Bike to Work Week

Did you know it is Bike to Work Month? Did you know it is Bike to Work Week? I didn't know it until late Tuesday, but according to the League of American Bicyclists, May is Bike to Work Month and this week is Bike to Work Week. Today is even Bike to Work Day.

According to the League's 2013 Bicycle Friendly State Rankings, Colorado is ranked 2nd in "bike-friendliness", and since moving to Colorado I always told myself I should commute to work more. When I was a consultant, it was often hard as I had to be driving to various clients. I ended up riding a couple times a year.

Since joining a "real" company with an actual day-to-day location, though, I had ridden to work maybe 3 or 4 times in 3 years. My main excuse is that after a 15 mile bike ride, I am generally very sweaty. My old building did not have a shower, and I used that as an excuse not to ride.

As I mentioned in Biking to Work, though, the company I work for changed buildings and I now have access to a shower. Now, since moving, I have ridden my bike to work 7 times in four weeks (including Monday, Wednesdy, and Thursday of this week), and I am planning on trying to make it a regular habit to bike once or twice a week. We'll see how that goes.

In addition to it being Bike to Work Week, it is also American Craft Beer Week. ACBW is a celebration of the ever-growing beer culture in the United States, and is designed to promote small and independent craft brewers.

For me, every week is American Craft Beer Week, and I don't really do anything special during the week. I did, of course, earn my ACBW badge on untappd, but didn't really do anything special to get it. I just happened to drink and check-in a beer during the week.

If you get a chance this weekend, go visit your local brewery. Additionally, CraftBeer.com has a whole list of suggestions of things you can do to celebrate. See their Celebration Ideas.

You may think that biking and beer have little to do this each other. Well, you would be wrong.

The craft beer culture (at least here in Colorado) really embraces a biker's mentality. Remember my blog post "Bicycle Built for 7"? Well, we rode that bike at Fortoberfest, "A funky hometown celebration of bicycles, bands and beer!" If you have ever been to Fort Collins for a beer tour during decent weather, you will notice all kinds of people biking from brewery to brewery. For goodness sake, New Belgium gives all their employees bikes on their one year anniversary.

The owners of Oscar Blues also have business making mountain bikes called Reeb Bicycles. Reeb is, in fact, beer spelled backwards. Dale Katechis (as in Dale's Pale Ale) is a notorious mountain biker.

I know many of the guys at Ska are also big into biking.

The new Breckenridge Production Brewery is going to be right on the South Platte River bike path.

I've heard that Denver Beer Company will give you a bike map so that you can ride around and hit a bunch of LoDo breweries on your bike.

And most of all, a fine craft beer tastes wonderful after an hour bike ride home from work.

Bikes and brews just go together.

Go Blackhawks!