Shed the Monster This Bike to Work Week

By Nicholas Ibarra

May 8, 2015

We know you’ve been there too: a bad morning that only worsens with the horn-honking, brake-pumping congestion of commuting to work.

As National Bike to Work Week kicks off Monday, a clever video from PeopleForBikes reminds us that there’s a smarter way to get to the office: riding your bike.

Biking has many benefits that are easy to quantify, says Kate Powlinson of PeopleForBikes, but the data doesn’t tell the whole story. 

 “When you’re grumpy and you hop on a bike, nine times out of ten you feel better after the ride,” Powlinson says. “We wanted to create a video that really connected to that feeling."

Still, the numbers alone paint a compelling picture. The average U.S. commuter burns 25 gallons of gas a month, leading to emissions of just under three tons of CO2 every year. That means every year car commuters are dumping roughly the weight of the car itself back into the atmosphere. 

People who spend more time driving to work also have more back and neck pain, higher cholesterol levels and are more likely to be obese. Stack that with an average annual urban commuting cost of more than $2,000 and it’s pretty clear that biking to work is the wise choice.