put on a little Dog 'N' Pony show about bike commuting. Partly a Bike Commuting 101 course and partly to start drumming up participants for the upcoming Commute Challenge in May. We've participated in this event for the last five years or so, with more folks signing up every year. It's a great event and we get loads of companies involved here in the Seattle area.
Even though our little shindig was advertised to 500 or so IT types, and we had close to 100 people signed up for the Commute Challenge last year, only about 15 people showed up for our little talk - complete with PowerPoint presentation. You know it's official when you fire up the projector and start clicking through PowerPoint slides.
We had fun away and it went well. We all brought our bikes into the building (usually frowned upon), talked about differences in design, how to carry clothes, be safe, pick a route, online resources - lots of info packed into an hour. Plus, in a sense we got paid to talk about bikes - can't beat that!
In April, we plan to hold a class on general maintenance and how to fix a flat. Being ex-bike mechanic dude, I volunteered for that as well. Should be fun.
Now that the clocks have changed once again with daylight savings - light after work. Yes! I left work at 6:00 PM and made it home before dark, no problem. Lights can be now be stashed away until the fall.
Even though I do what I can to ride through the winter (some winters better then others), my riding time is probably 50% or less compared to summer. So in reality, this is the official start of the season for me. Time to get consistent once again and I can't wait.