Ride To Work Day 2016

Mass two-wheeled commute on Monday, June 20

FZ-09 SF Ride To Work: Monday, June 20, 2016 is Ride To Work Day. The really good news is that EVERY day can be Ride To Work Day, if you’re up for it!Photo: Tom Riles

Among the many gems of the internet is asking Google to find images related to “Tokyo parking.” Nothing will make your woes at the Whole Foods lot seem so insignificant as a 4-door hatchback wedged artistically under a patio or an underground silo of bicycles controlled by robots. What the hell does this have to do with you, you’re asking? Monday, June 20 is the 25th anniversary of Ride To Work Day! Among other reasons, it’s a way for two-wheeled brothers and sisters to demonstrate the lower impact of riding a motorcycle or scooter to work.

Two-wheeled vehicles are lighter, and therefore easier on roads, use less fuel (in general), and take up much less room on the road, decreasing congestion. And, of course, same goes for parking. Most motorcyclists starting riding because it was fun, not because it made sense. But, as more manufacturers are keen to point out, populations in the world’s cities are growing rapidly. As much fun as riding a motorbike can be, imagining how traffic in urban areas could grow is reason enough to get that endorsement on your license. The DOT estimates around 0.25 percent of commuter vehicles used daily in the US are two wheelers. We can do better than that!

Monday, June 20 is the 25th anniversary of Ride To Work Day!©Motorcyclist

Naysayers will list a handful of reasons to hunker down or drive a cage. What if it rains? The industry's got lots of answers for that, from scooter skirts to full-fledged gear like the stuff you can get from perennial Ride To Work sponsors Aerostich (aerostich.com). Where do you park? Yup, you guessed it—just like everything else in this iWorld of ours, there's an app. A small team of two-wheelers has come up with CurbNinja, which now lists around 6,000 parking spots in more than a dozen cities in the US and Canada (curbninja.com). Not coincidentally, CurbNinja is set to launch information for riders in Washington D.C. on its app in conjunction with Ride To Work Day 2016.

The bottom line is this: Yes, you can come up with reasons not to ride a motorcycle. And you don’t have to recycle either, or throw your hands up when you ride a rollercoaster. But it makes you feel good. So why not do it! That’s right, you can enjoy yourself and help save the world every time you commute. If nothing else, it’ll make your day a little better. After all, parking isn’t getting any easier.