It's always heartwarming to hear about new people choosing to try out biking for commuting (or even recreation), so I'm here today to help you get all warm and toasty.

Tracy (my wife) is starting to bike to work. She's only doing it a couple mornings a week at present to get used to it, but she's got a much longer commute than I do (about twice as long), and some big hills to conquer. Tracy's noticed that it's been good, fitness-wise, for me, and that I've saved tons of money not taking the TTC every day.

I think the proverbial "straw that broke the camels back" was when we'd leave home at the same time, and I'd bike to the Yonge subway line 5-10 minutes quicker than her streetcar could get there.

At work, back when the TTC had their wildcat strike (conveniently on the first day of BikeWeek), there were a lot of internal emails flying around arranging carpools for the next day.

I eventually couldn't bite my tongue any more and sent one out encouraging everyone to give biking a try (at present, about 5% of people at my workplace bike in, with the majority of the rest of them using public transit), and that if anyone lived anywhere near my neck of the woods (the east end of pre-amalgamation Toronto), I was willing to ride in with them and be like a guide in getting started in bike commuting to work every day.

Two people have contacted me about it (one lives near me, and the other will be moving near me soon). Neither have started biking yet... but there's hope.

Finally, my friend Anthony up in Aurora, who was originally considering commuting to his teaching job one day a week (when he didn't have to take his guitar - he gives lessons after work) has found a couple neighbours who love cycling and they've been hitting the large "arterial" roads of Aurora like Bayview and Leslie for some exercise.

Sure, it's more recreational than every day cycling, but we're talking the suburbs here... this is HUGE. I'm proud of my suburbanite friend. He's discovering the joy of biking.

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