Driven executives gear down on bike commute

Those who ride to work say it helps them chill out and stay sharp, writes Richard Blackwell.

Jim Smith invariably rides his bike to work through the streets of Calgary, unless it's an unbearably cold day with the temperature below -20 C. He may shift that cutoff point to -15 if it's snowing like mad, but otherwise it's a two-wheel ride, every day.

Is he some crazy bike courier? An eco-nut working in a granola shop? Nope. He's chief financial officer of Mercury Energy Corp., a Calgary oil and gas exploration company.

Mr. Smith is one of a rare breed: a top corporate executive who commutes to work by bicycle on a regular basis. Like others who do so, he says the daily commute makes him a better manager, gets him to the corner office more clear-headed, and helps get the message to other employees that personal fitness is important.

"Like most executives, I'm probably more driven than most people, so having something that chills you out a little bit is positive," he said. "It's made me more relaxed."

The ride home is even better than the ride into work in the morning, he said. Sitting in traffic in the afternoon was highly stressful, but "when you ride your bike, you can put everything aside in a way that you really can't when you drive home."

Mr. Smith is not alone, although the number of executive cyclists in Canada is pretty small. Most of the bosses who ride to work seem to have at least a little tinge of green—with some connection to, or an interest in, environmental causes.

And executive bike commuting is far more prevalent on the West Coast, where environmental issues are top of mind and the weather is far more conducive to a daily bicycle trip.

Bob Clendenan, senior vice-president of mutual fund firm Ethical Funds Co. in Vancouver, keeps a tally of his ride-to-work schedule, and in 2005 it added up to 207 out of 220 working days. It's usually icy days that bump him off his bike, and those are rare in Vancouver.

He rides 12 kilometres to work most days, from his home near Grouse Mountain on Vancouver's north shore, across the Lions Gate Bridge, to his office downtown.

For Mr. Clendenan, the mental value of the half-hour ride (45 minutes for the uphill return trip) is at least as important as the physical benefits.

"I plan my day along my ride," he says, "and it's hard to be in a bad mood when you ride in."

Biking to work is also a great physical challenge to start the day, he said, and by the time he arrives at the office "I've had one success already."

It helps that his office building has a bike lockup cage, a fitness facility with showers, and even a supply of tubes, tires and a pump for emergency repairs.

As for clothes, like most executive bike commuters, Mr. Clendenan keeps a supply at work, including several suits. With most of his work wear in the office, "my wife wouldn't notice if I moved out of the house," he jokes.

But it's not just western executives who climb on their bikes in the morning. Ian Chalmers, president of Pivot Design Group Inc. of Toronto, crosses through the middle of Canada's biggest city most days, taking a route that, at least part of the way, includes streets with separate bike lanes.

There's no question that riding makes an executive a better manager, said Mr. Chalmers, whose company does design and marketing work for a wide range of clients, including some environmental groups.

"It helps you work smarter, gives you more energy for the day and you sleep better at night," he said.

It also gives him a connection to the city that can't be experienced from the front seat of a car. "You feel like you're part of society when you ride your bike. You're not in a piece of metal, in your own isolated world."

Mr. Chalmers encourages his employees to bicycle to work, and has set up a bike rack in the foyer of Pivot's leased offices and installed showers in the bathrooms. At one point, the company subsidized an employee's purchase of a new bike.

He keeps clothes in the office, including socks, underwear and shirts, and has a suit at the ready for meetings.

Still, the bicycling lifestyle is not without hassles, Mr. Chalmers admits, especially when he has to visit clients in the outer suburbs of Toronto. An account with a taxi company helps with that kind of transportation, and he is considering joining an "auto share" car rental organization for those times when he must have four wheels.

Biking to work is a bit easier if you live in the moderate climate and the not-so-daunting urban jungle of Victoria, a city that has the highest proportion of bike commuters in the country.

As many as 6 per cent of commuters there ride bikes on a regular basis, said Rob Wickson, an economic consultant who is president of Victoria's Bike to Work Society. During its annual bike-to-work week—set this year for the week of May 29—up to 15 per cent of commuters take to their bikes.

To encourage bicycle commuting, the society offers a series of day-long skills courses to give people tips on how to do it safely.

Jack Falk, vice-president of finance and operations at the University of Victoria, will be one of those on two wheels during bike-to-work week. He is both a regular bike commuter and the man in charge of trying to get more campus staff and students out of their cars.

He said it is crucial that executives demonstrate to others that it is possible to make time in a busy schedule for fitness activities like biking. "It's always helpful if somebody senior leads by example."

The university is also doing its part. There are covered bike shelters on campus, lockers and showers in several buildings, and it is about to open a bike repair kiosk on campus.

The university has also added a disincentive for drivers, by boosting parking fees.

Over all, "we're doing what we can with both a carrot and stick approach," Mr. Falk said.

http://www.biketoworkvictoria.ca/news/news060522.html