Column - Bike To Work

Last week, I pulled my trusty blue bike from the garage, pumped the tires and headed to downtown Iowa City for work.

It was my first fabulous ride of the spring, followed by my second and third - with many more to come.

Maybe someday I'll get over the feel of soft morning air on my skin, the blooming daffodils and crocuses and buds on the trees - all the good stuff I take for granted when I'm speeding by in a car.

But I'm a relatively new convert to bike commuting, so I'm still pretty enthralled. Hey, I know it can be irritating.

I've even stapled a comic strip on my cubicle wall. It shows a Spandex-clad cyclist with both arms raised in victory, yelling, “I am fit! I am great! Share the road!”

“He's humbler than I expected,” another character observes in the final panel. It's one way I keep myself grounded.

A second way? I check out my reflection in a plate-glass window. Perched atop my beat-up ride, complete with grandma handlebars, I'm more Angela Lansbury than Lance Armstrong - living proof that nearly anyone can be a bike commuter.

You don't need fancy equipment or yards of bright Spandex, just two wheels beneath you, a helmet and a safe stretch of road.

For years, I wasn't in a position to bike to work. After that, I just didn't really think about it, to tell you the truth.

But last spring, I was motivated by some local bicycle enthusiasts to give it a try. Now I'm a little embarrassed to hop in the car to drive the measly mile from my house to the office. Biking is just as easy, and a heckuva lot more fun. It's also good for my health - lowering my risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.

And while I was pedalling to work last week, it occurred to me: It's good for my bosses, too.

A lot of employers are talking about wellness programs these days as a way to manage booming costs in health care for their employees.

But a recent Iowa Bicycle Coalition survey of 43 Iowa businesses found that while more than 80 percent of employers considered their companies accessible by bike, only 14 percent offered any kind of incentive for employees to bike to work. Seems like an opportunity to me.

You can find tips for employers and would-be commuters at www.bikeiowa.com/asp/bike. They're worth checking out.

Like cycling itself, encouraging employees to bike doesn't have to be complicated or expensive.

But, just as it is for cyclists, the potential payoff is considerable.

Jennifer Hemmingsen's column appears on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Contact the writer at (319) 339-3154 or jennifer.hemmingsen@gazcomm.com