May is National Bicycle Month, and May 14 kicks off Bike Commute Week.
Jonathan Moss arrives at work Baystate Health at 280 Chestnut St.
When Jonathan Moss was a kid, he rode his bike to school. Now, as director of the Physicians’ Billing Department at Baystate Health in Springfield, he bikes to work from his home in Longmeadow.
“It’s about six miles,” said Moss, who is in his early 40s. “I go right through the heart of the city. I take the bike path along the river and Columbus Ave. It’s a great way to avoid car traffic.”
Bike commuters like Moss are in the spotlight these days, as May is National Bicycle Month and May 14 will kick off Bike Commute Week.
Celebrations all over the Valley will include group bike tours, free breakfasts, raffles – even free showers for bicyclists at the Springfield Y – as well as efforts to enlighten the public on the advantages of traveling by bicycle.
“It’s fun, it’s refreshing, it doesn’t threaten anybody else,” said James Lowenthal, of Northampton, who commutes to Smith College, where he is an astronomy professor.
“It doesn’t cause pollution or global warming, and it’s cheap,” said Lowenthal, 46.
Lowenthal was 15 and living in New York City when a subway strike made him aware of the benefits of bicycling.
When he came to the Pioneer Valley, he commuted by bike from Northampton to a teaching job at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst.
Today his commute is much shorter, but “I actually miss the longer ride,” he said.
Lissa Greenough, of Gill, bikes eight miles to her job in Greenfield.
“I find it immensely satisfying,” said Greenough, 50. “It’s a great way to decompress after you leave work.”
Greenough’s husband, Alden Booth, is also an avid cyclist. The couple own the People’s Pint, a restaurant and brewery in Greenfield.
They have bicycled on vacations as far as Nova Scotia. Their three children bike, too.
The couple are impassioned promoters of biking, and even offer a discount program to reward their customers who bike. Customers who record 100 miles on their bicycles can get a $25 gift certificate at the People’s Pint. Since the program began, said Greenough, 47,260 miles have been recorded and $4,000 in gift certificates have been handed out.
Jim Scheffler, of Springfield, also makes bicycling a conscious ethical choice. He has been biking to his job at the Department of Environmental Protection in downtown Springfield for 12 years from his home in East Forest Park.
“My wife and I have cars,” he said, “but we have arranged our lives so we don’t drive a lot. We chose to live where we do because it’s right on the bus line.”
Scheffler, 41, appreciates the other benefits of bicycling, too. “I enjoy the exercise, and it’s practical and inexpensive,” he said.
Commuting by bike will probably become more popular as the price of gas goes up, said Elizabeth Sturgen, of Easthampton, president of a local bicycling group, the Cyclonauts.
“It’s a lovely way to start the day,” said Moss.
“I get to stop and talk to neighbors and talk to friends,” said Lowenthal, who heads the Pioneer Valley chapter of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition.
Greenough stresses that a person doesn’t have to be “incredibly fit” to start biking to work.
“Just be sure to educate yourself about how to ride safely in traffic,” said Scheffler.