Bike to Work Week 2025

Trail crossing by Manhattan Park, Cedar Rapids

This year's observance of Bike to Work Week--or whatever time period is celebrated in your community--occurs in the shadow of a hostile presidential administration that has shown itself willing to stop at nothing to get whatever it wants. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, a former reality TV star and U.S. representative with zero experience in transportation policy, has ordered a review of any federal grants that include bike infrastructure (Kuntzman 2025). While claiming bike lanes cause accidents and traffic congestion, he has removed research from the DOT website that shows the opposite (Wilson 2025). Viable alternatives to single-occupancy vehicles are the only way to reduce traffic congestion, as well as a key way to reduce climate change, but the Trump administration has scrubbed those data as well.

Why is bicycling so threatening to those now in power? Lyz Lenz (2025) notes the link to community building, which is itself threatening to an individualist ideology: "Project 2025 specifically criticizes the Federal Highway Administration for funding parks, trails, bike paths, and sidewalks--all the things that make our communities accessible and walkable." She argues that the Department of Transportation under Duffy "helps set in motion a vision of American life that is small, isolated, and alone."

Here on Holy Mountain, our vision is of an America that is large, connected, inclusive, and in no real way threatening. And by golly, spring is here, the sun is out, we have a good two weeks until the bugs show up, and there are bikes to be ridden! And who do we see spiking the guns of disillusionment, but our very own city, along with neighboring towns and the Corridor MPO!! Yes, Bike to Work Week is back, with innovative programming like commuter group rides and a Tuesday evening family ride with decorative lights encouraged.

Pedal for Pancakes gathering by the Cedar River

Monday, May 12 (high temp 84)

It was sunny and summery today, near-perfect weather for the start of Bike to Work Week. The week began with an experiment: replacing the trail "pit stops" of previous years with the first of two guided commuter group rides. This one left at 7:30 a.m. from McCloud Place on the city's northeast side, progressing down the Cedar River to downtown. I live on the southeast side, so I passed on scooting across town to meet them at that early hour, and settled for getting downtown in time to watch them cross 1st Avenue at 7:47.

Morning commuters cross 1st Avenue E

There were two city staff and three commuters, hardly a throng, but not bad for the first time ever. I wonder, too, if the decline in downtown office work since the pandemic affects the potential audience for this? Anyway, we have a base to build on. The afternoon return trip had several more riders.

Six years ago, British blogger Robert Weetman (cited below) wrote five questions to assess the bikability of a given route. The answers are admittedly going to be impressionistic rather than quantifiable, but arguably give the best indication of potential ridership, which I would say is the point of Bike to Work Week. 

Weetman's first question is...

Looking only at traffic-related safety, would most people allow an unaccompanied 12 year old to cycle here?

Maybe. Most of what I rode today was on appropriate bike infrastructure in manageable traffic. I encountered two pinch points that would deter many ordinary people from attempting a ride downtown during working hours. The 1st Avenue trail crossing treatment is much improved from its initial form, but it still would make me anxious if the 12-year-old put too much trust in it. This morning, as I awaited the commuters, a senior woman, resplendent in an all-purple outfit, approached 1st Avenue on her bike. She pushed the crossing light, and we crossed together. "Are they going to stop?" she rhetorically asked about the 1st Avenue traffic. "Sometimes they don't." Today they did. 

No traffic, no problem: Heading downtown on 3rd Avenue
at 8th Street

Later, when I was chatting with the commuters, they all said that most safety issues were at intersections. One guy talked about 3rd Street and 8th Avenue SE, where car traffic in the right-turn lane is competing uncertainly with cyclists in the bike lane. I brought up 3rd Avenue and 8th Street SE--yes, a completely different intersection--where the separated lane starts on 3rd, but first you have to cross 8th where cars are waiting (we hope) to get onto Interstate 380. I know the city's grid well enough to avoid this intersection, but I'm not 12 years old. Denver's Bike Streets organization has created a map to help people navigate that city safely on bicycles; maybe we could gin up something like that here?

