Oil Prices Rising, Bike To Work: 12 Tips To Get Started

Now that the winter snow and April showers have finally subsided, it's the perfect time to tune up the old two-wheeler and pedal your way to work. It just so happens that next Monday kicks off a national Bike-to-Work Week, and there's no better way to burn calories while cutting pounds of carbon emissions. How many? Cycling at the mellow rate of 5 miles per hour, you'll burn about 175 calories in an hour. Compare to that to your car, which releases about 23 pounds of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide for every gallon of gas burned.

Yet, there are even more reasons to drop the keys and hop on the saddle. "On a personal level, you'll save money, get good exercise and experience your city in ways that are impossible at 30 miles per hour," says Dani Simons, deputy director for communications at of Transportation Alternatives, a New York City bike, pedestrian and mass transit advocacy group. "On a broader, societal level, it'll cut local air pollution, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and help unclog the streets of congestion and traffic."

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