There's a superfun article currently being passed around on the interwebbings entitled 9 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Ride to Work. It's pretty gol-dang funny and it lets you know in a satyrical way that you really shouldn't worry about all those things you worry about that keep you from riding your bike to work. But I must point out that they left off a tenth, and to me, most obvious reason to not ride your bike to work.
Reason number 1o to not ride your bike to work: A huge tree will fall on your car and crush it.
True story: When I lived in Seattle, I worked in a bikeshop that featured two locations. One of which was in Seattle's Montlake neighborhood, the other of which was on the other side of Lake Washington in a ritzy little town called Kirkland. I lived in the U-District and worked at the Kirkland location. Not long after I landed the gig, I scoped out a commuting route that took me around the top end of Lake Washington and dropped me right smack-dab into downtown Kirkland. It was a 20-miles-each-way commute, but I loved it. I was a "bike racer" then, and I never had to "train." I just rode to work and back each day. There was a shower at the shop, so I just made sure to show up a half-hour early so I could get cleaned up and perform proper maintaintance before we opened.
One particularly windy day I made it home after a tough, wet commute, and my girlfriend-at-the-time-since-turned-wife-since-turned-mother-of-my-children was quite upset. After some consoling from me, and some down-calming on her part, she revealed to me the source of her troubles: the wind had blown down a tree. This particular tree happened to be rooted in the ground directly behind where I had parked my Honda Accord several days before. She was quite upset and worried about my car's transportive capabilities regarding it getting me to work and back.
To me, aside from having to get the car towed and deal with the insurance company, it wasn't really a problem. In fact, I thought is was funny in an I-can't-believe-this-actually-happened sort of way. No one was injured, I had insurance, my girlfriend-at-the-time-since-turned-wife-since-turned-mother-of-my-children also had a Honda Accord, and we both hardly ever drove anyway.
Several weeks later, after the car was fixed, I found a Seattle police officer's card stuffed in a crease in the back seat. There was a note on the back that said, matter-of-factly, in neat hand-writing, "A tree fell on your car." She'd tossed it in through the busted rear window, apparently. And apparently her promotion to Captain Obvious was right around the corner.
Of all the things I miss about living in Seattle, I can honestly say that my bicycle commute is tops on the list. Even though it caused a tree to fall on my car.
So, despite the high likelihood of a tree falling on your car, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend that you commute to work on your bicycle. It's fun and invigorating, and these days, it'll save you a heckuva lot of greenbacks.
Do it.