Commuters gather at McGrath Amphitheater for the return trip

Tuesday, May 13 (high temp 84)

Today's Bike to Work Week events were the official proclamation, done at the City Council meeting, and an evening "sundown ride." I missed both.

My bike and helmet parked at Craft'd, October 2024

This morning I rode to Craft'd to watch a Cities for Everyone webinar featuring Professor Meredith Glaser of the Urban Cycling Institute and Ghent University. She argues bicycling contributes to solving numerous municipal and global challenges--including climate change, but also economic, equity, health, and personal mobility--but is limited by existing infrastructure.

Also, 1.6 million preventable deaths:
Some costs of auto-centric development
(screenshot of Prof. Glaser's slide)

 "If cars and traffic are all we've ever known, how can we expect anyone to imagine a totally different reality that does not yet exist?" In the Netherlands, where she lives, autocentric development in the 1960s and 70s was reversed by national reaction against the number of children dying in the burgeoning traffic. "Maybe, " she concluded, "it wasn't the bicycle that saved the day, but [changes in the design of] the streets." Moreover, since streets represent "systems and networks of power," how we design streets is a statement of who has political power, and who has none, even to decide how their "bodes can and cannot move." To bring it back home: slicing I-380 through our town not only demolished a swath of urban life, but effects persist in whose mobility--across 8th Street, for example--through the center of town is prioritized.

Craft'd is one of several businesses, and the only coffeehouse, offering discounts for Bike to Work Week participants. But I didn't notice they were on the list... darn! I could have saved $1.20.

Robert Weetman's second question:

Looking only at surface quality, would a road (racing) bike be used here?

Mostly, yes (says he with no experience on a racing bike). Surface quality in Cedar Rapids is pretty typical of towns across America, I'd say; new construction (hence, nearly all of the trails) is fine, but keeping up with maintenance is impossible, because, as Strong Towns has demonstrated time and again, in sprawled development property taxes don't pay for infrastructure. 5th Avenue SE, which could lose you some teeth no matter how good your vehicle's suspension is, is finally getting some much needed love.

[600 block of 5th Avenue SE]

That being said, as I paid extra attention to surface quality today, I found only occasional patches that a sleek but delicate bike couldn't go around.

[1300 block of J Avenue NE]

And with skinny tires, creases in the bike lanes would make me nervous about getting my wheel stuck.

[1600 block of 3rd Avenue SE]

After the webinar, I rode up the Cedar Valley Nature Trail, following the route I think the commuter ride took yesterday.

[coming soon: CVNT trail bridge over Coldstream]

The Cedar Valley Nature Trail is not new to me, of course, but there was a diversion that was novel enough for me to count it as rode on a new trail on my Bike to Work Week Bingo sheet. A detour around construction on 4th Street took me through the Cargill yard, which was quite the overland experience, even on my non-racing bike. It should come with a warning label! I wouldn't want to take a road (racing) bike through there.

Bus fares are free this week if you bring a bicycle

Wednesday, May 14 (high temp 86)

Another spectacular day for riding. I got to McGrath Amphitheater about 7:25 in order to meet the commuter ride coming from the city's northwest side.

Look at My Bike Leaning Against Stuff
(Facebook site you should definitely join)

They must have gotten there ahead of me, though--they had been scheduled to meet at Ellis Park pool at 7:00--so I hung around and watched traffic for about half an hour. Things seem to be happening in this part of town (known as Kingston Village). I even met a local attorney and former student walking to his office from Dash Coffee Roasters. I saw maybe eight or ten cyclists, of various life circumstances, go by, who were not affiliated with the commuter ride.

Morning cyclist, 1st St SW

Morning cyclist, 3rd Av SW

Morning cyclists, 3rd Av SW

But for all the pedestrian and bicycle activity, there must have been hundreds of cars passing through that intersection in the half hour I stood there. Now I know where I need to stand, if I ever have the urge to hold a sign saying LOVE YOUR MOTHER or JOHN 3:16 or even BIKE TO WORK!

