There are many fantastic reasons to ride: for the environment, for a better health and to save some money. As Cascade’s Community Outreach Manager, I have spoken with many people who fully support these reasons to ride but their “buts’ keep them from taking that next step.

There are so many people out there who are interested in bicycling but there they always have a “but”; I would ride my bike but I don’t feel safe; I would ride my bike but I don’t know what to do once I get to work; I would like to ride but it’s not practical. You get the idea.

Lucky for me, I represent an organization that is working on these issues through classes, events like Bike Month, programs like  BizCycle, and advocacy work that pushes for items like a better Seattle Bike Master Plan with world-class bicycle infrastructure.

At some point, new riders experience an ‘a-ha moment’  that finally takes them the next step – a co-worker offering to show them a route, a bike shop opening around the corner, or their kids finally all being in school.

For me, that extra little push was a cute boy. He lived on Capitol Hill and had some cute hipster glasses. Riding his bike was an important part of his lifestyle and I wanted to be part of that. So I bought a bicycle off craigslist and started making my 10 minute commute to and from the UW by bike. While I’m a little embarrassed that I started riding for a boy, that relationship has long come and gone and years later I am still riding my bike, and inspiring others to ride, too!

As a matter fact I inspired another cute boy to ride and that boy is now my husband.

I want to know from you, dear internet, what was that thing that finally took away you buts. Please share!

 

This entry was posted on Friday, December 28th, 2012 at 10:00 am by Serena Lehman and is filed under Commuting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.