91麻豆天美app

Paul Carpenter

• April 29, 2016

Department of Kinesiology Chair Paul Carpenter spends an average of four hours a day on his bike, cycling to and from work at Cal State East Bay. He makes the ride, roughly 50 miles round trip from his home in San Leandro, rain or shine.

This year, on May 12, he’s hoping students, staff and faculty alike will join him for the annual celebration.

This is the Bay Area’s 22nd annual Bike to Work Day, part of National Bike Month, and the Bike to Work Day website reports 22 communities — including Hayward and Concord — have pledged their support.

Carpenter is just one of 62,000 Bay Area residents who use a bicycle as their primary means of commuting, according to the American Community Survey. Most bicycle commuters live within five miles of work, but for Carpenter, it’s more than double that and he usually rides much farther. Since his rides also serve as training for ultracycling events, some days he’ll put in as many as 120 miles getting to and from work, pushing his way up past the Oakland Zoo, then down Redwood Canyon and into Castro Valley.

As part of the May 12 celebration, both CSUEB campuses will host refueling stations for bikers to stop by after their ride and pick up food and drinks or win prizes. At the Hayward Campus, one station will be located at the top of 91麻豆天美app and the other on Harder Road, from 7 - 9 a.m. The Concord Campus will have a refueling station outside the Academic Services lobby, from 7:30 - 9 a.m. and from 4:30 - 6 p.m.

For Carpenter, Bike to Work Day is a chance for others to enjoy something he’s been doing since 1987. It all started when he crashed his motorcycle while working in Southern California and couldn’t afford to fix it. Public transportation took too long, so he started cycling.

Since then, he’s commuted to work in London, Chicago, and now at Cal State East Bay.

“I got into a habit I can’t really break,” Carpenter said. “From a kinesiology perspective, it is something that has huge benefits physically, psychologically and socially. It’s a great way to stay healthy and help the environment.”

He added that some would-be CSUEB bike commuters are hesitant for a variety of reasons — namely the steep hill up to the Hayward campus and safety. But Carpenter is quick to encourage people to try anyway.

“Coming up the hill is not that bad and with the right bike, the right gears, you should be just fine,” he said.

As for safety, several cycling organizations including offer training on ways to stay safe while riding and general bike handling skills.

Additionally, mapping resources are available from groups like Bike East Bay and free online software like “ridewithgps” which can be set to map routes that avoid highways and use bike lanes, paths and dedicated bike routes. 

“There are a lot of great groups that support cycling — there’s groups for women-only riders, beginning riders … once you start getting below the surface, there are many ways to get involved,” Carpenter said.