Today's question from Robert Weetman:

Looking only at issues of social safety, would most people feel comfortable walking here after dark?

Mostly, yes (says he who is a morning person). In Cedar Rapids, as in most places, you're more in danger from motor vehicles or loose dogs than from human assailants. In most of the core there are now enough people that there's likely to be someone nearby if you need help. It's in the doughnut of nothingness around the core where I'd feel the most vulnerable. The mostly working class, mostly residential Wellington Heights neighborhood that lies between me and downtown has a reputation for danger, but I think that's unfair.

After my McGrath Amphitheater hangout, I helped host 1 Million Cups at the Geonetric Building, and spent the day at their co-working space. My son Robbie and I walked to lunch at The Full Bowl, four blocks away, counting that as participation in the Bike to Lunch Business Challenge because Robbie also works at the Geonetric Building and we had both ridden there. 

Interior, The Full Bowl, 120 10th Av SE

For the record, our officemate Rain also stopped in while we were there. She didn't bike today, though.

My Bike to Work Bingo card got some more checkmarks. I replaced a car ride with a bike ride today because I went to the YMCA this morning and I usually drive when I swim on a workday, because I never know what to do with my wet stuff afterwards. Today I hung them in the shower room in the Geonetric Building! I gave a "like" on any social media post about bicycle safety by searching for #BikeSafety on Mastodon, which led me to posts by The Conversation U.S., Folks Velo, Michael T. Babcock, Tern Bicycles, and gtbarry. I liked (or "favorited," in Mastodon lingo) 'em all! 

I went back to McGrath Amphitheater for the beginning of the commuters' return trip to Ellis Park. A small morning group had dwindled to Ron Griffith from the city and a rider named Jeremy.

I missed the evening Ride of Silence in Marion. I watched John Simmerman's outstanding Active Towns interview with Tim Gill, author of Urban Playground: How Child-Friendly Planning and Design Can Save Cities (Riba, 2021). Gill described his mission as raising the prominence of children in the city planning conversation, but that "by and large, the picture is not good," mostly because of "car-centric systems."

Thursday, May 15 (high temp 90)

Today I am shouting greetings across the miles, to where they are celebrating Bike to Work Day in Washington, D.C.  There are group rides and over 100 pit stops across the DC metro region, whose 5.5 million residents make it 20 times the population of Cedar Rapids. The whole production is a public-private partnership with local governments, groups like the Washington Area Bicyclists Association (WABA), and sponsoring businesses. I got to be a part of this as a WABA volunteer in May 2018, where we had brisk traffic at our pit stop near the Eastern Market metro despite a steady rain. 

City Bikes checkup station, Eastern Market metro stop,
May 2018

Today looks a lot more clement: partly cloudy with highs expected in the low 80s. I wish everyone in the DC region a happy and safe Bike to Work Day!

Today's question from Robert Weetman:

Can a relaxed 8 mph be continually and safely maintained here?

Yes. This question addresses flow, specifically how easy is it to ride at a comfortable speed without having to worry about navigating around pedestrians, slower cyclists, and such. Weetman doesn't address this, but on streets where I ride, a big issue is whether parked cars force riders into traffic. (I am not a vehicular cyclist. It's fine if you are, but then you are probably neither relaxed nor traveling 8 mph.) I rode two places today: to Matthew 25 in Kingston for an afternoon meeting, and to the New Bo City Market for the evening Meet Me at the Market group ride (and then the ride itself). I didn't notice any particular issues with flow, which might be more of a problem in larger or more densely populated cities. 

