I’ve learned A LOT since I started. Like the following: mail trucks can be your friends instead of the obstacles they appear to be, dogs really do love spinning wheels, the phrase “on your left!!!” is actually quite frightening in traffic (be nice, fellas), and those who express amazement or derision at your commuting choice may just be a little fearful of change.

I also learned that you can bike in kitten heels if you’ve misplaced your sneakers or whatever shoes you usually ride in. Now, I wear whatever goofy footwear I want. Style over speed every time!

So when you get attitude, just smile and wave. We want to get MORE people on bikes or walking, not fewer. Right? It’s up to all of us to be ambassadors–that is, if we’re up to the challenge of being nice. I’m certainly better at that than being fast on my cruiser, much to the dismay of my lycra-clad compadres in Sacramento. But we’re all in this together, and elitism is out of the question. You go, girl!

1) Embrace your inner freak. So what if people are talking about you, at least they are talking about you. Use it as personal PR at work. You stick out. Showcase how well you do at work in spite of riding a bike. Wear your [infinity] mpg t-shirt with pride and flaunt it without being too overbearing. Not like anyone can fault you for anything… not that superiors won’t take it into account when performance reviews, raises, promotions, etc. come around, fair or not.

2) Change attitude? Don’t know how you go about the office, but if it’s with a sense of smug, looking down at all the “commoners” who are driving, spending money on gas, wrecking the environment, etc., that could certainly do it. Personally, I can see a sneer about biking coming a mile away from co-workers, and when they say any thing negative about it (extremely rare), I respond with enthusiasm, saying how fun it is to be out on a bike and that I totally amazed myself by doing a 35mi rt commute, and that I’m going to try to keep it up as much as possible because it feels so great and every trip to and from work becomes an adventure! “I saw a flock of turkeys this morning!!!” That pretty much defuses any defensiveness on their part. I keep the staying healthy, thin, doing a small bit for the environment and all that self righteous stuff to myself. And secretly giggle when people complain about gas prices, but never evangelize about bikes.

Happy to talk to people about bikes if they ask, but otherwise, I treat it like I would my car–nothing real special about it, just how I happen to get to work.

If your work culture is such that it might affect your standing in the company, well that’s a bigger issue, and until that changes, biking in could be detrimental to your advancement there. Not fair, but there’s a million ways it could negatively affect you without any chance of recourse on your end.

In the end, if you feel that it is negatively effecting the way your superiors feel about you, figure out the cost of gas, gym membership, car ownership, etc. that you would have to pay if you were driving in, subtract it from your salary, and then see if the job is as attractive as it is now…

@Ghost. Not to mention it’s just a little more fun than driving in traffic.

Karen –
Good luck, there’s been lot’s of good advice. Just remember, some people will assume that you have an agenda no matter what you do. I just smile at them and go on with my day. When it comes down to it they’ll move on to something else.

And, we ARE making a difference. Perhaps you’ve noticed in the upper right corner of our homepage where it shows our Bikecommuters.com/Bikejournal.com log for the year. With six full months to go this year, a small group of 25 active participants has already saved a heap of money and reduced CO2 emissions by almost 26000 lbs.

Most estimates I’ve seen peg car ownership at between $6000 – $10000 per year when all the costs are taken into account. Since cycling means that can get by with one less car, they are actually saving a significant amount per year.

I hope you didn’t have to buy the bike.

Ride your bike if you want, but don’t claim to be saving the world.