President & CEO says, biking to meetings is easy!
Accent Inns President makes it look easy
Bike to Work Week is coming up and I often get asked the question, “How do you bike to work when you’re a business person? I don’t have a shower at work and I have appointments that I need my car for. I just can’t do it”.
Of course you can! First off, why on earth do you need your car for appointments? I ride my bike to meetings and I swear I get there at least 10 minutes before everyone else because I didn’t have to find parking, fiddle with the meter, and then hoof it to the appointment. The door to door advantage of a bike is huge, not to mention bypassing all the traffic.
I know what you are thinking, “Yeah but I’ll have to change into my spandex before and after the meeting.” No you don’t. Just ride to work in your business clothes! If your bike commute is more than half an hour, maybe you might want to bring a change of clothes, but other than that, just wear what you are going to wear.
“May-be, but I’ll arrive at the meeting all sweaty.” Don’t ride so hard then! Take it easy, buy an upright cruiser like me and
Mandy Farmer heading out to her meeting
enjoy the scenery as you ride to your meeting. I might show up a little fresh faced and out of breath, but I come to the meeting pumped and raring to go!
“I don’t want Helmet Hair.” My vanity got over having perfect hair years ago. I’d much rather have a fitter, healthier, more alive body that a bit of flattened hair. Besides, you get used to it after a while. Who knows, maybe Helmet Head will be all the rage?
“What about sweat?” Wear deodorant.
“I’m scared of cars.” Google all the bike routes and bike lanes in your city. Sometimes it’s just a matter of planning. “Yeah, but sometimes they run out and I get on a scary stretch of road.” True, this is a drag. What I do is carefully ride on the sidewalks dismount around pedestrians.
“Where on earth am I going to put my briefcase?!” Buy a front carrier: www.paulcomp.com/flatbed
“Okay, you’ve almost got me convinced but I just can’t give up my high heels… they make my outfit!” I totally agree, so you should just wear them. Riding in high heels is strangely no different that riding in sneakers (except that it makes a much more profound statement) because the heel part of the shoe isn’t even on the pedal. High heels or not, it’ll make no difference to your riding experience.
Give it a go for one day, just one day, and let me know how it went!
Note from the editor: Accent Inns is proud to support Bike to Work Week in Victoria, Vancouver and Kelowna. As you can see our boss walks the talk (rides actually)