The only challenges to my flow were a guy standing in the bike lane on busy 3rd Avenue to trim the edge of the lawn by Physicians Clinic of Iowa, and a sinkhole in the bike lane near Redmond Park. On the way home in the evening, I found myself stopped at a red light on Memorial Drive at Mount Vernon Road; with no traffic at all in sight, I crossed and went on my way. I gather many people do this routinely, but it was a big step for me. If only there were a space for this on the Bike to Work Week bingo card...

Our evening ride was led by Bob from Chain Reaction Bike Hub, which coincidentally is celebrating its one-year anniversary this Saturday.

We rode out Otis Road (some but not much commuter traffic) to the Prairie Park Fishery...

...then rode the Sac and Fox Trail along the Cedar River and Indian Creek before turning back.

Despite a ferocious wind throughout most of the day, it wasn't too bad on the trail.

Tonight, I listened to the Bottom-Up Revolution podcast, in which host Tiffany Owens-Reed interviewed Justine Underhill, a member of the City Council in Falls Church, Virginia, who has become a YouTube influencer. She talked about the need for a major shift in public thinking about city design, because we've all grown up in an autocentric world. She focuses on housing issues, but the same could be said for transportation modes. 

Friday, May 16 (high temp 78)

Another lovely day for bicycling in Cedar Rapids, another shoutout across space and time. Cincinnati, Ohio, and Covington, Kentucky, are celebrating Bike to Work Day with the 16th annual Breakfast on the Bridge. I joined them last year as part of a group ride connected to the Congress for the New Urbanism.

Breakfast on the Bridge, Cincinnati OH side, May 2024

It was joyous, even though we came in at the very end.

Looking only at route signage, can this cycle route be followed confidently without a map?

Mostly, yes. Can you find your way to a new destination using the network of trails and streets? I'm seeing more and more wayfinding signs all over the metro, like this one on the Lindale Trail entering Marion.

On the other hand, on the return trip last night I went ahead of the group, and could not find the connection to Prairie Park Fishery from the Sac and Fox Trail.

The biggest problems in Cedar Rapids, I'd say, are where bike infrastructure suddenly ends...

C Street NE approaching Collins Road

...and near downtown where the street orientations change from the compass to the river. Depending on where you are, 3rd Avenue SE and 4th Avenue SE are either a block apart or a mile apart--quite a shock to new arrivals, as I can attest!

Kingston Yard, site of Handlebar Happy Hour

After 4.5 incredible days, the weather turned blustery just ahead of Handlebar Happy Hour. By "blustery," I mean it had a definite Wizard of Oz feel for those of us who cycled there. But we persevered, and at the stroke of 6, Betsy and Noah from the city staff drew names and handed out prizes. 

An alluring array of prizes they were

My Bingo card was both well-marked and incomplete...

...but it turned out not to matter, because names of prize winners were drawn randomly. I garnered a clever t-shirt from Sag Wagon and a bike lock that might meet more specs than my 45-year-old cable.

Thus ends another Bike to Work Week. From Weetman's blog post we learn that Cedar Rapids is rather typical for a town its size in terms of its bike infrastructure and culture. From the events we learn that there's a lot of energy in this town, among both riders and city staff, to support and celebrate cycling. We could perhaps due more to sell that to current non-riders. Anyway... on to next year!

Robert Weetman, "Helpful Quality Measures on Infrastructure for Cycling," Nicer Cities, Livable Places, 23 October 2019

Kea Wilson, "USDOT Secretary Sean Duffy is Dead Wrong About Bike Lanes," Streetsblog USA, 25 April 2025

"Bike to Work Week 2024," 12 May 2024

"Bike to Work Week Diary 2023: It's Not Going to Work," 15 May 2023

Maybe check...

Peter Furth, "Level of Traffic Stress," 21 May 2014

Asia Mieleszko, "Pittsburgh's Low-Cost Traffic Calming is a Model for Every City," Strong Towns, 7 May 2025

Joshua F. Rosas and Ruth Rosas, "$20,000 Bike Project Kickstarted by Carnegie Mellon's Graduate Students," America Walks, 13 May 2025