Bike to Work Day at AOL

Well, Bike to Work Day as represented by the 3rd floor of building CC2, anyway.

After lunch, I saw a few bicycles leaning in the hallways, so I went walking around up and down the rows of cubicles with my camera, looking for folks who'd ridden to work this morning (click a photo to see it in a larger size on my public gallery page):

Name: Felix Job: Sr. Software QA Engineer Rode in From: Ashburn Distance Biked: 6 miles Biking Back Home? Yes How Often Do You Bike to Work? Occasionally Comments: On motivation: "Helps that gas prices are up!"

Name: Gus Job: System Architect Rode in From: Herndon Distance Biked: 9.8 miles (he checked his odometer) Biking Back Home? Forgot to ask How Often Do You Bike to Work? First time. Comments: It was a little cool in the morning, but a pleasant ride.

Name: Ian Job: Sr. Software Engineer Rode in From: Herndon Distance Biked: 7.5 or 8 miles, depending on the route. Takes him under 25 minutes, which means he's fast, averaging 20mph. Biking Back Home? Yes How Often Do You Bike to Work? Just about every day Comments (via e-mail): "No problem coming here, leaving here, apart from biking on Waxpool over Route28 during rush hours (especially going east), lack of shoulder space and plenty of potholes/debris on road." Ian suggests a few improvements: Pedestrian/bike bridge over busy Waxpool Road Pave the trail that leads to the W&OD Trail from Pacific Road Sweep the debris off the shoulders on Waxpool Road He adds: "I have been biking most everyday for 2.5 years since April 2004 as long as outside temp exceeds 52 fahrenheit (cold winds give me "brain freeze" thru ears), low winds, low rain, no errands to run by car.  To date with AOL commutes, about 6500 miles is spent on my 2004 bike (odometer shows 4800 since installed), experienced 4 tire flats, replaced 2 wornout rear tires, replaced 2 brake shoe pairs."

Name: Tony Job: Technical Manager Rode in From: Maryland. Sort of. He lives in Maryland (the next state over), and he'll drive to a spot in Virginia about 10-12 miles away. Distance Biked: Today, just a few miles. Normally about 10-12 Biking Back Home? Sort of. How Often Do You Bike to Work? A couple of times a month. Comments: Would try riding in from Maryland if there was another Potomac River crossing.

Name: Stuart Job: Principal Software Engineer Rode in From: Ashburn Distance Biked: 6 miles Biking Back Home? Yes How Often Do You Bike to Work? Not that often (though he bikes a lot) Comments: He'd stored his bike behind the plant. Also, that's a2006 Ride to Work Day shirt he's wearing.

Name: Venkat Job: Sr. Software Engineer Rode in From: Fairfax Distance Biked: 14 miles Biking Back Home? No (he'd left his car here yesterday in anticipation of the rain) How Often Do You Bike to Work? First time this year. Comments: It was a little cold, but you warm up after the first few minutes.

Name: Cindy Job: Principal Project Manager Rode in From: Reston Distance Biked: 8 miles Biking Back Home? Forgot to write down the answer. How Often Do You Bike to Work? Regularly -- about once a week. Comments: Usually starts farther out, biking 15 miles from Vienna, but she started from one of the local Park & Rides today.

Name: Ron Job: Developer Rode in From: Herndon Distance Biked: 7.5 miles Biking Back Home? No How Often Do You Bike to Work? Tries for once a week in the summer. Comments: Ron's bike was locked up in his van, so I made him wear the helmet for proof.

Name: Howard Job: Principal Software Engineer Rode in From: Vienna Distance Biked: 15 miles Biking Back Home? Yes How Often Do You Bike to Work? Twice a week (except in the winter) Comments: Will do a kind of reverse bike commute, dropping off the bike here and then riding home.

So, these were just the people I spotted on my floor. Apparently, there's a person who bikes in from Arlington fairly regularly (over 20 miles), and we've also had some folks who ride in from DC, which is a pretty long haul.

Almost makes me want to go pump up my tires.

Oh, and I'd forgotten what a pain it is to work with HTML tables. It's going to look funny at certain browser widths, too.

There's probably an easier and better way to do layouts using CSS, but I'll have to get around to that some other time.

Thanks -- Joe

Tags: bike to work day 2007, aol, photos