Advice for Potential new Bike Commuters

[mwhatley]

Hi everyone,
Next week, I'm giving a short presentation in my office on the advantages, benefits and options for biking to work in celebration of the upcoming bike to work day. I'd love to include some input from the forum here, so my question for you is simple;

If you were to offer up one sentence/piece of advice for people who are interested in biking to work; what would that be?

Some background, the audience for this session will be made up of 20-40 year olds, health conscious who mainly live in DC, some in VA/MD.

[dasgeh]

It's not about going fast; it's about having a great ride and getting their safely. Speed will come, and even when it does, will only save you 5-10 minutes.

[Tim Kelley]

"Try it once. It's easier than you think."

[KelOnWheels]

Confident City Cycling classes will make you a confident city cyclist!

[PeteD]

Your bike commutes can sometimes be as quick as your car commutes, unless you make a wrong turn and end up doing a century on the way home.

[Tim Kelley]

"For many people, biking is actually faster than driving, by the time you factor in traffic, parking, and the time you don't need to spend at the gym."

[acc]

Try it out on a weekend morning when there is less traffic and with the bike loaded exactly like you were riding to work.

[Tim Kelley]

"My morning bike ride IS my morning cup of coffee!"

[Greenbelt]

Oops, redundant, deleted. What acc said.

[mwhatley]

Thanks everyone - these are great! I honestly worried that we'd all get on our soap box about bicycle rights and all that - great to see such awesome answers.

Will definitely include these (and keep them coming!) - I'll find a way to post the presentation on here next week.

Cheers!