Bike Week kicks off this Saturday

By Nick Grabbe
Staff Writer

Published on May 09, 2008

When trees start leafing out each year, Colleen Kelley starts bicycling to work 12 miles each way several days a week, and she keeps biking between Shutesbury and Amherst until the leaves change color in the fall.

Her unification of transportation and exercise makes more and more sense as commuters pay $3.65 a gallon for gas and then pay again to go to a gym. That's a conclusion that organizers of Pioneer Valley Bike Commute Week May 10 to 18 hope more people will come to.

Many free films, lectures, community bike rides and breakfasts are planned in Northampton, Amherst and Easthampton (for a complete list, go to massbike.org/mbpv/bikeweek). There will be discounts at Pleasant Street Theater and Amherst Cinema all week for those with bike helmets, and a $400 bike will be raffled off.

Although some people commute by bicycle year round, Kelley waits until mid-April, when the sand is cleared from roads to minimize the risk of taking spills. In May she bikes between her Shutesbury home and her Amherst job two or three times a week, increasing the pace to three or four times a week in the summer. Rain doesn't deter her. "When I'm biking, I just enjoy where we live so much more," Kelley said. "You see it, you smell it much more. The hardest part is preparing."

She has a light Cannondale bike with racing tires and panniers on the sides. She carries her work clothes and a cloth to wash with. The commute in takes 40 to 45 minutes, while the uphill bike home takes about an hour.

Kelley said she feels more energized than drained by her commute, and the benefits are to her mind as well as her body. "I feel like I'm awakened and my blood is moving," she said. "I get active and full of energy. At the end of the day, it clears my mind and relaxes me. I can take a nice ride rather than rushing home."

Bicycle commuting is a viable option for people who may not realize it, especially women who haven't been on a bike in years, Kelley said. In fact, bicycling is a gender equalizer, because men and women can perform at the same level, she said,

"More people could do it than think they can," she said.