KARLI INGERSOL ILLUSTRATION
No Excuses A
A N N UA L R E P O RT
“Everyone is or can be a bicyclist.”
ll the reasons people have for not biking to work come down to one basic myth, says Erika Prins. People think bike commuting means riding every day, everywhere, and that’s a big commitment. “Everyone is or can be a bicyclist,” says Prins, who chairs SPOKANE BIKES (spokanebikes. net), which organizes Bike to Work Week and is a comprehensive online resource for all things bikes around here. “Even once a week or once a month — it’s about doing it when you have the opportunity, versus feeling like you can’t do it at all because you can’t do it all the time.” Prins says she often hears from people who don’t have bikes or are scared to bike in traffic. COOL WATER BIKES (224 S. Howard St., coolwaterbikes.org) sells refurbished bikes starting at about $50 and offers service, with the added bonus of supporting the nonprofit Cup of Cool Water, which helps at-risk youth. PEDALS2PEOPLE (1527 E. 16th Ave., pedals2people.org), another nonprofit shop, offers parts and service, and will help you learn to fix your bike yourself. Minor work can be done on a drop-in basis for free (donations encouraged). For major fixes, $7.50 an hour gets you access to bike tools and stands, plus manuals and help from shop mechanics.
For those worried about biking in traffic or on arterials, the short answer is: It’s unavoidable. “You’re going to have to not freak out,” Prins says. But practicing a route and finding others to commute with can help. Bike or drive the route you plan to take to work on a weekend or other day you have time. Learn the route and anticipate areas that might be tricky. Then give yourself plenty of time so you don’t feel rushed. Making the trip with a friend or co-worker, especially one who’s already an experienced biker, will only help, Prins says. (Bike to Work Week each spring is a good place to find other riders.) For everything else — from events to outfitting for cold weather — check out some of the area’s most active biking blogs: CYCLING SPOKANE (cyclingspokane.blogspot.com) and BIKE TO WORK BARB (biketoworkbarb.blogspot.com), run by a former Spokanite who’s now executive director of the Bicycle Alliance of Washington. She also runs BIKE STYLE (bikestylespokane.com), a site geared toward women riders. For a map of current bike lanes, find the CITY OF SPOKANE MASTER BIKE PLAN (spokaneplanning.org/master_bike_plan.html). — HEIDI GROOVER
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