Bike After Work Day

Today was Bike to Work Day - National Bike to Work Day and the East Bay Bike Coalition and the San Francisco Bike Coalition put on a shin-dig to get people out of their cars and on their bikes.

I get a ride (carpool) everyday, so I do my part to be green, but I wasn't quite ready to toss my bike on the front of an AC Transit bus and ride up Market Street, regardless of the day. So, instead of biking to work or from work, I biked after work.

I was reminded of the Bike Away From Work party on Telegraph Avenue between 16th and 20th streets, so I "raced" home AC Transit Style-Y and hopped the bike. What I'm loving more and more about Oakland are all of the bike lanes on the major routes. I rode down Lakeshore and came down Grand Avenue (bike lane) all the way down to Telegraph (turned left), all the while cars were very respectful of my casual bicycling pace, perhaps sensing that I'm a bit of the neophyte.

I got downtown where I soon entered the Bike Zone - a place where cars didn't exist and pedestrians wandered, beers in hand, dreamily thinking, was I back in New Orleans? I smelled the vegetarian foods a fryin' as I wandered the four car-free blocks. Low and behold I happened upon my NBFFs Clay and Glenda from Bay Area Bikes! They were rock stars at this event and I felt privileged to hang out for a few minutes as they enjoyed some of the delectable edibles.




After a brief chat, I carried on my way stopping to sign a petition to create a new bike lane on Broadway and then again to ask a fellow biker the best/safest route back. Another woman chimed in and shared her route. I thanked her and took off, only to find that she and I were on the same path. We created our own "Mini-Mass", the two of us riding together around the lake. "THIS IS GREAT!" I kept saying as we chatted and rode up Grand Avenue, taking advantage of the bike lane. We parted ways at Trestle Glen as she pedaled home to The Glenview District, and me up Lakeshore, both of us enjoying Bike After Work Day.