That’s right! May is National Bike Month (or Bike to Work month, as many call it). So here’s my challenge to myself for the month:

My goal is to ride my bike 90 percent of the times I go to work this month. I would say 100 percent, but I want to give myself a grace period in case of an emergency! Yes, my commute is short–it’s only 4.5 miles to REI and 3.5 to the Green Hills YMCA where I also work a few shifts a week. But I’m going to make the most of it! (Just an FYI, so far I’m at 100 percent–I’ve ridden to work the past two days.)

Over the course of the month, I plan to keep track of my total distance ridden to and from work, the time it takes me to ride it, and the percentage of times I ride. I’ll be posting the final results at the end of the month on the blog. Plus, at REI, we have a friendly staff competition for Bike to Work Month, where we split into teams and points are awarded for miles ridden and percentage of times you ride… so I’ll let you know if I end up on the winning team for that as well!

And so I invite you, our readers, to join in the fun! Does anyone out there think they could compensate for the 10 percent I might miss? Who wants to commit to riding their bike for 10 percent of the days they have to work this month? Or at a minimum, will you consider riding to work on Friday, May 16, which is National Bike to Work Day? Come on, you can do it! Make it happen!

As a bonus for those living in Nashville–this coming Tuesday (May 6), I will be teaching an REI Outdoor School class on getting ready to bike your drive and some of the basics of bike commuting. If you’re interested at all, you can register here.

Also, please know, we will soon be doing a blog post with a general life update. Things are still in transition, but we are at a decision point in several areas. We’re excited about what’s to come, and we’ll keep you posted when we have news in the next few weeks!